For the first time in ages, we're actually intrigued about Guitar Hero on the DS. It's less to do with the games, and more about how Activision plans to squeeze the franchise and Guitar Grip onto the GBA slot-less Nintendo DSi (and squeeze it on they will, believe us -- those sales figures can't be ignored).
Still, it's not an immediate problem. While Activision scratches its head over a solution, there are still 80 million or so GBA slot-equipped DSes out there that can accomodate Guitar Hero: On Tour Decades and its lumpy, hand-torturing peripheral. We imagine there'll be no shortage of takers for this sequel, which Activision has just confirmed will launch November 16th. One day less to wait, then!
Amazon is running another Gold Box promotion, as it is want to do, and featured right now is Guitar Hero: On Tour. The entire bundle is being sold for the low price of $29.99, which is around $20 less than the MSRP. If you've been waiting to test out the portable Guitar Hero waters, this just might be your chance.
You can see the sale for yourself by clicking right here.
There hasn't been an announcement or anything, but GameStop now lists a November 17 release date for Guitar Hero: On Tour Decades, both in its Guitar Grip bundle and alone. In addition, Activision will ship a standalone version of the first On Tour for people picking up the Decades bundle. These standalone games will cost $34.99 each, which is almost as painful to say as it would be to spend.
At least the slightly reduced price of the standalone cards will make collecting both games a bit less damaging to household finances than forced bundles, for those among us in single-DS homes.
Something magical happens when a game's sequel is released only a few months after the original: they tend to look exactly the same. When those games are part of a franchise that pretty much always looks the same (look, there are guitars and dudes playing them; what more do you want?), then, well ... you really can't expect anything different.
There are legwarmers to sign, though. And platform shoes. That's how you tell the decades apart. Genius. Guitar Hero: On Tour Decades is set for release before the end of the year.
No, the above clip isn't our primary subject for this week's The DS Life, but it is related and, not to mention, totally awesome.
Looking for a more console-authentic experience with Guitar Hero: On Tour, Hack A Day reader Eric Ruckerman modified a wireless Guitar Hero PS2 controller to fit a Nintendo DS and wired the peripheral's buttons into the system. He also added a transmitter to play the game's sound through his home sound system.
Pretty slick, but how can he see the notes coming down on the screen? A mirror would help! Anyway, step past the post break for a shot of Eric's setup and a photograph of someone playing Guitar Hero: On Tour with more traditional controls.
On the face of it, Guitar Hero: On Tour Decades is showing promise. IGN took the title out for a test strum, and we liked what they had to say about it. As well as new venues and characters, the ability to play songs from Decades against owners of other Guitar Hero DS games is an excellent addition -- the DS wirelessly transfers the audio track and note chart, essentially doubling the number of songs to those who bought the original On Tour. Speaking of which, Decades will come in two packs: one including the game and Guitar Grip, and the other with just the cart.
All of which is tremendously peachy, so what's the catch? Well, IGN also revealed the first ten songs, and in our not-so-humble opinion, they're -- nnngh -- not terribly good. Including any Fall Out Boy track is never the best of starts in our view, and as Eric pointed out, if you are going to include a Foo Fighters song, why not the superb "Everlong?" Okay, okay, so music is a divisive subject if ever there was one, but to us, this reeks of disappointment. We're certain you'll have an opinion, so check after the break for the full list.
Here's our theory for the overall drop in US sales in July versus June: just readingE3 coverage in the middle of the month was enough gaming excitement for a significant portion of the audience. Too crazy? Here's another one: people decided to reduce their spending now in anticipation of stuff coming later. And, for fun, one more: it was just too hot outside for video games. Who needs logic when you've got imagination?
It's easy enough to explain the DS's drop (which, we must point out, takes it from number one to number one): June saw the release of a huge new game and hardware bundle, sales of which were largest at launch. The rest: who knows? The top ten games are after the break.
Nintendo had a very significant release early this year with Professor Layton, and they've got one of the best games of the year ahead -- also some Pokémon stuff, and even a Kirby game. But for most of the year, it's been third parties' time to shine. And the third parties have taken advantage of it -- most notably, perhaps, in the form of Guitar Hero: On Tour, which so suitably served as a surrogate for a Nintendo release that it had its own hardware bundle.
Stephen Totilo mentioned in a post yesterday that he's found himself playing a lot of high-quality third-party DS games this year, from Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword to Space Invaders Extreme, and games like Zubo and Grand Theft Auto mean that non-Nintendo publishers are going to continue dominating. He even got past the tutorial in Lock's Quest and found that "It plays well, it's fun. I'm hooked."
Have you been leaning heavily on third-party games this year? Or are you waiting for Bangai-O, N+, Dragon Quest IV, or one of the many other great new games to come out?
The discs, colored green, red, yellow, and blue, tumble towards her, spilling like candy from a tipped box of Sprees, almost too many of them to catch. Her fingers lift then push, then lift then push over and over again above the corresponding frets, more mechanical than graceful. Imagine a pneumatic robot hand, and you will understand the choreographed taps of her digits; it is as if they learned to dance from footstep diagrams.
She does not sing the lyrics or hum the melody or tap her feet with the rhythm, she has attempted to faultlessly play this track enough times that she is long past enjoying the song. Truthfully, she has always loathed "Rock and Roll All Nite" as a shallow anthem. This time, though, Gene Simmons is singing her victory, as she is only a few chords away from a perfect score.
Remember the cringeworthy trailer that was used to introduce Guitar Hero: On Tour to a breathless world? Well, now some people -- innocent members of the public, we might add -- have relived that nightmare for real.
To promote its already wildly successful music game in the UK, Activision rented a busker's spot in the Covent Garden district of London (a location famous for its street performers) and proceeded to encourage passers-by to strum out a few notes on the title as onlookers watched, occasionally with expressions of amusement, but more often looking disinterested and distracted. Hit the gallery for more shots of brave performers being watched by bored people.
So, we've had tons of content up for you all yesterday, because that's how we roll and we'll be damned if The Man is going to stop us! For those of you hungry for more, know that we're going to continue the flood of content, but we've also got a huge photo dump from the Nintendo E3 keynote for you. Within, you'll find all of our pics from the luxurious seats found in row 12. Missed some of the bits about how well the DS is selling? We got it in images. Want to see Shaun White's hideous Mii? We got you covered. Check it all out in our gallery below.
With several major press conferences yesterday and a deluge of media assets, it's easy to miss all the smaller news items that popped up. We've rounded up three of them for you so that they won't be completely forgotten!
1. Retro Game Challenge logo! Yep, there it is, right above our post. It doesn't look too different from the Retro Game Master DVD logo, but we'll find any excuse to talk about this wonderful, nostalgic title. In fact, keep an eye out for our hands-on impressions from the E3! For now, you can check out five new screenshots in our gallery below or have a look at the Retro Game Challenge sell sheet past the post break.
2. Zoo Games is working on aPuzzle Questclone? Any time we see the words "puzzle" juxtaposed with images of fantasy-type warriors, as was the case with Puzzle Kingdoms, our minds immediately go to last year's surprise hit, Puzzle Quest. Though developer Infinite Interactive already has two officialPuzzle Quest clones in the works, the hybridization of RPGs and puzzle games are addictive enough that we don't mind seeing knock-offs. We hope to see more than just three pieces of character art for Puzzle Kingdoms soon!
3.Guitar Hero: On Tour Decades coming out less than six months after Guitar Hero: On Tour? Alright, so you might have heard that Vicarious Visions is preparing a Guitar Hero DS sequel for the holiday season, but if you stop for a minute and think about it, you'll realize that the original game came out only three weeks ago! That's a shorter gap than the time in between Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock and Guitar Hero: Aerosmith's releases (8 months) for consoles!
Though you got our live reactions as the Nintendo conference was actually happening, now that we've had a few moments to jump around, fume, and generally compose our thoughts, we present you with the formal reactions of the DS Fanboy staff to today's Nintendo briefing from E3.
Alisha Karabinus: I'm having a really hard time seeing past Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars. That could be just beyond awesome... and, of course, it could be crap. I guess we'll find out. It's surprisingly missing from the media round-ups I've seen so far. I think I'm surprised by the lack of a redesign, even though I have been against the possibility of it for so long. By now, I just assumed it was going to happen. Of course, it still could!
I'm excited about the Cooking Guide, even though I just got a copy from the UK (thanks, Chris!), and I don't think it's as good as it could be. Still, it's interesting and novel ... but speaking of novel, I'd have rather seen DS Novel. All I can really say about Guitar Hero is that I'm not surprised at all that we'd see another version already.
This year's Nintendo conference at E3 felt much too short, but was packed with some really great announcements. Did you really expect a DS Grand Theft Auto game? But in case you missed the show, or simply prefer an abridged version, here are the highlights. Read our live reactions here, or check out Joystiq's liveblog if you're feeling adventurous.
Amazon is running another Gold Box promotion, as it is want to do, and featured right now is 
There hasn't been an announcement or anything, but GameStop now lists a November 17 release date for 
Here's our theory for the overall drop in US sales in July versus June: just reading 
175K (-22.35%)
Nintendo had a very significant release early this year with 
