Guitar Hero: Van Halen officially official

Activision's Will Kassoy confirms long-rumored next band-centric installment of series will arrive in second half of year; Queen, Weezer, Blink 182, The Offspring, and Queens of the Stone Age also on setlist.

Activision has finally made official what has been widely rumored for over a year. The next band-based Guitar Hero game will focus on Van Halen, the legendary hard-rock quartet anchored by guitarist Eddie Van Halen and his drummer brother Alex. From the 1970s to the 1990s, the group topped the charts under two different lead singers, David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar. (Sorry, Gary Cherone.)

Coming soon to a console near you.

"You've heard about this, maybe some rumors, but I am here to officially announce the title, which is coming out in the second half of this year," senior vice president of Guitar Hero publishing Will Kassoy told a press event in Los Angeles this week. No platforms were mentioned, but prior band-centric Guitar Hero games have been released for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, and Wii.

Though he did not name any specific songs, Kassoy promised that Guitar Hero: Van Halen would feature "many of the band's greatest hits." Such multiplatinum tracks as "Jump," "Panama," "Hot for Teacher," and "Why Can't This Be Love" helped the group sell more than 56 million albums in the US, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007.

Guitar Hero: Van Halen will feature a plethora of other acts that inspired the quartet, including 1970s-'80s British supergroup Queen. Kassoy said that it will also feature artists inspired by Van Halen--many of which have members who weren't even born when the band was formed in 1972. These include Weezer, Blink 182, The Offspring, and Queens of the Stone Age, "amongst many, many others," said Kassoy.

The executive went on to explain Activision's big-picture approach to band-focused Guitar Hero games. "Our previous two artist [focused] titles, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith and Guitar Hero: Metallica, have done really well in the marketplace," said Kassoy. "But it's our desire to go beyond just individual band games, and to complement that with artists the bands are really inspired by and that they themselves select to be in this game. The same is true of Van Halen."

173 Comments

  • rohr2

    Posted Aug 6, 2009 5:48 pm PT

    Man my friend is going to go ape scat over this. HE LOOOOVVESS Van Halen and so do I. Me and him are going to have one hell of a time playing eruption.

  • GHK98

    Posted Jun 15, 2009 9:13 am PT

    They gave the honor to Aerosmith, they gave it to Metallica (WHOO!!), and now they're giving it to Van Halen. Other good ones would be Guitar Hero: Black Sabbath, Motley Crue, Bon Jovi, or Guns 'n Roses.

  • Apiopi

    Posted May 28, 2009 1:45 pm PT

    wow....another guitar hero game, the second this year. Wait what? Guitar hero 5 is also this year? My thoughts: 3 games in a year just might ruin the franchise, I mean that's a lot. Perhaps one year in between them is fine, but just a few months...bleh

  • ECW33063

    Posted May 27, 2009 6:04 am PT

    Hey Guitar Hero: Just a suggestion PLEASE have at least these songs...
    "Unchained" and "Ain't talkin' about love"

  • Rockerrav

    Posted May 16, 2009 4:13 pm PT

    This game is going to be sweet!

  • snarple_basic

    Posted May 9, 2009 8:52 pm PT

    @ BattleSword1, I also would like a M rated Guitar game, but I don't think those bands are that different from what we have gotten, heck they might be less. But yea there CGI concerts are a bit tame compared to buying a ticket to a real concert for some bands out there.

  • snarple_basic

    Posted May 9, 2009 8:47 pm PT

    Disc makes sense since Metallica's Deathmagnetic download is costing me 1.5 gb's on my puny 20gb 360 hard drive.

  • snarple_basic

    Posted May 9, 2009 8:45 pm PT

    @ Niccara, I'm Dr. Rockso the Rockin and Roll Clown I do Coooocain!!!

  • xXxOverlordxXx

    Posted May 9, 2009 7:12 pm PT

    Haha i think we all secretly wish they would include that in the special edition.. i do agree with the the guys down there, that disks are annoying to change. I honestly dont mind it to much though. Maybe Guitar Hero could release both DLC and a disk for there upcoming games. that way players that do not have online access could play the songs they love as well as the guys that do and can download...?

  • UFO2012

    Posted May 9, 2009 4:44 am PT

    I wonder if the special edition has a glamrock outfit including wig.

  • Niccara

    Posted May 8, 2009 6:08 pm PT

    Dr. Rockso has forever ruined David Lee Roth for me..

  • nescgi

    Posted May 8, 2009 4:08 pm PT

    I'm not sure why people would rather have DLC tracks than disks. Metallica had what, like 80 songs? That's $160 at $2 a pop or about $110 in track packs.

    Please someone correct me if my logic is wrong here, I don't play rhythm games, but isn't the disk the better value? I mean unless you only care about 1 of the songs, which is another story.

  • necronaux

    Posted May 8, 2009 10:32 am PT

    Glad to hear there won't be any Extreme.

  • Andraus

    Posted May 8, 2009 10:24 am PT

    I Agree with "drtacks37."

    im tired of one disk to another. If guitar Hero coninues selling disks rather than downloads,
    buyers will eventually grow tired of paying 50$ for some songs that the player may play once and never a-gain yknow.

  • BattleSword1

    Posted May 8, 2009 10:19 am PT

    You know what we need? An M-rated guitar game with uncensored songs from Hollywood Undead, Papa Roach, and Seether. I wonder what Activision would think of that.

  • score89

    Posted May 8, 2009 8:58 am PT

    why dont hold on this one, add the songs as DLC, and put Eddie Van Halen as the next boss in a gh5 or something like that,

  • drtacks37

    Posted May 8, 2009 8:39 am PT

    Until we get a gaming system with a multi-disc changer, GH needs to release tracks for download, not stick us with another disc. Rock Band has got it right, download the tracks and play them off of one disc.

  • Megavideogamer

    Posted May 8, 2009 8:32 am PT

    Yep Guitar hero is now "Milkin it hero" Release Guitar Hero Kiss before the series dies. Forget it keep releasing Guiter hero's Until every rock group featuring a Guitar is covered. Or port it over to the Wii from now on.

  • Dalek-max

    Posted May 8, 2009 8:21 am PT

    Oh man they might as well make a Guitar hero game for EVERY band...

  • solidusScott

    Posted May 8, 2009 7:59 am PT

    this franchise is dead

  • Weddum

    Posted May 8, 2009 7:39 am PT

    Ok, I enjoy playing games like GH, but three games in one year? Probably more if this keeps up. Its just too much. Cut back on the milking before you completely destroy all potential this franchise still has.

  • jadefury27

    Posted May 8, 2009 7:08 am PT

    They need to add a mode to this one where you can kick out band members due to "creative differences". ;-p

  • sebastempo

    Posted May 8, 2009 6:44 am PT

    I had it with guitar hero, stop making gh's... it's enough!

  • Executionersw11

    Posted May 8, 2009 6:30 am PT

    You may think I'm exaggerating this but Activision is milking this crap so much. I agree with what the others have said, just release them as album packs on World Tour (like the AC/DC pack for Rock Band 2). Then just do game updates if you want to add in those extra features. IGN had a feature about how the music-game genre is being killed due to this oversaturation of games. This is exactly why.

  • hollow56771

    Posted May 8, 2009 6:14 am PT

    Next Guitar Hero:Queen and Guitar Hero:Iron Maiden

  • Gymbo-59

    Posted May 8, 2009 6:11 am PT

    First Metallica, now VH. 2 of my 3 favorite bands ever. I know their will never be a GH:Led Zeppelin. They want to much money. Then again they did let Cadillac use "Rock & Roll".

  • auron_16

    Posted May 8, 2009 6:08 am PT

    meh. could go either way.

  • xxxMoreBeerxxx posted May 8, 2009 5:52 am PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    xxxMoreBeerxxx

    Posted May 8, 2009 5:52 am PT (hide)

    Van Halen and Van Hagar or what ever else the heck they have been are a horrible band. The pretty boy's guitar playing was not really that great. He just had great 80's hair and spandex. What a joke. Whats next RockBand: Motley Crue?

  • b4ll4z posted May 8, 2009 5:28 am PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    b4ll4z

    Posted May 8, 2009 5:28 am PT (hide)

    they only had one good song.. ewww.. I wont play this game..

  • Kaspii00

    Posted May 8, 2009 5:21 am PT

    Looks like this is going to have the hardest guitar parts ever, because it is THE Van Halen.

  • BLuFAlc0n

    Posted May 8, 2009 4:54 am PT

    ....Ladies and Gentlemen...

    THE ULTIMATE GUITAR HERO!!

  • Little_Socrates

    Posted May 8, 2009 4:51 am PT

    I don't like Van Halen as much as Aerosmith or Metallica, but it has a shot at being a great game based on new features and supplementary songs (by Queen, Blink 182, etc.) Although I already have Hot For Teacher, and that's one of my Top 5 Van Halen songs (with YRGM, Jump, Runnin' With The Devil, and Eruption)...we'll see how it pans out.

  • Micropixel

    Posted May 8, 2009 3:03 am PT

    FINALLY!

  • lucky13jesse

    Posted May 8, 2009 1:25 am PT

    hmmm... im not sure bout this one.

  • cid_007

    Posted May 7, 2009 11:56 pm PT

    Guitar Hero + Van Halen = "Best of Both Worlds"

  • cRaZyGaMeR22

    Posted May 7, 2009 10:55 pm PT

    nothing but a solo game itll be nothing but ten minute long guitar solos......should be fun

  • Holyknight_CJ

    Posted May 7, 2009 10:25 pm PT

    As luck would have it I was listening to Panama when I happened upon this article.

  • Blink3r

    Posted May 7, 2009 10:06 pm PT

    yay Blink 182 and The Offspring

  • Hyperion_1400

    Posted May 7, 2009 9:27 pm PT

    F*** YES! Let's see how many bass pedals break in the first week from people trying to play the Hot for Teacher opening solo over and over again. That being said, I can't wait to try my hand at I'm the One.

  • asm607

    Posted May 7, 2009 9:04 pm PT

    I know it's unthinkable to want them to do something like this, but I think this game will be better if they just go back to guitar only, and focus on making the guitar aspect way better just like in the old games. The guitar parts in the rock band and new guitar hero games just aren't as memorable as they used to be.

  • Generic_Dude

    Posted May 7, 2009 8:39 pm PT

    Really, Van Halen's first album was the only one I liked, but they've long been a shoe-in for a game of their own, just for Eddie's virtuosity if nothing else.

  • Pete5506

    Posted May 7, 2009 8:38 pm PT

    I'm happy, I would like to play some of there sweet guitar parts

  • scja25

    Posted May 7, 2009 8:30 pm PT

    It's now officially official. It is official that this game is officially awesome.

  • Simulator_Shock

    Posted May 7, 2009 8:18 pm PT

    I'm surprised Activision's cash cow hasn't dried up yet.

  • FallenOneX

    Posted May 7, 2009 8:17 pm PT

    But Nintendo is a bad company because it recycles games. And yes, i made this a separate post on purpose.

  • FallenOneX

    Posted May 7, 2009 8:14 pm PT

    So would this be considered whole milk, or Skim milk?

  • robertw5

    Posted May 7, 2009 8:00 pm PT

    I hate to say this, but the market is getting flooded with rythm games.

  • Kablouwskan

    Posted May 7, 2009 7:43 pm PT

    Everyone complains about them milking it like crazy. Yet, everyone still buys it. And I know I will be cause I've grown up listening to Van Halen. Oh btw. GH: Metallica was f**kin' awesome.

  • soundsofsilence

    Posted May 7, 2009 6:01 pm PT

    Now that you've announced this you have no reason not to have a battle with Eddie.

  • Hemaneitor

    Posted May 7, 2009 5:45 pm PT

    They better make a Guitar Hero Dream Theater next. It would be really crazy to play A Change of Seasons.

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