Metallica Coming to Guitar Hero?
June 6, 2008 13:03
The world of Guitar Hero just keeps on strumming.
Once again, we can barely get one story up about Guitar Hero without a flood of new information coming in, and the big news this week is a possible Guitar Hero: Metallica game coming this year. News broke recently courtesy of an analyst at Wedbush Morgan Securities who found a brief mention of a planned but unannounced Metallic game in a recent SEC filing by Activision. Neither Activision nor fellow Guitar Hero publisher RedOctane has confirmed a Metallica version. However, a post earlier this week on Metallica's official Web site teased a possible announcement in the near future.
"An all Metallica Guitar Hero game . . . fact or fiction? Idle internet gossip, wishful thinking, or the real deal? Let's just say that perhaps, just maybe, if you've already mastered "One" on GHIII there might be a pile of 'Tallica songs in your future. More details later this summer..."
Hot on the heels of the Guitar Hero: Aerosmith game, a Metallica title could open up the flood gates for the franchise. At first reluctant to be a part of the Guitar Hero phenomenon, Metallica, who are notoriously picky with what they put their name on, are apparently diving in deep into the game pool after getting their feet wet with Guitar Hero III: The Legends of Rock. The band has also had a slight change of heart about MP3 downloads recently and will offer fans exclusive previews and songs on its new Web site "Mission: Metallica."
We at Tom's Games wouldn't be surprised if a Metallica game coincided with the release of their new album, which is slated to come out this September. The Guitar Hero games have provided a big boost for bands to get their music out into the world, and groups new and established are increasingly looking to games as a new way to distribute their tunes. For example, Motley Crue's new single sold 10,000 copies through iTunes and Amazon, but sold 47,000 copies through the Xbox 360 version of Rock Band (the numbers are from the band's management, not official sales figures from Rock Band).
It seems like becoming part of the Guitar Hero series is in vogue these, though artists don't appear to be getting much cash out of the deal. In recent interviews in Guitar Player and Guitar World magazines, Slash talked about his involvement in Guitar Hero and why it was a difficult experience to become the Guitar Hero boss. Apparently, the former Guns 'N Roses Slash was paid a flat fee to do the boss character. "I wish there were royalties," Slash told Guitar Player. "I tried to negotiate a royalty, but they were not going for it whatsoever. They were like, 'Guitar Hero is an established game, and we want to incorporate you into it. We'll pay you a flat fee, or get someone else to do it.'"
Still, Slash agreed to do it and was "over-the-top happy" to be involved calling himself "a closet Guitar Hero junkie getting to join the team." Although Slash has done a number of endorsements, he's also turned down a number of offers, and carefully considered what any endorsement deal could do to his credibility.
No matter what he made for being a part of Guitar Hero, the motion capture sessions Slash had to go through to become the boss character weren't easy. He called it "one of the hardest situations to get inspired in," according to Guitar World. "That was six or seven hours out of my comfort zone. I had to wear a mo-cap suit loaded with all these camera receivers, and stand in this big rectangular space with cameras all around me. You basically have to 'rock out' within the rectangle. Which was weird, because it's hard for me to pretend to do what I do - I just do it. But halfway through, it started to become fun...it was all worth it in the end." After his boss motion capture session, Slash went into a more comfortable recording studio and wrote the game's theme song.
Once Slash got so caught up in playing Guitar Hero he almost missed band rehearsal with Velvet Revolver. He then went "cold turkey" from the game, and hid it away so he wouldn't be tempted to play it again for a while, according to Guitar World. "It was sort of like booze or drugs: I had to get it out of my sight (laughs)," Slash said.
Stay tuned for more Guitar Hero news.
Related Articles and Videos
| HOME |
