Another Thursday, another Playstation Store update … and another disappointment. Honestly, there’s nothing worth mentioning coming out this week, nothing. Yes, there are new Nine Inch Nails songs for Rock Band and new No Doubt (?) downloadable content for Guitar Hero III, but other than that it’s slim pickin’s.

Check the full list of downloadable content, trailers and videos after the jump.

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Apparently Harmonix has had a patch that makes the Guitar Hero controllers compatible with Rock Band on PS3 ready for a while, but Activision won’t let them release it. Now Activision says they’re more than willing to let it be released, they just want to make even more money out of it. Here’s what Maryanne Lataif, a spokeswoman for Activision, told The Boston Globe:

Unfortunately for Rock Band users, Harmonix has been unwilling to discuss an agreement that will allow us to provide that option in a manner that maintains the high standards people have come to expect from Activision

By “unwilling to discuss” she must mean unwilling to pay up and by “high standards” she must mean money mongering, as she makes Activision’s motives perfectly clear with the following statement:

We believe we should be compensated for the use of our technology

I thought people actually purchasing Guitar Hero III in the first place was compensation enough, and once they owned it they should be able to use it however they please - but Activision wants more in addition to the $100 they already got for each game sold. While it seems clear that Activision is only preventing the patch’s release for money, and they even admitted it, they’re still in denial and another spokeswoman, Spencer Saltonstall, says they’re doing it for the consumer:

We are really and truly not looking at this from the financial standpoint, we are looking at this from the consumer standpoint

I’m not sure how delaying a compatibility patch until Harmonix bribes them to allow its release benefits the consumer (or anyone besides Activision themselves) at all, but I guess they just refuse to admit how bad they’re handling this.

[Via Evil Avatar]

Nobody told me but apparently November 8th is national “announce your rhythm game’s DLC day,” otherwise known as Boxing Day in Canada. Sure, I might not think the highest of Canadians, but please don’t be offended by what I’ve just said; I know Boxing Day is just fake Thanksgiving.

Anyway, the latest issue of Official Xbox Magazine, known simply as OXM to you abbrev. lovers, has revealed a slew of new downloadable songs for Harmonix and MTV Games’ upcoming rhythm game, Rock Band. In addition to the songs that were announced in the past, including tracks from The Grateful Dead, The Who and Nirvana, the following songs will also eventually join the DLC ranks:

- The Police - Roxanne, Synchronicity II, Can’t Stand Losing You
- Queens of the Stone Age - Sick Sick Sick (ew), 3s and 7s (double ew), Little Sister
- Metallica (songs TBA)
- David Bowie (songs TBA)
- Black Sabbath (songs TBA)
- “Punk Pack” featuring songs by The Clash, The Buzzcocks and The Ramones
- Credence Clearwater Revival (CCR) - Fortunate Son
- Foreigner - Jukebox Hero
- The Knack - My Sharona
- The Pretenders - Brass in a Pocket
- Radiohead - My Iron Lung
- The Runaways - Cherry Bomb
- T-Rex - Bang a Gong
- Weezer - Buddy Holly
- Wolfmother - Joker and the Theif

Well, then, that was exhausting! In retrospect, Rock Band has a much more solid list of downloadable content than its main competitor, Guitar Hero III. If the boys at MTV Games can afford to make the songs cheaper, say only $1/song, they’d win the DLC battle hands down.

You may have heard how disappointed I was with the last two tiers of Guitar Hero III. In an obvious attempt to please me, Neversoft and Activision have teamed up to release two packs of three songs as downloadable content for the Xbox 360. Both the Velvet Revolver pack (which includes “She Builds Quick Machines,” “Slither,” and “Messages”) and Foo Fighters pack (which includes “The Pretender,” “All My Life,” and “This is a Call”) will retail for 500 MS points each, and are now available for download right now.

At $2 per song, I’m still very hesitant to pick these song packs up. It just seems like too much money to pay for a couple of measley songs that I am not absolutely in love with. Activision had this problem with Guitar Hero II, as you may remember, releasing mediocre songs at exorbitant prices. I had hoped that they would clean up their act and get some sort of bargain going, and only charge a dollar per song, but I guess not.

For now, though, I’m boycotting Guitar Hero III downloadable content. Activision, come back when you bring some Zeppelin or Hendrix.

UPDATE: I think it may just be the booze kicking in, but apparently we’re also getting the boss battle songs up for download free of charge in later November.

- Grande gracias to kagatoasuka (aka “The Love Machine”)

If you think you’re man enough to compete against other people in a Guitar Hero III tournament, Activision, Inc., Pontiac and Hot Topic are teaming up together to help you do exactly that. Fans that are 16 years old or over have a chance to win 2008 Pontiac G5, and a chance to show off their amazing Guitar Hero powers. For one month the tournament will travel to various Hot Topic stores in the following locations/malls:

11/08 Orland Park, IL (Chicago) — Orland Square
11/12 Paramus, NJ (New York/Newark) — Garden State Plaza
11/15 Buford, GA (Atlanta) — Mall of Georgia
11/19 Austin, TX — Barton Creek
11/26 Phoenix, AZ — Metro Center Mall
11/29 Las Vegas, NV — Meadows Mall
12/03 Northridge, CA (Los Angeles) –Northridge Fashion Center
12/05 San Francisco, CA — San Francisco Center

Rules on the press release are as follows:

Winners at each of the eight stops will receive a $100 gift card from Hot Topic. Additionally, winners will submit their high score on an undisclosed song to determine the two national finalists to advance to the Grand-Finals Round. The two Grand-Finals Round participants will win a trip for two to Los Angeles where they will compete in front of the game creators at Activision for the right to drive away in a 2008 Pontiac G5.

Individuals interested in participating can pre-register for the tournament by visiting the designated Hot Topic store starting at 10:30 a.m. five days prior to the tournament date. Pre-registration will close at 5:00 p.m. the evening before the tournament date. Pre-registering is highly recommended as space is limited.

Dear revered and all-holy Neversoft,

This is not alright. And by this, I mean the seventh and eighth tiers of your newly released blockbuster, Guitar Hero III. When I first booted up the game, only hours after its release, I was surprised to find how much I loved the game. And I mean loved it. Sure, I’ve been a fan of the series since the release of Guitar Hero II on the Xbox 360, but my initial feelings with the third game man me a true Guitar Hero fanboy. After playing through half of Expert, and finding myself stumped at the boss battle with Slash, I decided to turn down the difficulty and try and beat Hard first. Suffice it to say, the initial love that I had felt for the game was dismantled within seconds after hitting the seventh tier.

With the exception of a select few songs, these last two tiers of the game have proven themselves to almost wreck the game for me. Throughout the beginning, and progressing through the tracks, the songs seemed to keep building, with better and more fun songs in every tier. Then I came to the seventh tier. Slipknot? Disturbed? Queens of the Stone Age? Why did Neversoft decide to go grunge/shit-on-our-faces all of a sudden? After completing this tier, and boy was it more of a task than anything else, I thought that the game would redeem itself in the final tier. With songs like Freebird and the Beast and the Harlot in Guitar Hero II’s last tier, I was assured that Neversoft had saved the best for last.

Boy, was I wrong again. With the exception of the great Eric Johnson song, Cliffs of Dover, the last tier is absolutely awful. Slayer, now there’s a band that I’ve never had the inkling to go listen to. Thanks, Neversoft, for forcing me to sit through it a few times due to the absolutely ridiculous solo that consistently made me fail. Oh and One. A real great song to end the game on, really. With an upbeat rhthym and stellar note pattern, One was horrid. Then there’s Number of the Beast. Don’t get me wrong, I love Iron Maiden, probably more than the next hair metal fan. However, this was an awful choice for the game. When you have to repeat the same 10 note pattern for 20% of the song in the beginning and another 20% at the end, you know that you’ve made a quality choice for the last tier in an epic game. Really, I love jamming ridiculous notes in a row and having my hands feel like they’re going to fall off. Really, I do.

For now, Neversoft, we are not alright with one another. Maybe if you release some sort of extra downloadable content (Foo Fighters anyone?) for a reasonable price, I might consider being friends once again. But until then, I’m always going to have a special dark spot in my soul reserved for tiers seven and eight.

Sincerely,

Will “backflip” DeGirolamo

The writers of NBC’s Emmy-winning show, My Name Is Earl, obviously love the Guitar Hero franchise. It got mention in last season’s episode where Earl got his G.E.D., and it makes an appearance again in the third season.

This clip shows Earl’s prison warden not only playing the unreleased Guitar Hero III, but using the new Gibson Les Paul controller. Obviously, the guy in the video has a special talent of playing on Expert without looking at the screen.

Now if I could just beat GH2 on Hard….

Xbox Live user Ethaneeze has managed to get Guitar Hero III early, and he’s taken some pictures off his screen to show everyone else what they’re missing. Apparently he got it at Toys ‘R’ Us, so other people might be able to get it early too…if anyone manages to find it at Toys ‘R’ Us or another store make sure to post here so we can be jealous of you too.

UPDATE: I found out that he did not get it at Toys ‘R’ Us, although he says he did get it legally, so it’s most likely from someone inside Activision. Sorry if I got anyone’s hopes up.

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It was announced a while ago that a demo for the Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero III was going to be included with the newest Tony Hawk game, but if you’re not planning on buying that there’s now another way to sample the game. This month’s Official Xbox Magazine comes with the same demo, so if you already have a guitar from Guitar Hero II and want to see what’s new go pick it up. However, if you want a taste of the game without having to get the demo, here are videos of all the songs you’re missing:

Priestess - “Lay Down”

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Oh … my … GOD! This video has me officially pumped for the upcoming Guitar Hero III, which releases on nearly all platforms on October 28th. And by pumped, I mean ready to chug some vodka, take some hardcore drugs and start jamming out to some sick tunes. And then throwing up … all over the groupies. AND THEN DRINKING SOME MORE!