Guitar Hero World Tour: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 19:43, 8 August 2008
Guitar Hero World Tour | |
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File:Ghwt cover.jpg | |
Developer(s) | Neversoft (Xbox 360/PS3) Vicarious Visions (Wii) Budcat Creations (PS2) |
Publisher(s) | Activision |
Series | Guitar Hero |
Platform(s) | PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360 |
Release | October 26, 2008[1] |
Genre(s) | Rhythm Simulation[2] |
Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Guitar Hero World Tour (initially referred to as Guitar Hero IV) is a forthcoming entry in the music video game Guitar Hero series, and is being developed by Neversoft and published by RedOctane and Activision. The game is expected to be available for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, and Wii consoles on October 26, 2008.[1]A version of the game has been rated by the ESRB for Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh computers, though Activision has not officially confirmed this version.[3]
While the game will continue to feature the use of a guitar-shaped controller to simulate the playing of rock music, Guitar Hero World Tour will be the first game in the Guitar Hero series to feature drum and microphone controllers for percussion and vocal parts.[4] Gameplay will be similar to the competing Rock Band series of games. Furthermore, according to Game Informer, the game will allow users to create new songs, including drums, rhythm guitar, lead guitar and bass guitar, although the studio mode will not allow players to record vocals, officially due to copyright and storage limitations, among other undisclosed reasons. Players may upload and share their songs as well as download others' songs through a service known as GHTunes.[5]
Gameplay
Guitar Hero World Tour will build on the existing gameplay from previous Guitar Hero games, in which players attempt to simulate the playing of rock music using special guitar-shaped controllers. World Tour expands beyond the core guitar-based gameplay by introducing the ability to play drums or sing vocals, and supporting the ability for up to four players to play together in a virtual band through these different instruments. Successfully hitting notes will increase the player's or band's score, as well as increase the "Rock Meter" that represents the song's performance. Missed notes are not scored and negatively affect the Rock Meter. If the Rock Meter drops too low, the song will end prematurely, with the virtual audience booing the band off stage. Successfully completing a song will garner a one to five-star rating based on the accumulated score, and rewards such as in-game money to be used to buy new guitars and outfits for characters.
The guitar interface remains relatively unchanged in World Tour. As with previous Guitar Hero titles, the guitar and bass player must hold down the correct fret button(s) on the controller while also strumming in time with the notes as they scroll on-screen. The bass guitar player will encounter note tracks that include a straight line across the on-screen fret, indicating an open E string, and is played by strumming the controller without hitting any fret buttons.[6] The drum interface is similar to the guitar, with each on-screen note track equivalent to a colored drum head on the controller, with the bass drum indicated by a line across the note track. The drum player only needs to hit the correct drum pads in time to successfully play their track. Drum tracks will include "armored" notes, which players may strike harder than prior notes to obtain additional points. The drum career will also feature sections of a song during which the player may play a drum solo, emphasized by in-game choreography that focuses on the drummer.[7] The vocal track requires the player to match the pitch of the notes in a manner similar to Karaoke Revolution to be successful. Special sections of each players' note track are marked with glowing notes, which, if completed successfully, helps to build up "Star Power". Once enough Star Power is accumulated, it can be released via various means in order to boost the band's score multiplier. For guitar and bass, this done by lifting the guitar controller vertically or by pressing a button on the guitar face; for drums, by striking both cymbal pads on the controller at the same time; for vocals, by tapping the microphone or making a similarly quick sound.
In addition to the normal four difficulty levels (Easy, Medium, Hard, and Expert) for each song and instrument, a new "Beginner" level has been added in World Tour.[8] This difficulty is aimed to allow players with greatly reduced ability to play; notes are generally simple straight lines in time with bass drum beats, and only require any fret button to be held while the note is strummed or any drum to be hit.
Game modes
The traditional single player Career Mode has been reworked such that instead of playing through a linear setlist, players will encounter gigs during career mode, which offer a choice of songs to play; one does not, however, have to complete every song in the list to proceed. The game will allow the player to change their difficulty during a career, and possibly during an individual song. The player will also be able to switch to a different instrument during the same Career without having to restart. There are four instrument career modes within the game: lead guitar, bass guitar, drums, and vocals.[7]
There is also a Band Career mode, which can be advanced by oneself or with others offline or online. A player that has not progressed as far as another player's band, or has progressed farther, will still gain benefits for successfully completing songs when playing together. The in-game interface features vocals along the top of the screen, and three tracks underneath, for bass, drums, and guitar. Full four-player bands will be able to compete with other bands online in a "Battle of the Bands" mode.[9]
The Boss Battles that were present in Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock and Guitar Hero: Aerosmith will return; however, the format has been tweaked to remove the focus on attack power-ups and instead features a call-and-response mechanic similar to the existing Face-Off mode. Artists are writing new original songs for their battles.[7] The current battle mode will remain playable in multiplayer.
Characters and customization
Users will be able to use a "Create-a-Rocker" mode, based on the similar "Create-a-Skater" mode in Neversoft's Tony Hawk series and the advanced character creation scheme from the Tiger Woods PGA Tour series. Players will be able to affect their character's poise, clothing, tattoos, makeup, and age. Selected characters from previous Guitar Hero games will also be available as starting templates for creating a rocker. As a result of the present lawsuit with Gibson Guitars, the player will also be able to customize their own guitar for the game to a high degree. Drum sets and microphones will also be customizable.[7]
In addition to the game and player's own characters, character models based off famous musicians will be in the game. Hayley Williams was confirmed to be a playable character at Activision's press conference held simultaneously with E3 2008,[10]; Jimi Hendrix,[11] Ozzy Osbourne,[12] and Zakk Wylde[12] will also be playable characters. Both Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins[13] and Travis Barker of Blink-182 and +44[14] have been shown doing motion capture for the game. A recent survey suggests that the game will also feature caricatures of Ted Nugent and Sting.[15]
Instruments
RedOctane is developing a new guitar controller for the game, featuring a touch-sensitive pad just below the normal five fret buttons along the neck of the guitar. The pad will allow the player to alter the sound of sustained notes, strum without using the strum bar, and tap or slide their fingers on the pad to play notes in certain sections without strumming at all.[6] The touchpad can also be used for sustains and staccato notes in the music studio feature while recording guitar, and is used for finer control over loops when recording other instruments. Also, the guitar will have longer whammy bar for better access, and the strum bar will be a bit quieter and longer. The select button, used to activate Star Power, has been redesigned to bear the appearance of the guitar's bridge and moved just below the strum bar for easier access. The guitar also features start/pause buttons on either side of the strum bar.[6]
Previews of the game revealed that a wireless,[14][6] velocity-sensitive[9] six-piece drum controller is being developed, with two adjustable cymbal pads, a snare, two toms, and a bass drum pedal.[7][16] The drum kit was designed with help from John Devacka, who is credited with creating the first music game, MTV Drumscape, and developed key patents used for most modern music games that are now owned by Activision.[7] During song creation, the velocity sensitivity will be used to allow players to alter the sound made by the drum.[14] The drum set also will have a MIDI port in the back, allowing for users to connect any drum kit, drum machine, or other compatible device.[17] Activision has promised that the drum set will be the "most realistic drum experience ever in a video game".[9] The Wii version drum controller include a slot for the Wii Remote to fit into, enabling it to become wireless, much like the guitar controller introduced for the Wii version of Guitar Hero III.
The official microphone used for vocals uses a USB connection rather than a wireless one; players may alternatively use any standard USB microphone. When playing vocals, a standard controller will be necessary in order to navigate menus, select difficulties, and pause.[18]
New instrument controllers are not required to play World Tour. Older Guitar Hero guitar controllers will still work with the game.[6] Activision also stated during their press conference held alongside E3 2008 that for Xbox 360 users, the existing Rock Band instrument controllers as well as other third party controllers will also work in Guitar Hero World Tour, though it is unknown if Rock Band 2's new instruments will work.[19] Vicarious Visions has confirmed that controllers developed for the Wii version of Rock Band will not be compatible with the Wii version of World Tour. World Tour will adjust the tracks in the game to account for the instrument controller being used. For example, sections of the lead guitar track that are designed to be played on the new controller's touchpad can be played by tapping the frets on older controllers without strumming.[6] When using Rock Band's drum controller, which has one fewer drum pad than the World Tour unit, two of the drum tracks will merge, reducing the note track to four drum pads and bass pedal.[17]
Neversoft director Brian Bright stated that the instruments designed for World Tour would also work with the first Rock Band, although he was unsure of whether they would work with Rock Band 2. This is currently known only to apply to the Xbox 360 versions of the games, and is known not to apply to the Wii versions.[20]
On July 31, 2008, Logitech and Activision announced that the former company will produce "premium" instruments to be released later this year.[3]
Development
The inclusion of additional instruments into the Guitar Hero series was hinted at by trademarks registered by Activision and RedOctane for "Guitar Villain", "Drum Villain", "Keyboard Hero", "Drum Hero" and "Band Hero".[21] Analysts speculated that future Guitar Hero games in 2008 will need to include additional instrument peripherals in order to compete against former Guitar Hero developer Harmonix's Rock Band.[22]
The fourth major entry to the Guitar Hero series, at the time named Guitar Hero IV, was officially announced upon the merger of Activision and Vivendi Games in December 2007.[23] Activision's CEO Bobby Kotick later revealed that Guitar Hero IV will branch out into other instruments including vocals;[4] this was further confirmed by an initial preview from Game Informer.[5] The game's new name, Guitar Hero World Tour, was officially announced by Activision in May 2008.[24]
According to a Game Informer preview, the addition of drum functionality came from work initially done towards the Drum Hero title, but later folded into Guitar Hero after Neversoft was chosen as developer of the series.[7]
The custom song creation feature was inspired by the current "hacking environment" that has arisen from the first two Guitar Hero games, where players would create new tracks and share them with others.[9][25]
Soundtrack
All of the songs in the game will be master recordings, a first for the series. Neversoft claims that there will be more songs on disk than any other Guitar Hero game.[5][7] IGN reports that the game will feature over 85 songs.[6] While Neversoft and Activision have expressed intentions to release content available for download (downloadable content) more frequently, existing downloadable songs for Guitar Hero III will not be playable in World Tour, according to IGN.[6][26] Downloadable content will be available through the in-game store and will include full album downloads and more regular releases compared to Guitar Hero III.[6] Project director Brian Blight claims that they have "a pretty even split between the '80s, '90s, and classic rock" with a "good amount of emerging bands".[7] The following table lists songs that have been confirmed to be in the game.
Reliable game journalists have stated that the game will include additional songs from several other performers. A preview by Game Informer suggests that Dream Theater may be included as well.[7] A leak from a market research firm also mentioned that the game would feature Tool, Korn, and Muse.[34] A video demonstrating motion capture for the game also featured Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith along with The Police drummer Stewart Copeland commenting on the performance of the prototype drum set.[14] NOFX have also stated at a recent show that their song "Soul Doubt" would be in the game.[35]
Other sources have provided information regarding the inclusion of other songs within the game, though such information has not been confirmed by RedOctane or Activision. When Chris Vance was asked if the Aerosmith song "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing”" would be in Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, he confirmed that it "will not be one of the songs that’s in the game" but commented that the song "would be much more suited to a full band game if anything," which some believe indicates the song's possible inclusion in Guitar Hero World Tour.[36] Joe Satriani has said that Guitar Hero World Tour and Rock Band 2 "have just licensed "Satch Boogie" and "Surfing with the Alien" for upcoming versions," according to an interview with Satriani in Guitar World Magazine; the latter song has since been released as downloadable content for Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.[37] At the San Diego American Idol Tour concert, a brief trailer of the game was shown with the twelve American Idol finalists playing the game, with the song "We're An American Band" by Grand Funk Railroad featured in the background.[38] The Jimi Hendrix estate has sent master tapes of the songs "Foxy Lady" and "Little Wing" to RedOctane for use in the game, but their presence in the final version has not been confirmed.[39]
Custom songs
Guitar Hero World Tour will allow players to create their own songs and share them with others through the Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, and Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection internet capabilities. Vocals are not supported in this mode due to copyright concerns.[5][7] Originally, the game was to contain a "Jam Over" mode, which would allow players to create new tracks over the existing songs on the disk,[7] but Activision had stated that this mode had been taken out of the game.[9] It has been confirmed that Line 6 will be allowing different sets of amplifiers to be used in Custom Songs mode, and that distortion and effects will be available for the first time in a Guitar Hero game.[40]
The "Advanced Studio" mode allows the creation of new and original pieces of music, and is stated by Game Informer to be similar to Apple's GarageBand software. The player can create the tracks for each song by playing it in real or slowed time, with the game quantizing offbeat notes to the nearest beat as set by the player, or tracks can be constructed one note at a time. Both guitar and drum effects can be set and changed through the song.[7] The notes played by the user will be the default "Expert" difficulty track, and the lower difficulty versions will be generated by the game.[6] Eurogamer reported that they were able to successfully create a near-perfect version of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana.[41]
Custom songs will be able to be uploaded to the "GH Tunes" service, which will be used to allow other players to rate songs, as well as search and download songs by these ratings, Neversoft will include a Showcase to offer some of the best user works alongside new songs from popular artists. Players will only be able to upload five songs to the service at the start, but players that have highly rated songs will gain the ability to upload more. The PlayStation 2 version of the game will feature custom song creation, but will not support the uploading service.[7]
Downloadable content
In addition to custom songs, players of the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii versions will be able to download new licensed songs for the game. This is the first game in the Guitar Hero series to support download functionality on the Wii.[42] Wii users will be able to store downloaded songs on either the Wii's internal memory or on an SD Card in a "Rock Archive," and then will be able to create playlists from this.[43]
At the Microsoft Conference at E3 2008, it was revealed that Metallica's new album Death Magnetic would be offered for download[44]. Three R.E.M. songs off their new album Accelerate were also confirmed for release in October: "Horse to Water", "Man-Sized Wreath", and "Supernatural Superserious".[45] It has also been confirmed that more songs from Jimi Hendrix will be released as downloadable content, in addition to the ones already in the game.[46]
See also
References
- ^ a b "Guitar Hero World Tour". IGN. Retrieved 2008-08-08.
- ^ "Guitar Hero: World Tour Page". GamePro. Retrieved 2008-07-30.
- ^ a b Linde, Aaron (2008-07-31). "Guitar Hero World Tour PC Edition Listed by ESRB; Logitech to Offer 'Premium' Instrument Controllers". Shacknews. Retrieved 2008-07-31.
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(help) - ^ a b Hatfield, Daemon (2008-04-21). "Guitar Hero IV Branching Out". IGN. Retrieved 2008-04-22.
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(help) - ^ a b c d Faylor, Chris (2008-05-12). "Guitar Hero 4 Includes Song Creation and Sharing, Multiple Instruments, Van Halen, Linkin Park". Shacknews. Retrieved 2008-05-12.
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(help) - ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Brudvig, Erik (2008-06-19). "Guitar Hero: World Tour First Look". IGN. Retrieved 2008-06-19.
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(help) - ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Guitar Hero 4: Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Meets Reality". Game Informer. June 2008. pp. 48–57.
- ^ "Guitar Hero World Tour first look at Gamespot".
- ^ a b c d e Pigna, Kris (2008-05-21). "New Details on Guitar Hero World Tour". 1UP. Retrieved 2008-05-21.
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(help) - ^ Miller, Ross (2008-07-15). "Joystiq live at Activision's Non-E3 press conference". Joystiq. Retrieved 2008-08-02.
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(help) - ^ a b c CBC News (2008-07-18). "Guitar Hero game franchise scores Hendrix hits". CBC. Retrieved 2008-07-18.
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(help) - ^ a b c d Synder, Mike (2008-08-07). "Ozzy Osbourne dishes on 'Guitar Hero' and technology". USA Today. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
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(help) - ^ Shearer, Jordan (2008-06-24). "Billy Corgan Boss Battle in GH: World Tour?". Console Hero. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
- ^ a b c d "Guitar Hero World Tour: Drummer Demo Trailer". Game Trailers. 2008-05-24. Retrieved 2008-05-24.
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(help) - ^ McWhertor, Michael (2008-06-27). "Survey Leaks Guitar Hero IV Playable Rockers Including Hendrix, Ozzy, And Sting". Kotaku. Retrieved 2008-08-02.
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(help) - ^ McElroy, Justin (2008-05-14). "Game Informer Snags First Pic of Guitar Hero IV Drums". Joystiq. Retrieved 2008-05-14.
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(help) - ^ a b Kohler, Chris (2008-07-15). "Xbox Rock Band Instruments Work With New Guitar Hero". Wired. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
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(help) - ^ Casamassina, Matt (2008-06-20). "Bringing Guitar Hero World Tour to Wii". IGN. Retrieved 2008-06-26.
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(help) - ^ Tolito, Stephan (2008-07-16). "Activision: 'Guitar Hero: World Tour' Is Compatible With 'Rock Band' Instruments". MTV. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
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(help) - ^ "World Tour intruments to be compatible with original Rock Band". IGN. 2008-07-17. Retrieved 2008-07-17.
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(help) - ^ Sinclair, Brendan (2007-01-17). "Activision calls dibs on Guitar Villain, Drum Villain". GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-11-10.
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(help) - ^ Boyer, Brandon (2007-08-01). "Janco: Guitar Hero To Add New Instruments In 2008". Gamasutra. Retrieved 2007-08-01.
- ^ Elliot, Phil (2007-12-03). "Activision Blizzard fact sheet reveals some unannounced titles in the pipeline". Game Industry Biz. Retrieved 2007-12-03.
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(help) - ^ Minkley, Johnny (2008-05-21). "Guitar Hero World Tour revealed". Retrieved 2008-05-21.
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(help) - ^ Minkley, Johnny (2008-05-21). "Neversoft talks World Tour". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2008-05-21.
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(help) - ^ However, Kotaku has reported that downloadable content will work in the game, though no source for this information has been provided. McWheator, Michael (2008-06-20). "Yes, Guitar Hero III Downloads Will Work In Guitar Hero World Tour". Kotaku. Retrieved 2008-06-25.
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(help) - ^ "Guitar Hero: World Tour demo vid". Kotaku. 2008-05-28. Retrieved 2008-05-29.
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(help) - ^ "Guitar Hero World Tour trailer". Game Trailers. 2008-05-21. Retrieved 2008-05-21.
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(help) - ^ a b c d e f g "Hot Stuff". Stuff Magazine. September 2008. pp. 14–17.
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(help) - ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Brudvig, Erik (2008-08-07). "Guitar Hero World Tour Rides the Crazy Train". IGN. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
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(help) - ^ Kyle Orland (2008-07-16). "Guitar Hero World Tour Demo Video Blowout". Joystiq.
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(help) - ^ "At the Drive-In's "One Armed Scissor" to appear in Guitar Hero IV". Punknews.org. 2008-05-08. Retrieved 2008-05-09.
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(help) - ^ "Big Guitar Hero World Tour Information". Console Hero. 2008-06-15. Retrieved 2008-06-15.
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(help) - ^ "Feb-22-2008 - NOFX Wiki". NOFX Wiki. 2008-02-22. Retrieved 2008-07-22.
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(help) - ^ "Episode 16: Through the Fire and Flames Full Combo'd by iamchris4life". Starpower Podcast. 2008-06-11. Retrieved 2008-08-02.
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(help) - ^ Bishop, Stuart (2008-05-02). "Joe Satriani heads to Guitar Hero and Rock Band". Computer and Video Games. Retrieved 2008-08-02.
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(help) - ^ Ryan, Tyler (2008-07-08). "Guitar Hero: World Tour to Get Funky". Console Hero. Retrieved 2008-08-02.
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(help) - ^ "News". Rolling Stone. 2008-08-07. p. 12.
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(help) - ^ Kreps, Daniel (2008-07-11). ""Guitar Hero," Line 6 to Bring Amps, Effects to "World Tour"". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2008-08-02.
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(help) - ^ Minkley, Johnny (2008-06-19). "Guitar Hero World Tour". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2008-08-02.
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(help) - ^ Faylor, Chris (2008-05-22). "Guitar Hero 4 Wii Supports Downloadable Content". Shacknews. Retrieved 2008-05-22.
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(help) - ^ Mullen, Michael (2008-06-20). "Guitar Hero World Tour for Wii Getting Downloadable Tracks". Game Daily. Retrieved 2008-06-21.
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(help) - ^ "E3 2008: Activision Announces Partnership with Metallica for Release of New Record for Guitar Hero". IGN. 2008-07-15. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
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(help) - ^ "FIRST WE TAKE BERLIN...THEN WE TAKE LOCARNO - - - OR SOMETHING". R.E.M.HQ. 2008-07-16. Retrieved 2008-07-19.
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(help) - ^ "Jimi Hendrix will play 'Guitar Hero'". USAToday. 2008-07-16. Retrieved 2008-07-19.
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