TechBloggin.com

Filed under: Gaming

Are the blatant rockist tendencies of Guitar Hero and Rock Band ruining your enjoyment of those otherwise brilliant titles? Of course they are — we noted your b-boy flava from two blocks away. But don’t sweat it because Genius Products, 7 Studios and Quincy Jones III have your niche in their sights and will happily sell you Scratch: The Ultimate DJ when it hits the stores sometime in Spring 2009. With a game controller designed by Numark (known worldwide for its DJ controllers — there’s an example for you after the break), the game will be available for the Xbox 360 and PS3 and feature tracks by “many” (as yet unnamed) hip-hop artists. Trevor Drinkwater, President and CEO of Genius Products promises all and sundry “a cutting-edge game that captures the vital energy of hip-hop culture.” And here we thought they were cynically jumping on the Guitar Hero bandwagon! We stand corrected.Continue reading Scratch offers Numark-controlled Guitar Hero for hip-hop heads

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: Joseph L. Flatley

written by

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

Living room arenas around the world will soon become even more cluttered with toy instruments thanks to Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero: World Tour. Axes for the two respective franchises haven’t gotten along on the Wii, and while we’re still not sure whether the next generation will cooperate ezGear is hoping to bring some peace (and eliminate some clutter) for current Nintendo rockers with its ezJam Combo Guitar. Inside its baby-blue Strat-esque styling there’s port to plug in your Wiimote when playing Guitar Hero III as well as an integrated wireless transmitter for Rock Band. At $70 it’s a little more expensive than other third-parties like the Nyko Frontman, but playing lead in two bands instead of one is totally worth it.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: Tim Stevens

written by

Filed under: Gaming

Don’t even try to deny it — you’ve been holding one mean grudge against that ridiculously accurate DeepNote bot ever since you saw it dominate Guitar Hero in mid-July. Really though, all that pent up aggression is completely unnecessary, and if you’ve been fruitlessly aiming to concoct one of your own, we’ve found the perfect place to start. The video posted up after the jump gives a fantastic overview of how the device actually works, and while it’s far (very far) from simple, it’s nothing the seasoned DIYer couldn’t handle on an extended weekend. Give it a look if you’re head over heels for PCBs and flashing LEDs (oh, and shameless rock ‘n roll).

[Thanks, Jeremy]Continue reading DeepNote Guitar Hero bot reveals its secrets on video

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: Darren Murph

written by

Filed under: Gaming

Brace yourself — the moment you’ve been waiting all year for has finally arrived. Yes, rock star wannabes, the Guitar Hero Air Guitar Rocker is finally in major retailers. The Jada Toys’ device, which was showcased at CES, consists of a miniature guitar amplifier, a sensor-laden belt buckle, an assortment of pics and an Air Cartridge, which packs “ten signature guitar riffs” ranging in skill from one to five. Once you rock the wind out of the $29.99 base unit, you can look forward to “encore packs” — which will include themed belt buckles and new Air Cartridges — arriving later this summer for $14.99 each. Oddly enough, we think a “gnarly” is order here.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: Darren Murph

written by

Filed under: Gaming, Robots

It’s clear that everyone is looking for a way to game the system these days. The video game system, that is. In the vein of that Guitar Hero cheat-mod we saw the other day, four undergraduate students at Texas A&M University have built a Guitar Hero playing robot that can shred with the best of them… no hands required. The system — dubbed Slashbot — works as a completely standalone process, using a converter box to translate specific pixel information from the screen intro note presses and strums on the mechanical contraption. On average, the bot is achieving 90 percent accuracy in expert mode, and has yet to be defeated by a human challenger. Next up? It plans to eradicate all human life on Earth, of course! Check the video of Slashbot playing — what else? — Cliffs of Dover after the break.Continue reading Guitar Hero ‘Slashbot’ riffs uncontrollably, plots mankind’s downfall

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: Joshua Topolsky

written by

Filed under: Gaming

It looks like Wii users wanting to expand their Guitar Hero arsenal (or replace an axe after they got a little too into things) won’t have to wait much longer, as Red Octane is now set to let loose a separate wireless Les Paul controller for the system. It doesn’t exactly come cheap, however, with the company listing the controller at $70 on its own website, although Toys R Us is now taking pre-orders for $60 (Best Buy and others don’t seem to be offering it just yet). What’s more, while Red Octane only goes so far as say “ETA: March 2008,” Toys R Us is giving a ship date of March 4th, so it looks like this one should be landing in your capable hands in no time.

Read - Red Octane
Read - Toys R Us

[Thanks, Nic]

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: Donald Melanson

written by

Filed under: Gaming

This hack is neither cheap nor easy, but if for some reason you just have to pull off a feat of Guitar Hero virtuosity but lack the necessary skill, the folks at SYSTM have now provided details on how to automate the controller so you never miss a note. At the heart of the hack is a so-called “show control system,” which runs a hefty $210 but will let you program all the necessary strums and button presses with some seemingly not to difficult to use software. Of course, there’s also the little matter of cracking open the guitar and wiring everything up, but we’re guessing that won’t be much of a problem for anyone actually still considering the hack. If that includes you, you can get the complete rundown in video form at the link below.

[Via Hack n Mod, thanks Nick L]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: Donald Melanson

written by

Filed under: Gaming

We spotted this Guitar Hero clone while strolling the floors of Toy Fair 2008. It’s hard to really get up in arms about “Guitar Fever” swiping intellectual property with Rock Band all copping Guitar Hero’s style, and it’s great that you can pick up one of these for $50 and plug it straight into your TV with no console required. In fact, all could be forgiven if it weren’t for the fact that we’ve heard scads of user-composed Commodore 64 tunes that sounded higher-fidelity than what this was pumping out.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: Paul Miller

written by