Guitar Hero will (officially) Rock the 80s

  • By Emma Boyes, Tor Thorsen, GameSpot UK
  • Posted May 10, 2007 8:11 am PT

Activision to bring a dose of nostalgia to the popular game series, with 30 tracks from the era including originals from Flock of Seagulls, Twisted Sister.

One of the worst-kept secrets in the games industry is finally out. After weeks of rumors, Activision has finally confirmed that Guitar Hero: Rocks the 80s is in the works. So far, the game has only been confirmed for the PlayStation 2 and will take the retail stage in the US and Europe sometime this summer.

The flock returns to the roost!

Seven songs out of the total 30 have so far been announced, but they run the genre gamut. It will feature "as made famous" covers of "Round and Round" by Ratt, "I Want Candy" by Bow Wow Wow, "Metal Health" by Quiet Riot, "Holy Diver" by Ronnie James Dio, and "Heat of the Moment" by Asia. It will also sport two original tracks: Flock of Seagulls' "I Ran" and "I Wanna Rock" by Twisted Sister. The game will also feature retro rock venues, unlockable guitars, and a variety of "intense" gameplay modes.

RedOctane's head of publishing, Dusty Welch, commented, "The 80s features an amazing variety of rock genres from hair metal to punk to new wave, and our dedicated Guitar Hero fans will definitely appreciate the opportunity to play all the new and exciting content we've added."

One thing Welch didn't comment on was the fact that Guitar Hero: Rocks the 80s is being developed by Harmonix. Though it developed the first two guitar heroes, the rhythm-game studio has since been purchased by MTV, and announced in March it is making a Guitar Hero rival called Rock Band which will be marketed with the help of Electronic Arts. Activision-owned Neversoft, maker of the Tony Hawk series, has since taken over Guitar Hero development. It will presumably be making Guitar Hero III, due out later this year for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii.

RedOctane founder and president Kai Huang had previously confirmed to GameSpot that the company would be looking to work on a variety of different genres for upcoming Guitar Hero, and that one of the options would be to offer these packs as extra downloadable content. However, the PS2 edition of Guitar Hero: Rocks the 80s edition will be coming out in the more traditional boxed format.

379 Comments

  • Slientbob187

    Posted Jun 18, 2007 2:24 pm PT

    hell yea cant wait for this ****

  • CaCHooKaMan

    Posted Jun 6, 2007 8:26 pm PT

    bring that ish to the 360!

  • outlaw86

    Posted Jun 2, 2007 12:12 am PT

    This game looks to be awesome only one thing would make it great Stranglehold by Nugent

  • MrODoyle

    Posted May 28, 2007 8:02 am PT

    I think it's really god damn funny what some people consider "good bands." Remember that the point of these games is to have fun playing songs that, in real life, you will NEVER be able to play.

  • game_killer2028

    Posted May 26, 2007 10:22 am PT

    Well i'm a big Gh fan but seriously put some good bands metallica,megadeth,ironmaiden...etc if not in this one then in GH III and but some children of bodom any way i'm sure it's gonna b a great game and fun 2 play KEEEEEEEEP ON ROCKIN

  • Batman54

    Posted May 25, 2007 4:54 pm PT

    This is so ironic i was just watching vh1 classic and i saw the metal health video and, thinking that would be a fun song to play on guitar hero, much to my astonishment when i read this today i see it on here with some other great ones like round and round and i wanna rock

  • Triple_C_S

    Posted May 25, 2007 3:52 pm PT

    not sure why they said I Ran was an original track, but this looks like it should be a sweet game in all respects.

  • unholycofession

    Posted May 25, 2007 1:20 pm PT

    dude they should make a guitar hero with bands like killswitch engage, haste the day, i killed the prom queen,as i lay dying
    seriously come on better bands

  • Hucmeister1_0_1

    Posted May 21, 2007 10:37 am PT

    those assmunchers who are making this game better have Hot For Teacher by Van Halen, and should have Eddie Van Halens Frankenstrat Guitar unlockable!!

  • smashbro64

    Posted May 21, 2007 9:56 am PT

    cool

  • Wolverine5000X

    Posted May 21, 2007 5:33 am PT

    This would make a true rock game........without flock of seagulls

  • Joshua_kun

    Posted May 20, 2007 5:25 pm PT

    Dio, Ratt, Quiet Riot and Twisted Sister is all I need to hear to make this an instant buy for me. I am probably a little older than most of the people posing though.

  • theKSMM

    Posted May 20, 2007 3:52 pm PT

    These guys are going to milk this cow until she's dry.

  • joserodz

    Posted May 20, 2007 1:44 pm PT

    its not going to be like guiterhero 2

  • babsalos

    Posted May 20, 2007 10:41 am PT

    There's another song called Major Tom, I think Peter Schilling made it.

  • MGSMANIAC

    Posted May 20, 2007 8:22 am PT

    cool cant wait...im a little flustered right now cuz EB, Best Buy, Gamestop,Wal-Mart etc. hasent even heard of this game yet and its commin out soon!!!!

  • darth-revan

    Posted May 19, 2007 5:41 pm PT

    Wheres the 360 version?

  • pinoy_92

    Posted May 18, 2007 11:58 pm PT

    can u guys list all the songs for the game????

  • Joshua_kun

    Posted May 18, 2007 10:05 pm PT

    If by "Major Tom" you mean the song "Space Oddity" by David Bowie that song was way before the 80s.

  • fireemblems

    Posted May 17, 2007 5:00 pm PT

    no final count down by europe?!?! how about Major Tom?!

  • Racnid337

    Posted May 17, 2007 4:44 pm PT

    hope this thing goes gold soon if it plans on releasing on june 4th, 2007 still... its may 17th

  • rbenns2

    Posted May 17, 2007 8:22 am PT

    Just hope they don't charge the ripoff prices on Xbox Live, like they did with the GH1 songs.

  • gamermanjohn

    Posted May 16, 2007 9:19 pm PT

    ok, old rock is cool!
    but we need something new... something harder!!
    Let's get some metal and some progressive ine there!

    I think Rock the 80's is a good thing if they don't stop to give us expansion!

  • Modx22

    Posted May 16, 2007 9:03 pm PT

    that souds awesome lets just hope this is a small price for some extra songs and same graphics

  • mulletman39

    Posted May 16, 2007 8:19 pm PT

    ...totally hope it has METALLICA!!! ...it'd rule then! ...but I hear they keep struggling with the licensing! =S ...only 30 songs tho! =S ...will it be cheaper than the other 2 were then!?

  • peaceman86

    Posted May 16, 2007 8:02 pm PT

    it makes me sad a lot that Harmonix isn't developing the game anymore. Harmonix is most of the reason the first two are fun in the first place. They are the creators of the rhythm genre as far as I'm concerned, and to have them not work on this is gonna make it sub-par.

  • hellfire9988

    Posted May 16, 2007 5:18 pm PT

    .... Give me classics not crap...

  • blancobo

    Posted May 16, 2007 4:59 pm PT

    Stil getting my PS2 version, it will be cheaper than a 360, PS3 or Wii version.

  • vanhalen316

    Posted May 16, 2007 4:23 pm PT

    hey Apathetic_Prick, Sharp Dressed Man is in guitar hero 1, so it won't be in this game.

  • Forelli_Boy

    Posted May 16, 2007 3:45 am PT

    That's good, but like Billy Idol sang, I want "More, more, more!"

  • Apathetic_Prick

    Posted May 15, 2007 8:59 pm PT

    I Wanna Rock, imo, is not as good a choice as We're Not Gonna Take It, imo, but they'll do whatever they want.

    However, if it doesn't have Money for Nothing by Dire Straits, Sharp Dressed Man by ZZ Top and Hot For Teacher by Van Halen, they will not have done their jobs. Also, it should have something half-decent by Aerosmith. Regarding Testament, Into the Pit would be better because it sounds like it's constantly changing rythm when it isn't; it'd be a good mindf*ck

  • blancobo

    Posted May 15, 2007 8:52 pm PT

    Rocks big time! Now for some spoilers on the songs (at least not the hidden ones)... I want to KNOW if this is worth buying... and if now that there is a new console if the pricing will overall drop.

  • RedGTA17

    Posted May 15, 2007 4:43 pm PT

    If they're having songs from the 80's, they gotta have Iron Maiden.

  • antoine420

    Posted May 15, 2007 1:40 pm PT

    where's the 360 version

  • victorcastroedu

    Posted May 15, 2007 12:18 pm PT

    definetly getting it!!!

  • somadude

    Posted May 15, 2007 11:09 am PT

    80s might mean matallica ^_^

  • erike79

    Posted May 15, 2007 9:56 am PT

    This is great and all BUT, when is this supposed to be coming out?!?!?!

  • judog1

    Posted May 14, 2007 3:44 pm PT

    Cool, I find it nice to see that they are giving us more content while we are waiting for GH III (GH 3) to come out.

  • Terri_Terri

    Posted May 14, 2007 12:39 pm PT

    Very Cool I love em all so far "I WANNA ROCK"!

  • smith447

    Posted May 14, 2007 7:53 am PT

    I'm mostly waiting for Guitar Hero 3 and Rock Band, although i'll probably rent this one.

  • Daie

    Posted May 13, 2007 6:50 pm PT

    Yeah they need Slayer And Venom!!

  • clevelandrox23

    Posted May 13, 2007 12:34 pm PT

    will it be on 360?

  • MamaLukuBuku

    Posted May 13, 2007 9:35 am PT

    Yngwie Malmsteen Is mainly a cover artist. There needs to be Dire Straits though (Sultans of Swing), and Skid Row (Youth Gone Wild or Slave To The Grind), Testament (Practice What You Preach), Venom (Rip Ride), Slayer (Angel of Death or Reign in Blood).

  • nizaris

    Posted May 13, 2007 9:04 am PT

    Long live 80`s rock

  • icarus212001

    Posted May 13, 2007 7:13 am PT

    no 90s! 90s rock is dull/dead music! its the precurser of/ set the standards for emo rock! its bs!

  • Bjorgo

    Posted May 13, 2007 6:34 am PT

    This game is spacificly coming out for the ps2, nothing else. if you read all of it, it says.

  • bubblesbarry182

    Posted May 13, 2007 6:13 am PT

    no 360????!!!!

  • linkdude777

    Posted May 12, 2007 10:22 pm PT

    If its still got that guitar hero charm, I'm definatly getting it.

  • Grouchu

    Posted May 12, 2007 9:52 pm PT

    Flock of Seagulls? I'm so getting this.

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