Video Games: PC, PSP, PS3, xBox, and Wii Gaming News

A Christian video game maker, who makes Christian-themed clones of Dance Dance Revolution, plans to introduce Guitar Praise, a Guitar Hero clone, for the PC platform.

Grab the guitar and play along with top Christian bands! Shred those riffs or blast the bass…you add a unique sound to the solid Christian rock. But watch out: if you can’t keep up, the artists will take a break and stop the music. Crank it up and try again – you’ll soon be rockin’ with the best while praising the Lord!

I find the following BoingBoing comment relevant:

Christianity has always been useful as a social barometer to tell me when something I liked was no longer cool. It happened to etheral gothic pop (Evanescence), it happened to Dance, Dance, Revolution, (Dance Praise!) and Guitar Hero is next on the godly chopping block.

Rock Band 2, which is coming in September, comes with 84 killer songs. And, here’s the full list:

Let There Be Rock by AC/DC
Girl’s Gone Grey by AFI
You Oughta Know by Alanis Morissette
Man in the Box by Alice in Chains
Ramblin’ Man by Allman Brothers
Almost Easy by Avenged Sevenfold
Shooting Star by Bad Company
So Whatcha Want by Beastie Boys
E-Pro by Beck
Rebel Girl by Bikini Kill
White Wedding Pt. I by Billy Idol
One Way or Another by Blondie
Tangled Up in Blue by Bob Dylan
Livin’ on a Prayer by Bon Jovi
Hello There by Cheap Trick
Uncontrollable Urge by Devo
Feel the Pain by Dinosaur Jr.
Down with the Sickness by Disturbed
Panic Attack by Dream Theater
Hungry Like the Wolf by Duran Duran
Pump It Up by Elvis Costello
Go Your Own Way by Fleetwood Mac
Everlong by Foo Fighters
Shackler’s Revenge by Guns N’ Roses
PDA by Interpol
Mountain Song by Jane’s Addiction
Aqualung by Jethro Tull
The Middle by Jimmy Eat World
Bad Reputation by Joan Jett
Anyway You Want It by Journey
Painkiller by Judas Priest
Carry On Wayward Son by Kansas
Pretend We’re Dead by L7
Our Truth by Lacuna Coil
One Step Closer by Linkin Park
My Own Worst Enemy by Lit
De-Luxe by Lush
Colony of Birchmen by Mastodon
Peace Sells by Megadeth
Battery by Metallica
Where’d You Go by Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Float On by Modest Mouse
Ace of Spades by Motorhead
Drain You by Nirvana
Spirit in the Sky by Norman Greenbaum
Nine in the Afternoon by Panic at the Disco
That’s What You Get by Paramore
Alive by Pearl Jam
Lump by Presidents of the USA
Testify by Rage Against the Machine
Round & Round by Ratt
Give it Away by Red Hot Chili Peppers
Give it All by Rise Against
The Trees by Rush
Lazy Eye by Silversun Pickups
Today by Smashing Pumpkins
I Was Wrong by Social Distortion
Teenage Riot by Sonic Youth
Spoonman by Soundgarden
Cool for Cats by Squeeze
Bodhitsattya by Steely Dan
Rock’n Me by Steve Miller Band
Eye of the Tiger by Survivor
Chop Suey by System of a Down
Psycho Killer by Talking Heads
Master Exploder by Tenacious D
Souls of Black by Testament
New Kid in School by The Donnas
We Got the Beat by The Go-Go’s
Alabama Getaway by The Grateful Dead
American Woman by The Guess Who
Kids in America by The Muffs
Come Out & Play (Keep ‘em Separated) by The Offspring
Alex Chilton by The Replacements
Pinball Wizard by The Who

These are the bonus tracks:

Visions by Abnormality
Get Clean by Anarchy Club
Night Lies by Bang Camaro
Shoulder to the Plow by Breaking Wheel
Neighborhood by The Libyans
A Jagged Gorgeous Winter by The Main Drag
Conventional Lover by Speck
Supreme Girl by The Sterns
Rob the Prez-O-Dent by That Handsome Devil

Recently, at the E3, Harmonix’s Rock Band swept the best awards, with both Joystiq and Game Critic Awards gave it the Best in Show Award.  Alex Rigopulos, CEO of Harmonix, stated at E3 that all the major tasks are complete, and that they are just fine-tuning Rock Band at this point.  Rock Band is currently slated for the Holiday Season.  Check out some of the in-game screens:

Aeropause has the latest Rock Band details, via someone at NeoGaf who posted them all.  For those of you who don’t know exactly what Rock Band in, it’s Harmonix’s latest project, which offers the ability to function in a virtual band by allowing up to four players play guitars, bass, drums, and vocals.  Check these details out!

* One disk with 4 separate campaigns. Guitar, Drum, Bass and Vocal. Each can be played on its own from start to finish, in addition, a full band game is designed to allow for one huge co-op playthrough.
* Will feature full support for four player online play on both 360 and PS3. Any combination of on/offline play will work and each player can pick their own difficulty setting.
* Flexible community system will allow you to find bandmates anywhere in the world
* There will be a way for you to share your band’s triumphs with the world, but the details are still under wraps.

* Musical fret-boards are now transparent so you can see more of the background visuals. Guitar is on the left side of the screen, Bass on the right and drums down the middle. Vocals scroll from right to left along the top of the screen.
* Guitars and Bass now have 10 frets. 5 for the regular sections of the game and 5 for the newly designated solo sections.
* Whammy bar is back as is the tilt to activate rock band’s version of star power
* there is a five way switch on the guitar that allows for 5 different self-applied effects to the sound.
* Singing is now more in depth. There is a phoneme detector that will pick up individual vowels and consonants you say. Build up enough highly judged phrases and you’ll be able to sing free-form. If you do well enough in free-form, then you’ll trigger the vocalist’s version of star power.
* Microphone doubles as a tambourine on many songs to combat super long guitar solos where the singer doesn’t have much to do.
* Drums are apparently insane. You use actual sticks and hit one of four colored pads in front of you, in addition to a kick pedal attached to the drumming unit. Drummers will also have the ability to do fills etc. in their own little free-form section, do well and you’ll trigger the drummers version of star power.
* If one person fails, the whole band does not fail, their section simply turns gray and they have to sit out the rest of the song unless one your band mates initiates star power, which will bring you back into the fold.
* If all bandmates can reach the end of a song, you’ll be greeted with one huge free-form jam session.
* There will be a character creation system, and you can create multiple avatars that play different instruments.
* Four themed clothing stores in addition to licensed guitars and pedals and other rock paraphernalia.
* A full set of mo-cap stage movements have been added for each instrument. You can decide whether your vocalist moves like Axel Rose, or stands his ground like Clapton.
* 40 performance venues planned
* All peripherals will be unique to each platform. This isn’t the developer’s decision. Apparently MS peripherals require special circuit boards.
* You’ll be able to craft your own band logo

There’s more…. dear god is there more…
4 songs announced in the article, not sure if this is new or old but whatever.

* Weezer – Say It Ain’t So – Original Master Track
* Black Sabbath – Paranoid – Original Master Track
* The Who – Won’t Get Fooled Again – Original Master Track
* Nirvana – In Bloom – Original Master Track

INSTRUMENT DESCRIPTIONS

Guitars/Bass

* Guitars are an exact 3/4 replica of a Fender Strat.
* Xplorer guitars will work for 360 owners, but you may not be able to pass on all the new stuff this model has.
* Five familiar buttons near the top of the neck, five buttons near the body of the guitar. You will use these new buttons during specially designed solo sections using ONLY hammer ons and pull offs, no having to worry about your strum bar. Signature Fender 5-way switch has been added. By shopping at the in game store you’ll be able to purchase several virtual effects pedals such as Flange, Wah, Chorus and Echo. These can be applied during your song by setting the 5 way switch to the desired effect.

Microphone

* There will eventually be a Rock Band branded Mic
* Other USB mics will be supported, but Harmonix will probably NOT allow the use of the 360 headset due to its low fidelity. Mics will be usable as tambourines during certain songs.

Drums

* It consists of four pads, a kick pedal and legs for the enire unit to stand on. Think of it as a TV dinner tray stand only cooler
* Leftmost pad (red) is your snare drum, everything else doubles as toms and cymbals depending on the song.
* A set of real wooden drum sticks will ship with the unit.
* A piece of the stand can be taken off so that the unit can sit lower, or on a coffee table.
* There is a kick pedal
* If you play drums in this game on hard or expert, then you’re really playing the drums. Apparently you could sit down at a real set and play the same songs.

For those about to rock, we salute the 80’s.  Rather than release a full-blown sequel to the Guitar Hero series, Harmonix developed an expansion that serves as a tribute to the short-lived hair metal era, calling it Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s.  And although this is the last Guitar Hero title that Harmonix is producing, it won’t be the last GH title; Activision’s Neversoft division will be taking over future GH game developing.  Furthermore, GH Encore will be hitting all the next-gen consoles, including the Wii.  Check out the following partial song list!

1. Opening Licks
“I Want Candy” – Bow Wow Wow
“Holy Diver” – Dio
“Metal Health” – Quiet Riot (Encore)

2. Amp Warmers
“Nothin’ But a Good Time” – Poison
“I Wanna Rock” – Twisted Sister

3. String Snappers
“Lonely is the Night” – Billy Squier
“Synchronicity II” – The Police
“Heat of the Moment” – Asia
“Shakin’” – Eddie Money
“Bathroom Wall” – Faster Pussycat (Encore)

4. Return of the Shred
“Round and Round” – Ratt
“I Ran (So Far Away)” – A Flock of Seagulls

5. Relentless Riffs
“Play With Me” – Extreme

6. Furious Fretwork
“18 and Life” – Skid Row

The following songs have yet to be categorized into stages:

“Balls to the Wall” – Accept
“Only a Lad” – Oingo Boingo
“The Warrior” – Scandal
“We Got the Beat” – The Go-Go’s
“Devil’s Night Out” – The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

There are 30 songs total, 11 yet to be announced.  They’ve also licensed the class Gibson Les Paul guitar for the next-gen platforms, which means that the unfortunate PS2 will get stuck with the Gibson Kramer.  Guitar Hero Encore will hit stores this June, and will be followed up in the fall with Guitar Hero III.  Check out the official Rock the 80’s website for more exclusive multimedia.