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Poison, Police play 80s Guitar Hero Encore

"Synchronicity II" and "Nothing But a Good Time" to be featured on slightly retitled PS2 rhythm game; Billy Squier, Eddie Money, Faster Pussycat, Skid Row, and Extreme also on board.

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Behold, the paradigm of '80s heavy metal masculinity!
Behold, the paradigm of '80s heavy metal masculinity!

Just under two weeks ago, Activision officially confirmed that it was prepping a special 1980s-themed Guitar Hero title. Titled Guitar Hero: Rocks the 80s, the game is the last in the series to be developed by now-MTV-owned Harmonix, and will ship for the PlayStation 2 this summer. The publisher also announced five songs that would be covered in the game: "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. In addition, Guitar Hero: Rocks the 80s will feature two original tracks: Flock of Seagulls' "I Ran" and "I Wanna Rock" by Twisted Sister.

Today, Activision revealed seven more covers that would be featured in the game: Skid Row's "18 and Life," Faster Pussycat's "Bathroom Wall," Billy Squier's "Lonely is the Night," Poison's "Nothing But a Good Time," Extreme's "Play With Me," Eddie Money's "Shakin'," and "Synchronicity II" by the recently reformed Police. As of now, 13 of the 30 songs that will be featured in the game are known, with others to be undoubtedly revealed bit by bit over the coming weeks.

Besides unveiling the expanded song list, Activision also tweaked the title of the game formerly known as Guitar Hero: Rocks the 80s. Henceforth, it will be known as Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s--perhaps presaging a whole retro "Encore" subfranchise to the Guitar Hero series. However, no such spin-off had been officially confirmed as of press time.

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