Guitar Hero 5 Online Scavenger Hunt Offers Winner Exclusive Access to 5 Concerts by Their Favorite Bands

Guitar Hero launches a unique online scavenger hunt today that invites fans to scour websites, TV shows, blogs and online media sites to uncover the full list of artists that will appear on Guitar Hero 5, the next version of the most popular music game in the world.

Fans are invited to start their search at GH5.GuitarHero.com and register to participate in The Guitar Hero 5 Tickets, 5 Concerts Sweepstakes and enter to win a set of 5 tickets to 5 different concerts in a major metropolitan area venue near their hometown.

Once registered at GH5.GuitarHero.com participants will be given clues leading them to a series of blogs, TV shows and online media where every day, for the next five days, a selection of bands from the Guitar Hero 5 set list will be revealed. Once entrants have uncovered the bands from the designated locations, they must go to GH5.GuitarHero.com to verify the information found and will then be eligible to enter to win The Guitar Hero 5 Tickets, 5 Concerts Sweepstakes.

Entries for the sweepstakes will be received through June 25, 2009. Registration is now open.

DJ Hero Controller Photos

Activision's latest announcement in its ever-growing Hero series is DJ Hero, a new game focusing on the joys of being a turntable-spinning club god.

While the idea could be pretty fun--in fact, Konami already semi-explored it in Beatmania--the new turntable accessory, while pretty, is yet another plastic device to tuck under the television and get dusty.

Activision claims that a big part of DJ Hero is the live remixing of popular songs across genres, as would be expected. If that means mashups, then this could get pretty wild.

Regardless, let us reflect for a moment on the plastification of modern gaming. This generation's peripheral count is skyrocketing--DDR mats, cameras, Wii Fit boards, wheels, Wii MotionPlus dongles, big-button game show controllers, and a tremendous plastic band list of guitars, drums, mikes and extra bass pedals. About the only thing we're missing is a synthesizer, a cowbell, and a didgeridoo. Count up the amount you'll spend on old and new versions of all these plastic tzochkes, and it'll make any grown person cry.

No pricing has been announced yet for the game's debut this fall, but it'll obviously cost more than a game that had no peripheral at all.

DJ Hero is to feature mash-ups (two records mixed together) of David Bowie’s Let’s Dance with Jack Of Spades by KRS One (DJ Shadow mix), Nirvana’s All Apologies with Give it To Me Baby by Rick James (DJ Shadow remix, again) and Tears For Fear’s Shout with Eric Prydz’ Pjanoo. Further featured mash-ups include tracks from Gorillaz, Marvin Gaye and Herbie Hancock.

Guitar Hero 5 and Band Hero

Guitar Hero 5 picks up where the last version of the smash hit left off. Fans can continue to fulfill their rock-star fantasies with some of the hottest rock-and-roll artists and classic rock bands. Activision promises players an unprecedented level of control over the way they play the game with the ability to drop in and out of songs and change band members, instruments and difficulty levels on the fly.

The game will be released this Fall on the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360. It will also include a variety of new features including the ability for all four players to play the notes for the same instrument. So, for example, if four people want to be the drummer, now they each can be.

For the first time ever, players can customize the make-up of their band by rocking with any combination of instruments in-game: whether it be two guitars and two drums, or three guitars and a microphone, any combination is possible, allowing players to experience music their own way. Brand new, easy-to-use gameplay modes like Party Play and RockFest put fun, competition and control at centre stage as players tailor the Guitar Hero experience to match their personal style and interests. RockFest will allow up to eight players to battle it out online, while Party Play will act as a music randomiser, allow you to jump in with any instrument, at any time, and begin playing � as well as allowing for further changes of instrument and even difficulty mid-track.

For extended hours of entertainment, downloadable content from Guitar Hero World Tour will be compatible with the game and will automatically be updated to include all of the upgrades and enhancements of Guitar Hero 5.

Guitar Hero 5 will offer music from 85 bands, with 30 artists making their music-rhythm game debuts. All of the songs will be unlocked from the moment the game is first turned on. Here are the first eight songs confirmed to be in the game. They are:

The Rolling Stones : Sympathy for the Devil
Bob Dylan: All Along The Watchtower
The White Stripes : Blue Orchid
Santana : No One To Depend On (LIVE)
Vampire Weekend : A-Punk
Tom Petty: Runnin Down a Dream
Johnny Cash : Ring of Fire
Kings of Leon: Sex on Fire

Band Hero

The franchises’ first E10+ rated console game, Band Hero delivers an exciting music collection featuring top-40 hits designed to expand the experience to a new genre and appeal to a broad family audience who can play together on the guitar, drums, bass and microphone. The game builds upon Guitar Hero’s easy-to-play, difficult-to-master signature gameplay and allows novice players and expert fans to join together on their favorite songs.

AeroForceOne.com announces The Aerosmith Opening Act Contest

Rock icons Aerosmith with special guest ZZ Top are gonna wreak rock n’ roll havoc this summer on a massive US tour! And you could be THE OPENING ACT. Time to put your Guitar Hero® skill to the ultimate test. This isn't your living room couch - its the real deal!

Two worthy fans will perform playing Guitar Hero®: Aerosmith® on stage as the opening act before the show roars onto the stage– one winner from online and one from radio will be chosen in each city. If that taste of rock stardom weren’t reward enough, the winner from each city also wins two tickets to the show, a Guitar Hero: Aerosmith game pack, and a personal congrats from Steven Tyler and Joe Perry before the show! (For the winner only, not their guest)

Your moment of rock glory will be captured on video and posted to Aeroforceone.com and the Aerosmith YouTube channel – let your friends try to top that!

Click Here for details on how to enter the The Aerosmith Opening Act Contest

Get a free Guitar Hero Greatest Hits at Boomtown.net

Guitar Hero Greatest Hits is being released this summer and the folks over at Boomtown.net are giving you the chance to vote for your most memorable tracks via a widget application that can be shared on major social network sites and blogs. Plus you can win a copy of the game!

Starting April 23, 2009, you can download the brand new widget and start selecting tracks from previous games. Vote for the songs you love to rock out to, and determine the order in which songs will be revealed for Guitar Hero Greatest Hits. Each week, a portion of the Guitar Hero Greatest Hits set list will be revealed based on which prior game captures the most votes.

Guitar Hero Greatest Hits will feature tracks from Guitar Hero, Guitar Hero II, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, and Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks The 80s. The new game will feature re-worked versions of all songs for full compatibility with guitars, drums, and microphones on classic Guitar Hero tracks.

The contest runs through noon May 8, 2009.

Click Here to enter the Guitar Hero Greatest Hits contest!

Free Guitar Hero Metallica Contest

Win a Copy of Guitar Hero Metallica and Exclusive kick drum pedal. To enter, log on at www.ultimate-guitar.com and fill in the on-line entry form and submit it.

Metallica’s influential music takes center stage this spring when Activision Publishing Inc.’s Guitar Hero® Metallica® takes music fans through the band’s fabled library of songs, plus the music and musicians who influence them.

When the house lights go down this spring, virtual rock stars across the globe will shred, drum and wail to an explosive set list featuring over 45 tracks from Metallica’s illustrious career and a wide variety of other legendary artists personally selected by the band, such as Queen, Foo Fighters, Bob Seger, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Slayer and Judas Priest.

Click Here to enter the Ultimate-Guitar.com Guitar Hero Metallica contest!

Official Contest Rules