Guitar Hero just totally upped the ante. We knew there would be a music studio in the game where you could create your own songs, but now comes even sicker news…you will be able to import MIDI tracks into the game to create playable tracks from your songs. Here is what ShackNews has to say about it:

The fabled "new instrument" for Guitar Hero World Tour is actually no instrument at all. Instead, it's a feature that will let PC users import MIDI tracks into the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game, Neversoft project director Brian Bright has informed Shacknews.

The MIDI sequencer functionality encompasses rhythm guitar, lead guitar, bass, keyboards and drum tracks on the PlayStation 3, but will be limited to drum tracks on the Xbox 360 due to unspecified "hardware issues."

People have been hacking their way into Guitar Hero since the first iteration of the game, and Activision clearly took notice making it much easier. For all those novices out there, there are still 86 awesome tracks announced for the game to keep you busy.

A few months ago we revealed the entire track listing for Rock Band and today Activision announced the full track listing for it's main competitor, Guitar Hero: On Tour, which will feature, for the first time ever, drums, mic and bass. Full tracklisting below. To view all our previous Guitar Hero: On Tour coverage, click here.

311 – "Beautiful Disaster"
30 SECONDS TO MARS - "The Kill"
AIRBOURNE - "Too Much Too Young"
THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND - "Ramblin' Man"
ANOUK - "Good God"
THE ANSWER - "Never Too Late"
AT THE DRIVE-IN - "One Armed Scissor"
BEASTIE BOYS - "No Sleep Till Brooklyn"
BEATSTEAKS - "Hail to the Freaks"
BILLY IDOL - "Rebel Yell"
BLACK LABEL SOCIETY - "Stillborn"
BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB - "Weapon of Choice"
BLINK-182 - "Dammit"
BLONDIE - "One Way or Another"
BOB SEGER & THE SILVER BULLET BAND - "Hollywood Nights"
BON JOVI - "Livin' On A Prayer"
BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE - "Scream Aim Fire"
COLDPLAY - "Shiver"
CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL - "Up Around The Bend"
THE CULT - "Love Removal Machine"
DINOSAUR JR. - "Feel The Pain"
THE DOORS - "Love Me Two Times"
DREAM THEATER - "Pull Me Under"
THE EAGLES - "Hotel California"
THE ENEMY - "Aggro"
FILTER - "Hey Man, Nice Shot"
FLEETWOOD MAC - "Go Your Own Way"
FOO FIGHTERS - "Everlong"
THE GUESS WHO - "American Woman"
HUSH PUPPIES - "You're Gonna Say Yeah!"
INTERPOL - "Obstacle 1"
JANE'S ADDICTION - "Mountain Song"
JIMI HENDRIX - "Purple Haze (Live)"
JIMI HENDRIX - "The Wind Cries Mary"
JIMMY EAT WORLD - "The Middle"
JOE SATRIANI - "Satch Boogie"
KENT - "Vinternoll2"
KORN - "Freak On A Leash"
LACUNA COIL - "Our Truth"
LENNY KRAVITZ - "Are You Gonna Go My Way"
LINKIN PARK - "What I've Done"
THE LIVING END - "Prisoner of Society"
LOS LOBOS - "La Bamba"
LOST PROPHETS - "Rooftops (A Liberation Broadcast)"
LYNYRD SKYNYRD - "Sweet Home Alabama (Live)"
MARS VOLTA - "L'Via L'Viaquez"
MC5's Wayne Kramer - "Kick Out The Jams"
METALLICA - "Trapped Under Ice"
MICHAEL JACKSON - "Beat It"
MODEST MOUSE - "Float On"
MOTÖRHEAD - "Overkill"
MUSE - "Assassin"
NEGRAMARO - "Nuvole e Lenzuola"
NIRVANA - "About a Girl (Unplugged)"
NO DOUBT - "Spiderwebs"
NOFX - "Soul Doubt"
OASIS - "Some Might Say"
OZZY OSBOURNE - "Crazy Train"
OZZY OSBOURNE - "Mr. Crowley"
PARAMORE - "Misery Business"
PAT BENATAR - "Heartbreaker"
R.E.M. - "The One I Love"
RADIO FUTURA - "Escuela De Calor"
RISE AGAINST - "Re-Education Through Labor"
SEX PISTOLS - "Pretty Vacant"
SILVERSUN PICKUPS - "Lazy Eye"
SMASHING PUMPKINS - "Today"
STEELY DAN - "Do It Again"
STEVE MILLER BAND - "The Joker"
STING - "Demolition Man (Live)"
THE STONE ROSES - "Love Spreads"
STUCK IN THE SOUND - "Toy Boy"
SUBLIME - "Santeria"
SURVIVOR - "Eye of the Tiger"
SYSTEM OF A DOWN - "B.Y.O.B."
TED NUGENT - "Stranglehold"
TED NUGENT's Original Guitar Duel Recording
TOKIO HOTEL - "Monsoon"
TOOL - "Parabola"
TOOL - "Schism"
TOOL - "Vicarious"
TRUST - "Antisocial"
VAN HALEN - "Hot For Teacher"
WILLIE NELSON - "On The Road Again"
WINGS - "Band on the Run"
ZAKK WYLDE's Original Guitar Duel Recording

Which game do you think has the better songs? Will you be getting both or just one? Let us know in the comments.

Greetings fellow metal heads and gamers. This week brings us more metal for our plastic music games. First off, Harmonix shows more love for All That Remains, after putting them in Guitar Hero 2. Straight from Harmonix themselves, this week, as DLC for Rock Band, we get a 3 pack from, as they call them, the metal band, All That Remains.

ALL THAT REMAINS 3 PACK - $2.99 (240 Microsoft Points)
THIS CALLING - $.99 (80 Microsoft Points)
CHIRON $.99 (80 Microsoft Points)
TWO WEEKS $.99 (80 Microsoft Points)

"Two Weeks" and "Chiron" are exclusive to Rock Band for one week before their new album Overcome is released on September 16th. Each track will be available for a one month special offer of $.99 (80 Microsoft Points) per track or $2.99 (240 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360) for the three-pack. These tracks will be up on the Xbox Live Marketplace on Tuesday, and the PlayStation Network Store on Thursday. All tracks are masters.

Regardless of what you think of the Metallica album, Death Magnetic, (here's what we think) it is still being released for Guitar Hero 3 this Friday, day and date of the new album release. This is the first time that a full album download will be available for a rhythm based music game, the same day the actual album is in stores. According to Joystiq, this download will also be forward compatible with Guitar Hero World Tour when it releases in October. But for now you will just have to settle with playing only the guitar portion of the songs, even though there are two exclusive versions of "Suicide & Redemption" with extended solos to make it that much more difficult. You can get this for free from Best Buy when you pre-order the album, or you can purchase it on Xbox Live for 1440 points, or in real world dollars, $18 or on the PSN for $17.99. Sell outs, indeed.

Mutha fuckin' TOOL will be featured in the upcoming Guitar Hero: World Tour video game. Their hit songs "Schism", "Vicarious" and "Parabola" will be playable. The game will also include an all new-venue designed in collaboration with the band showcasing their unique art style, whatever that means. Either way, this has me slightly more interested in this game, as my original plan was to just buy Rock Band 2, because the Rock Band setlist just looks really sexy but this certainly makes GH a little more enticing. Are you going to buy the game? Let us know in the comments…

Rock Band fiends…Entertainment Weekly recently got the scoop on a bunch of new full album releases coming to the Rock Band platform in the coming weeks. The most exciting being the seminal 1986 classic Peace Sells…But Who's Buying? by Megadeth.

While being a worthwhile addition to the Rock Band library, I would've much have rather seen Rust In Peace in there. That would be a truly Dave-riffic release. But, beggars can't really be choosers. This also strikes me as a little strange, as the actual song, Peace Sells, is one of the confirmed songs from the forthcoming game, Rock Band 2. Will the full album download be a little cheaper since the title track is already on disk? Anyways, just download Peace Sells…But Who's Buying? the day it is released, and let our numbers do our talking and maybe we will get more full metal album downloads in the future.

Here are the other albums being released:
Foo Fighters' The Colour and the Shape
Stevie Ray Vaughn's Texas Flood
Jane's Addiction's Nothing's Shocking
Red Hot Chili Peppers's Blood Sugar Sex Magik

No official release date for these has been announced, so keep a lot out in the DLC section.

So this Konami Guitar Hero clone, dubbed Rock Revolution ( Initial coverage here ) just leaked their full tracklisting, and for video game fans who buy the games for the tracklists, there are certainly a ton of great metal songs that made the cut. We were going to split up the metal and non-metal songs into two seperate lists, but there are so many songs metalheads would enjoy its pointless. So here is the full list of leaked songs… (more…)

Here is a fun little game for everyone. We want to know what "real" metal bands you want to see in Rock Band, in a future game, or as a downloadable song. Sure, in the past we have gotten such gems as At The Gates, Dream Theater, Megadeth, Testament, Machine Head, and more, and they have sold gangbusters as DLC. They also recently announced that there is going to be a "Metal" full album as download very soon down the road. That just goes to prove that we want more damn metal in our fake band games. I, for one, would like to see more thrash, like Anthrax and Slayer, and definitely more bands like Opeth, Between The Buried And Me, Behemoth and other cool band names I can throw around.

We want to know what you guys want to see as future DLC in Rock Band. Heck, they might even take notice of this, and actually bring more metal into Rock Band. What are your top three bands and songs you want to see brought into the game? And while we are at it, which "Metal" album do you want to see? Just post a comment, and in the future, we will make a top 3 or 10 or whatever number we decide on list for everyone to see…

Above is some behind the scenes footage of OZZY OSBOURNE shooting his appearance in the forthcoming Guitar Hero: World Tour video game. ZAKK WYLDE will also be in the game, and you will be able to play as both characters jamming out to Ozzy hits such as "Crazy Train", "Mr. Crowley", and even the Zakk Wylde track "Stillborn".

Among the other tracks listed for the game, the entire new METALLICA album Death Magnetic will be playable on the game the day of their album release, as well as an encore for the track "Trapped Under Ice". Other songs recently announced include:
At the Drive-in – "One Armed Scissor"
System of A Down - "B.Y.O.B."
Survivor – "Eye of the Tiger" (Yes, that Eye of the Tiger!)

For more of our coverage on the game, click the Guitar Hero tag below

Evil C. here from MSRcast, and I'm here to bring you my first bit of news about games for a new weekly (semi-weekly) video games article. Roadrunner Records and Rock Band have some good news for metal fans next week. The downloadable content next week is going to pack a metal wallop. The pack will be 480 MSP (aka $5.99) and single tracks will be 80 MSP (aka $0.99) for the first month. From that point on the pack will be 800 MSP (aka $9.99) and the single tracks will become 160 MSP (aka $1.99).

Tracks will be out on Tuesday on Xbox Marketplace and Thursday on the Playstation Store.

TRACKS:
AIRBOURNE – Runnin’ Wild - 80 MSP - $0.99
DEVILDRIVER – Clouds Over California - 80 MSP - $0.99
DREAM THEATER – Constant Motion - 80 MSP - $0.99
KILLSWITCH ENGAGE – My Curse - 80 MSP - $0.99
MACHINE HEAD – Aesthetics Of Hate - 80 MSP - $0.99
MEGADETH – Sleepwalker - 80 MSP - $0.99

All tracks are masters.

I could have done without Airbourne, and much rather get something from the new Soulfly, Cavalera Conspiracy, or something from their vast back catalog, but beggars can't be choosers. There is enough killer metal in this pack to make up for it. With the past Earache thrash pack and bands like System Of A Down, Metallica, and others getting more play time, we can only hope for Rock Band: Extreme Metal edition in the future.

It's safe to say that a sizeable percentage of the Guitar Hero audience are metal heads, and every metal head would dream of not having to suffer through pussy songs from the likes of BLOC PARTY and THE POLICE to get to the good stuff. Looks like some Playstation 2 modders agree. As some kind gentleman (I assume its a dude) with perhaps too much free time on their hands completely gutted a Playstation 2 version of Guitar Hero 2 to create a metal version…every song a metal classic with every one from CARCASS, TESTAMENT and BLACK LABEL SOCIETY to AS I LAY DYING, DEVILDRIVER and JOB FOR A COWBOY.

The downside? This is all terribly illegal. You need to have a custom modded PS2, and then download and install the game yourself. For full instructions on how you can be on your way to metal heaven, Guitar Hero style click here. Maybe some of the makers of Guitar Hero are reading this, if so…I WOULD DEFINITELY BUY THIS GAME LEGALLY…MAKE IT HAPPEN! Check out a few videos and the tracklisting after the jump… (more…)

Over the last few days, a ton of news has come out about Rock Band 2. Leaked photos of the new issue of Game Informer made their way online on the ScoreHero Forums and we found out this awesome info:

- All songs from the first iteration of the game will be portable to the new version, including downloaded songs.
- "No Fail" Mode for people who just want to have a good time and not get booed off stage.
- Drum trainer mode which will teach you howto play drums, and even a freestyle mode to just let you jam out on drums. New quieter drums will also be produced (including the premium drum set with cymbal attachment pictured above).
- Solo World Tours for each instrument (including bass) as well as simpler tours for those not out for world domination
- Easier navigation through screens, overall improvement to all gameplay, calibration and setup screens.

Oh and the songs! 84 master tracks from the likes of GUNS N ROSES (unreleased track), MEGADETH (Peace FN Sells!), METALLICA, MASTODON, MOTORHEAD, DREAM THEATER, AVENGED SEVENFOLD and more. Full list after the jump… (more…)

Cary Gordon, a.k.a. Evil C, co-Host of Metal Injection Radio's MSRCast sent in this review…

With the brand new Guitar Hero game out on the shelves, Activision has another hit on their hands, no matter how good the game is. Pure money they are printing on these game disks. The new installment is the first in the entire series to spotlight one particular band, and the lucky winner to be chosen first is Aerosmith. Is Aerosmith still relevant in this day and age? Of course, they still play some balls to the walls hard rocking fun tunes, albeit with a few pit stops in their career. Does anyone remember "I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing", or whatever Celine Dion leftover they sang for that Armageddon movie? Praise be to the metal gods that this song is NOT included in this game…one of the high points for me. (more…)

The people at Harmonix, the developers of the carpel tunnel inducing Rock Band video game, have announced that the sequel to last year's revolutionary all-band game will be seeing a September release on XBOX 360 (and shortly thereafter on PS3) and will feature all new peripherals, new game play modes…improvements on virtually every aspect of gameplay, as well as what they are calling "easily the best setlist I've ever seen in a music game" which is akin to bands saying this is "the heaviest record we've ever put out."

During the interview with IGN was tight-lipped on revealing too many new details, saying everything will come out in the next few weeks but he did make some promises. All the DLC (Downloadable content) for the current iteration will be playable on the sequel, more online gameplay, strongly hinting at user-generated music capabilities similar to what Guitar Hero just announced. Also, it was strongly hinted at that there would be wireless peripherals as well as more accessories like distortion pedals and other little gizmos.

The full interview can be read here where he discusses the topics I mentioned as well as more hints of info about the new game. As always, as soon as something new is announced we will post it here for you!