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Guitar Hero 5, Band Hero, DJ Hero confirmed for fall '09

Activision confirms previously rumoured Heroes arriving this autumn, alongside Van Halen; full Greatest Hits/Smash Hits setlist revealed; first shot of turntable controller inside.

One turntable, no microphone.

One turntable, no microphone.

Activision today officially announced or confirmed information for a wide range of products with the Hero moniker, including Guitar Hero 5, Band Hero, DJ Hero, Guitar Hero: Van Halen, and Guitar Hero: Greatest Hits, which is known as Guitar Hero: Smash Hits in North America. The biggest news is that Guitar Hero 5 was also officially revealed, though no specific details except for the release window were mentioned.

Guitar Hero 5 is expected to follow the formula of Guitar Hero, World Tour which was released last year on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, Wii, and PC to positive reviews. It will offer an "unprecedented level of control over the way they play the game with the ability to drop in and out of songs and change band members, instruments, and difficulty levels on the fly," according to the megapublisher.

The long-rumored Band Hero was also confirmed. Instead of featuring nonrock instruments, the game will instead be an all-ages, family-friendly entry in the series, and the first game in the franchise to bear an E10+ rating from the ESRB. No details were given other than that the game will feature "top-40 hits designed to expand the appeal to a broad family audience who can play together on the guitar, drums, bass, and microphone."

The previously confirmed DJ Hero also got a mention. Swapping pubs for clubs, the new instalment will feature songs spanning hip-hop, R&B, Motown, electronic, and "dance" genres. Rather than creating songs from scratch, DJ Hero will let players produce "original mixes of popular songs and music from the world's most exciting artists and DJs."

Several publicity images of the DJ Hero Turntable Controller were unveiled with the announcement. The deck features green, red, and blue buttons akin to those found on Guitar Hero instruments, with the middle button noticeably larger than the other two. DJ Hero is heading to the Xbox 360, Wii, and PlayStation 3 and/or PlayStation 2.

Although Prince may have knocked back the franchise's advances, Activision's Will Kassoy officially confirmed the existence of Guitar Hero: Van Halen earlier this week at a press event. Kassoy promised that the game will feature "many of the band's greatest hits," although it is still unclear which platforms it will appear on.

In a separate announcement, Activision also confirmed the complete 48-song setlist for Guitar Hero: Greatest Hits (subtitled Smash Hits in the US), combining songs from previous games in the series including Guitar Hero, Guitar Hero II, Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, and Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. The full list is below.

Guitar Hero
Blue Oyster Cult - Godzilla
Boston - More Than a Feeling
Deep Purple - Smoke on the Water
Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out
Helmet - Unsung (Live)
Incubus - Stellar
Joan Jett & The Blackhearts - I Love Rock N' Roll
Ozzy Osbourne - Bark at the Moon
Pantera - Cowboys From Hell (Live)
Queen - Killer Queen
Queens of the Stone Age - No One Knows
The Donnas - Take It Off
The Exies - Hey You
White Zombie - Thunder Kiss '65

Guitar Hero II
Alice in Chains - Them Bones
Avenged Sevenfold - Beast and the Harlot
Danzig - Mother
Foo Fighters - Monkey Wrench
Iron Maiden - The Trooper
Jane's Addiction - Stop!
Kansas - Carry on Wayward Son
Lamb of God - Laid to Rest
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Free Bird
Motley Crue- Shout at the Devil
Nirvana - Heart-Shaped Box
Rage Against the Machine - Killing in the Name
Reverend Horton Heat - Psychobilly Freakout
Rush - YYZ
Stone Temple Pilots - Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart
The Police - Message in a Bottle
The Sword - Freya
Warrant - Cherry Pie
Wolfmother - Woman

Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s
Anthrax - Caught in a Mosh
Extreme - Play With Me
Judas Priest - Electric Eye
Poison - Nothin' But a Good Time
Ratt - Round and Round
Twisted Sister - I Wanna Rock

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
AFI - Miss Murder
DragonForce - Through the Fire and Flames
Heart - Barracuda
Kiss - Rock and Roll All Nite
Living Colour - Cult of Personality
Pat Benatar - Hit Me With Your Best Shot
Priestess - Lay Down
Slayer - Raining Blood

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith
Aerosmith - Back in the Saddle

318 Comments

  • Bloodweiser5

    Posted Jul 9, 2009 10:37 am GMT

    Seriously, this is sort of pathetic. No DLC and no cross compatibility at all. Activision sure knows how to milk the customers. I got 2 words and 1 number to mention: "ROCK BAND 2". Check it out.

  • crazyshot17

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 5:37 pm GMT

    DJ hero, what a joke lol

  • kowycs

    Posted Jun 12, 2009 1:55 am GMT

    let's ROCK

  • SQUALL20XX

    Posted Jun 9, 2009 11:30 am GMT

    I don't like to rock

  • zero_120

    Posted Jun 7, 2009 11:18 pm GMT

    no sweet child o' mine guitar hero 2??? this is gay...then i thought it was gonna be cool but they didnt add that song

  • SSBFan12

    Posted Jun 7, 2009 8:44 am GMT

    I am not getting DJ Hero but I will get Guitar Hero.

  • WizengamotX

    Posted Jun 4, 2009 3:11 pm GMT

    The ... Beatles happened to be at E3 as well?

  • GuilSSJ

    Posted Jun 4, 2009 10:03 am GMT

    Rammstein!

  • PSFreak1

    Posted Jun 3, 2009 6:17 am GMT

    cool

  • Heatdrifter

    Posted Jun 3, 2009 2:38 am GMT

    Two words....

    Rock Milkage!!!!!

  • gmax Site Greeter

    Posted Jun 2, 2009 8:19 am GMT

    Hmm... Van Halen...

  • lukedafluke

    Posted Jun 2, 2009 4:19 am GMT

    this will ruin the guitar hero franchise i feel. becuase it will more than likely be awful.

  • FremenSquid

    Posted Jun 1, 2009 9:27 pm GMT

    i wonder if it will be focused on turntablism or actual mixing......itll probably be something gay like "hit a for flanger! and b for beatgrid!"

    plus the music will suck.....

  • Vimanesba

    Posted Jun 1, 2009 6:40 pm GMT

    Something smells like milked too much!!

  • Gamer4Iife

    Posted Jun 1, 2009 4:28 pm GMT

    DJ Hero... I have a feeling it will fail.

  • DarkNeoBahamut

    Posted Jun 1, 2009 2:36 pm GMT

    what???

  • borninvincible

    Posted Jun 1, 2009 9:59 am GMT

    never played any of these, but have been wanting too.

  • stilesman

    Posted Jun 1, 2009 9:48 am GMT

    WOW, ok seriously i like guitar hero and rock band, but theres tooo many slow down geez

  • Strife88

    Posted Jun 1, 2009 9:17 am GMT

    To be honest, there's starting to be too many of these. It was great when it was just Rock Band and Guitar Hero.

  • mennaf

    Posted Jun 1, 2009 6:32 am GMT

    i'm fanatic of guitar hero, i like guitar hero,

  • shinian

    Posted Jun 1, 2009 4:51 am GMT

    I don't like the style in which Activision is milking the Guitar Hero Brand.

  • dth_dlr

    Posted Jun 1, 2009 3:42 am GMT

    dj hero sounds fairly interesting, will keep an eye on it. however, Activision could probably space these games out a bit more.

  • fedepal

    Posted May 31, 2009 3:30 pm GMT

    i cant wait to see another mgs in the series

  • sub-raid

    Posted May 31, 2009 11:22 am GMT

    Nog bad...

  • pakhair

    Posted May 31, 2009 3:13 am GMT

    Definitely not a bad news............



    Check out My Pre E3 Blog

  • shabulia

    Posted May 31, 2009 1:47 am GMT

    Way too much.

  • jordantm

    Posted May 30, 2009 1:57 pm GMT

    WTF!!11!! I see the trooper by iron maiden...? Was that even on guitar hero 2? still YAY

  • hhap52

    Posted May 29, 2009 3:49 pm GMT

    lol, just one aerosmith song.

  • doctorwang12

    Posted May 29, 2009 2:12 pm GMT

    wow activision....slow down about 100 mph

  • Leandrovalle

    Posted May 29, 2009 8:08 am GMT

    faltou GUITAR HERO metallica

  • Wolf-5

    Posted May 29, 2009 4:47 am GMT

    Some good songs there.

  • Rev8691

    Posted May 28, 2009 8:01 pm GMT

    damn the greatest hits track listing SUCKS. they left impulse out and they left everything good out from 3. the setlist looks like they were excited to be doing this game at first, and as they moved through the games they just got LAZY. wow.

  • Sonikilate

    Posted May 28, 2009 2:50 pm GMT

    come on, no more HEROES Activision, I am pleased now of what they have donde with GH4 but dont put more stupid things, and just create something that all gamers will want and dont milk the franchise anymore just to win money, we want good things ACTIVISION

  • horgen123 Site Greeter

    Posted May 28, 2009 10:26 am GMT

    Guitar Hero greatest hits sure is milking the franchise even more...

  • cristhiansj_1

    Posted May 28, 2009 9:01 am GMT

    DJ hero, sounds like a Wii peripheral

  • denicola_a_god

    Posted May 27, 2009 7:33 pm GMT

    dj hero should be very innovative looking forward to buying it

  • Junior_AIN

    Posted May 27, 2009 7:29 pm GMT

    I'm not really into these rhythm-type of games. But ok.

  • Gamer_JoNNo

    Posted May 27, 2009 6:21 pm GMT

    Oh wow! Guitar hero 5, this is...oh..wait...

  • mastodonfatguy

    Posted May 27, 2009 4:28 pm GMT

    --- give me a second to wipe the drool off my face ........

  • GuilSSJ

    Posted May 27, 2009 4:02 pm GMT

    Guitar Hero 5!!! I cant believe!

  • Jimminyfixit

    Posted May 20, 2009 4:57 am GMT

    Sigh, no Guns n Roses announced then. In any future GH release.

    Shame Slash doesn't have the rights to all the songs, then I'm sure they'd do more...

    Same with Led Zeppelin, I'd pay £20 for Stairway to Heaven alone!

  • squirrelking06

    Posted May 17, 2009 2:23 pm GMT

    For all the socially out of touch nerds on here, there are a LOT of people that are into electronic music, and it is going to be one of the fastest growing genres during 2010-2020.

    So scoff all you want at the idea of DJ Hero but speaking for myself and many other people like me who just aren't that into rock music, this @#$! is gonna rock.

  • RaddaRaddaRadda

    Posted May 16, 2009 12:22 am GMT

    Five... FIVE GAMES THIS YEAR... whoever's idea this was? Yeah, they need to be shot in the face.

    There are some good songs on Smash Hits, but I think I'm completely switching to being Rock Band-loyal until Activision cuts this bulls**t out.

  • PenguinFluff

    Posted May 15, 2009 5:58 pm GMT

    aww no "Search and Destroy" from GH2 for GH Smash hits

  • oneofthefall

    Posted May 14, 2009 3:03 pm GMT

    as a Dance DJ myself i wouldnt mind seeing how this is done, but im still not sure because its the makers of Guitar hero & im just not a fan of rock or Lame Chart poppy music so it will probably be 2009 Lame Chart poppy dance which isnt dance & will never be dance, but if i can use my own tunes from my Xbox 360 harddrive i might reconsider.... & if i can mix & Scratch then its a definite yes!

  • gameweasl

    Posted May 11, 2009 6:23 am GMT

    Holy Crap this is too much...

  • necorid

    Posted May 10, 2009 10:43 am GMT

    i demmand roadie hero.

  • nigioh

    Posted May 9, 2009 8:29 pm GMT

    "It will offer an "unprecedented level of control over the way they play the game with the ability to drop in and out of songs and change band members, instruments, and difficulty levels on the fly,"

    this is something the game has been missing. bout time they added it in to GH.

  • daabulls23

    Posted May 9, 2009 12:53 pm GMT

    April Foo...oh wait. DJ Hero is real.

  • 2deluxe

    Posted May 9, 2009 10:53 am GMT

    Konami did something like this about a decade ago. With the success of beatmania, they made more games along the line such as Dance Dance Revolution, beatmania III/IIDX, pop'n music, Guitarfreaks/Drummania, Keyboardmania, DanceManiaX, ParaParaParadise, etc. But you know what they did right? They started all these games in the arcades and took the most popular or worthwhile for the home market. They didn't flood the market with way too much nonsense. The games that were only good for arcade play stayed there, they weren't compelling enough to be played in the house.

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