The folks from Guitar Hero have decided to make an official community site where hardcore GH fans can all get together and get the inside scoop on the upcoming Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. Fans can join teams on the site and compare their best scores, tracks, etc.

From the official press release:

Sunnyvale, CA – October 11, 2007 – Activision, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI), in partnership with Agora Games, a leading provider of online community development and in-game data collection, announced today that a new dedicated Guitar Hero community teaser website has launched, and fans can now visit www.GuitarHero.com to get a Backstage Pass to obtain insider information, news announcements, exclusive behind the scenes footage of Slash and other in-game talent, gameplay videos, and screenshots. Aspiring axe-shredders will also have the ability to pre-order and hear snippets from the set list of the highly anticipated title, Guitar Hero® III: Legends of Rock.
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Activision sent over a press release to let us know of 17 new tracks in Guitar Hero III. It looks more and more like that leaked set list is real. Here’s the new tracks:

• Same Old Song and Dance (by Aerosmith)
• Helicopter (by Bloc Party)
• Stricken (by Disturbed)
• Monsters (by Matchbook Romance)
• Before I Forget (by Slipknot)
• Kool Thing (by Sonic Youth)
• When You Were Young (by The Killers)
• Devil Went Down to Georgia (as made famous by Charlie Daniels Band)
• Sunshine of Your Love (as made famous by Cream)
• Holiday in Cambodia (as made famous by Dead Kennedys)
• Cliffs of Dover (as made famous by Eric Johnson)
• Hit Me with Your Best Shot (as made famous by Pat Benetar)
• Black Magic Woman (as made famous by Santana)
• Story of My Life (as made famous by Social Distortion)
• Pride and Joy (as made famous by Stevie Ray Vaughn)
• The Seeker (as made famous by The Who)
• Black Sunshine (as made famous by White Zombie)

Not having the master track for Devil Went Down to Georgia is a disappointment. How can anyone but Charlie Daniels rock that song properly?

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The Sex Pistols are getting back together to re-record their smash hit “Anarchy in the U.K.” for Guitar Hero III.

The Sex Pistols were an obvious choice for Guitar Hero, having established themselves as the definitive punk band of the 1970s. Unable to locate the original multi-tracks for inclusion in the game, Activision invited the band back into the studio to re-record a couple of songs including “Anarchy in the U.K.” Original members John Lydon on vocals, guitarist Steve Jones and drummer Paul Cook re-teamed with producer Chris Thomas, utilizing the original analog sound desk (circa 1969) that was built for George Martin at Air Studios, London, England in order to maintain the classic sound.

There looks to be a lot more master tracks in Guitar Hero III than previous games, which should add to the game. I can’t wait to start shredding to some new tracks.

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Guitar Hero II is a real fun game and when I heard you could download games it got even better, until I heard the price tag of the songs. Many people have expressed the same level of dislike in the pricy songs yet here we are with more than two million single songs accessed through the Xbox LIVE Marketplace since April. That is a lot of downloads of items people complained about and with Guitar Hero III scheduled to feature Master Tracks, Original Songs and more Downloadable Content, Activision will be swimming in cash in no time.

From the press release:

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Sep 11, 2007 – Downloadable Xbox 360 video game song packs for Activision, Inc.’s (Nasdaq:ATVI) Guitar HeroTM II hit multi-platinum status with more than 650,000 downloads through Xbox LIVE Marketplace® in less than five months, as defined by the music industry’s RIAA. Each downloadable pack contains three individual songs. Individual songs combined have topped the two million mark, making the Guitar Hero II packs some of the most downloaded content on Xbox LIVE Marketplace.
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Xbox 360 owners will get a treat with a Guitar Hero III demo coming in October. The 5 song demo will be included on the 360 version of Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground on October 9th and two weeks later on the Xbox Live Marketplace.

The demo features five tracks set in the Desert Rock Tour venue. Players will be able to rock out to:

• Lay Down (by Priestess)
• Even Flow (by Pearl Jam)
• The Metal (by Tenacious D)
• Hit Me with your Best Shot (as made famous by Pat Benatar)
• Rock You like a Hurricane (as made famous by Scorpions)

Good selections there for a the demo. Too bad it’s not going to really move more copies of Proving Ground. I’m just going to wait for the demo to hit the Marketplace. I still haven’t decided whether I’m getting this and Rock Band for PS3 or 360.

You might be wondering why there’s no demo for the PS3. My guess is because no guitar is available yet for the PS3, so a demo would be pointless since you need to buy the game to get the guitar anyway.

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In an interview that RedOctane co-founder, Charles Huang, had with CNET he confirmed that their team is working with Nintendo, through some engineering issues in order to get out the new Guitar Hero III game on the DS. Also discussed are a unique peripheral for the GH game on the DS and also a promise of a unique style of play. We are all looking forward to this title on a handheld, should be great.

CNET.com.au: What can you tell us about Guitar Hero III DS?

CH: We are working on that. We’re exploring a lot of things. We’re hoping to really bring the experience to the DS and to do some very, very different approaches. We’re working through a lot of engineering issues with Nintendo. I actually came from a set of meetings with them last week about this. While the technical path hasn’t been set yet, we intend for this to be a very unique experience just like Guitar Hero was on consoles. This will play probably unlike any other DS game that has come out, and at this stage, that’s all I’m afraid we can talk about until we have the engineering paths laid out with Nintendo.

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If you’re a fan of My Chemical Romance, you’re in luck. There’s now a new 3 song pack available for 500 MS Points for Guitar Hero II.

From the press release:

My Chemical Romance track pack includes the following master recordings:

• Teenagers
• Famous Last Words
• This is How I Disappear

The three My Chemical Romance tracks available for download can be found on their latest highly touted and platinum-selling album, The Black Parade.

Another pack, another 500 MS Points. When is RedOctane and Microsoft going to drop the price on these? I really don’t see too many people buying this pack.

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The seven and a half minute powerslap rock opera known as One will also be coming to Guitar Hero 3 this fall reports our friends at joytstiq. The track was rumored to be a Rock Band exclusive but has found its way to expand to both titles. Expect both of these games to duel it out this holiday season for rock supremacy.

Activision sent out a press release today announcing 11 new tracks for Guitar Hero 3. We now officially have 26 normal and 1 boss battle track announced.

The new songs to rock your brain to are:

• Miss Murder (by AFI)
• Through Fire and Flames (by Dragonforce)
• Number of the Beast (by Iron Maiden)
• 3’s and 7’s (by Queens of the Stone Age)
• Suck My Kiss (by Red Hot Chili Peppers)
• Raining Blood (by Slayer)
• Reptillia (by The Strokes)
• Paranoid (as made famous by Black Sabbath)
• Cities on Flame (as made famous by Blue Oyster Cult)
• Mississippi Queen (as made famous by Mountain)
• La Grange (as made famous by ZZ Top)

I’m personally excited for Paranoid and Miss Murder. I’m sure I’ll get both Guitar Hero III and Rock Band, but I still think the track list for Rock Band looks better.

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It’s been a while since we’ve seen any new tracks for the 360 version of Guitar Hero II. Where’s the promised 50 downloadable songs guys?

Well, after much uproar on the official Guitar Hero forums, there’s light at the end of the tunnel. A community manager from RedOctane, going by the name of rodth, had this to say to cool the fires:

Hi folks,

First off, thanks for your feedbacks and concerns on the future of GH. While nothing’s been formally announced, look for something to come down the pipeline around the July timeframe

rodth

I’m hoping the prices go down for the new tracks, and also that a bunch of the songs from the 80s Edition make their way onto my Xbox 360.