Activision has thirty songs in store for the 80s expansion pack Guitar Hero: Rocks the 80s. We'll get to relive the 80s this summer, but only on PlayStation 2. I'm the first one to condemn Guitar Hero greediness, but why not throw some downloads at the 360? Here's the seven they've announced so far:

• "I Wanna Rock" (by Twisted Sister)
• "I Ran" (by Flock of Seagulls)
• "Round and Round" (as made famous by Ratt) 
• "I Want Candy" (as made famous by Bow Wow Wow) 
• "Metal Health" (as made famous by Quiet Riot) 
• "Holy Diver" (as made famous by Dio) 
• "Heat of the Moment" (as made famous by Asia)

Whenever I was in the car with my parents in the 80s and I heard a cool song on the radio, I'd ask who the band or singer was. It didn't matter if it was a male or female group or singer, for some reason my parents would always think it was Meat Loaf, and that was the answer I would get. Just as you reach into the fridge for two week old leftovers, and are unsure of what primordial ooze you grabbed, but call it meat loaf and microwave it anyways, I've come to know all of 80s music as simply Meat Loaf musical leftovers. Prices haven't been discussed for the Guitar Hero expansion yet, but I can't pass up thirty helpings of Meat Loaf. What other tracks are you expecting to see make the list?

Guitar Hero's publisher RedOctane has officially committed to releasing one game every year, along with new content packs that are downloadable online regularly. When asked to elaborate, RedOctane's president and co-founder Kai Huang said: 

"We've got designs for different guitars, whether that's new shapes or new colors; we've got designs obviously for wireless, which we'll be releasing at the end of this year for all platforms; and then we're looking at really cool interesting finishes and different ideas that we can do with the guitar to make them a little bit more exciting, and in fact we're even looking at making some higher-end guitars that might be made out of real wood."

I'm sure their "buy our extra packs" pleadings will get annoying fast, although it's good to see the industry be able to respond so quickly to a growing fad. A few years ago we saw the same thing happen to the Tony Hawk skateboarding series, and before that was the Madden series. Give it a few years and you'll probably never want to play again, but I'm up for the ride if it involves improving the experience of this generation of gaming. Guitar Hero III is still planned for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, and PS2 by the end of the year.

We've heard it mentioned briefly before, and even seen some idiot use GlovePIE to play a knock off version on his Wiimote, and according to Red Octane's Web site, it's now confirmed. It's also scheduled for the PS2, PS3, and Xbox 360 later this year in Fall. Guitar Hero is the type of game that will sell well no matter what console you bring it to, but I expect the sales of GH3 on the Wii to backfire a little. Many people that own the Wii have a PS3 or 360, and if you don't have the PS2 that's borderline sinful, so this definitely isn't a game that Nintendo gets to brag about when the game drought is in full force later this year. Now that Super Paper Mario came out yesterday, all Nintendo really has left for Wii owners until winter is Mario Party 8 and some shitty Pokemon game. And maybe Metroid Prime 3 some time after June. In other words, December.

TheBBPS found this old XKCD comic depicting how Guitar Hero may have affected future rock and roll superstars and their music. The text reminds me of something Mitch Hedberg would have said if he was still alive and making us laugh. I've heard rappers bust out PS2 lyrics to help their rhymes before, it'll be fun to see how much the Guitar Hero series can imprint itself on the music industry. I predict that one day the Super Bowl half time show will be performed by a gaming band playing a previous half time show song on Guitar Hero.

During an hour long Activision conference yesterday, CEO Mike Griffith mentioned that Guitar Hero would be coming to the Wii eventually:

The key difference in our strategy versus the prior cycle, is that in addition to full support on Sony and Microsoft platforms, we will aggressively target the Nintendo platforms consistent with our multi-platform strategy and Nintendo’s expected growth. In fiscal 2008, we will double our offerings on the DS and the Wii, including Spider-Man, Shrek, Transformers, and Guitar Hero.

Could be an error in his speech, but I don't see why Guitar Hero wouldn't spread further. With Neversoft now responsible for the series it's just a matter of time before they're able to pump out a new Guitar Hero (or villain) title across all consoles each year. I'm still waiting for Ocarina Hero dammit.

Guitar Hero II is already out on the PlayStation 2 and is well worth the money it takes to rock out. It's taking way longer than I had hoped for the game to release on Xbox 360, but from a marketing approach it's probably smart doing it this way - on April 3rd the game will relaunch on the 360 with plenty of new content to gain the game attention again. There will be over 70 music tracks in the game, including the new ones listed below:

Billion Dollar Babies (as made famous by Alice Cooper)
Hush (as made famous by Deep Purple)
Dead! (by My Chemical Romance) - Master Track
Life Wasted (as made famous by Pearl Jam)
Rock N Roll Hoochie Koo (as made famous by Rick Derringer)
The Trooper (as made famous by Iron Maiden)
Salvation (as made famous by Rancid)
Possum Kingdom (by Toadies) - Master Track
Drink Up (as made famous by Ounce of Self)
Kicked to the Curb (as made famous by Noble Rot)

The new X-Plorer controller for the Xbox 360 looks sweet, and so does the fact that there will be online leaderboards and downloadable content, but the new thing that's worth raising eyebrows is that an online multiplayer may still be a possibility:

"According to Red Octane, multiplayer is something they really wanted to get in the game, and may still add via an update down the road. The key, it seems, is co-op play, which is a lot trickier to make work (the pro-tourney mode is essentially two players independently playing against the computer, while co-op requires direct interaction between the players). So, while Red Octane isn't making any promises, we're holding out hope that multiplayer might still show up at some point."

Honestly though I don't care about being able to play against others online, but I know plenty of you will. Give me leaderboards and I'm happy. The game's supposed to also have better graphics and a better lighting system too on the 360, but I just want more songs to keep me playing.

Using a homemade GlovePIE script, someone has managed to get an austere version of Guitar Hero called Frets on Fire working with a Wiimote. Some Guitar Hero songs are hard enough on their own, but can you imagine playing like this guy? Waving your arm to pluck the strings with a the nunchuck would be a huge pain, and hitting the notes as Wiimote buttons can't be easy either. This is almost as bad as playing World of Warcraft with a Wiimote.

Horny gaming couples continue to make homemade Wii videos and I continue to have no objection so long as the woman is hot. A man has just opened his Wii and tried out Wii Sports tennis, but his girlfriend grows bored immediately. After finally grabbing the Wiimote from him she does the cliche vibrator trick and makes him choose between Wii Sports and Wii sex. With the controller already lodged into the lady, he uses the new improved Wiimote strap for safe sex, and chooses both. Putting the love in 40-love, he only lasts four swings though - he should do some more Wii fitness age training before attempting it again. But when his girlfriend is willing to shove a Guitar Hero controller up his ass, I think he's pretty much got her wrapped around his gross, game blistered finger. SFW btw, sorry to disappoint.

First MTV bought Harmonix, then the series was given to Neversoft. But the percussion plot has thickened. GameSpot discovered that we can expect much more than just a Guitar Hero 3 game. Actually, we might not even get another Guitar Hero game, the US Patent and Trademark Office Web site shows that Activision is applying for the rights to the video game names "Guitar Villain" and "Drum Villain." The trademark applications were filed on November 29th and December 1st last year, and are very specific too, stating that "they are intended to cover computer game software in a variety of forms, including downloadable games, games sold together with controllers, arcade games, and games sold with electronic toy guitars." It even mentions leaderboards for high scores - this is awesome!

Although nothing is guaranteed, and GameSpot notes that after Activision acquired RedOctane last year, they also filed for trademarks on Keyboard Hero, Drum Hero, and Band Hero, so don't get too excited. I don't see why they wouldn't push this series as far as it can go though, there's plenty of demand for more Guitar Hero games, and as long as they don't actually release a $600 Band Hero game that ships to your house in two days by semi-truck, then I'm all for the Tony Hawk styled murdering of the series with yearly installments until we're sick of it.

I think the biggest part of this announcement is actually the part about arcade games. Activision has to realize that Dance Dance Revolution arcade games have reached a high level of fame - why not offer a new music arcade game that costs 1000 times more than an Xbox 360 game to make, but gains its price back in quarters in just months? It would be bold, the arcade business hasn't been booming for a long time, but I can see a lot of people willing to play Guitar Hero Arcades. Can you imagine if they could convince schools to put them in choir rooms? Even I draw the line at playing DDR in public, but not many people hesitate to pick up a Guitar Hero controller at a Best Buy booth. I really hope Activision and Neversoft run far with the series.