The cover story of the latest issue of popular do-it-yourself magazine Make features the Guitar Zeros, a California-based band the bassist and lead guitarist of which use hacked Guitar Hero axes rather than traditional guitars to make music.

Owen Grace, who plays “lead controller,” was so obsessed with Activision's music game that he decided to plug his plastic instrument into his laptop and start writing software that would allow him to use the controller's five fret buttons, strummer, whammy bar, and motion sensitivity to play and dynamically modify the sound of 32 distinct notes.

He set his friend up with a hacked bass controller, recruited a drummer and a vocalist, and suddenly the Guitar Zeros had been formed. They've played dozens of gigs across the U.S., as well as a few in Canada, the U.K., and Australia.

The video below, produced by online magazine Current, includes interviews with several band members and shows a few snippets of a Guitar Zeros performance. (The atonal melodies and abrasive vocals aren't really my bag, but different strokes...)

These guys have been doing this for a couple of years now, so they've got the toy-to-instrument transformation process down to an art. The Make magazine article provides detailed information on just how they do it.

But it's not the only way to learn the band's secrets.

Source The globe and mail. ...

We fully expected Japanese accessory company Hori to release a version of their Fighting Stick Wii with Tatsunoko vs. Capcom art. They frequently release branded versions of their less expensive (as in, not Real Arcade Pro) sticks to coincide with new fighting games. But another company somehow got the deal with Capcom, and plans to release Classic Controller-compatible sticks both with and without Tatsunoko artwork this year.

Exar, the company responsible for the Wii Neo Geo Stick 2, will release the EXARSTICK on November 27 for 5229 yen ($54) and the TATSUNOKO VS. CAPCOM STICK on December 11 for 6279 yen ($65). The only differences between the two seem to be cosmetic: in addition to the obvious artwork differences, the buttons and outer casing on the Tatsunoko stick are different colors than those in the plain stick, which is Wii white and blue with Super Famicom-color buttons.

We don't know how this compares to the Fighting Stick in terms of quality -- at these prices, we don't expect either to use genuine arcade parts -- but at least it looks like something that needs to be sitting on our coffee table right now.

Source Nintendo wii fanboy. ...

via Eurogamer


Nintendo has updated WiiWare with three new games today, which we're also calling my birthday.

The first of these is The Incredible Maze, which is a bit presumptuous. Costs 500 Wii Points (GBP 3.50 / EUR 5) and features mazes and balance board support. The latter involves steering a ball around the maze while dodging traps and not falling off the edge.

Next up is Home Sweet Home, the solitary offering in the "Interior Design" area of WiiWare. As if designed by Carol Smilie, the idea is to redesign rooms in a weird puzzle fashion. This costs 1000 Wii Points (GBP 7.50 / EUR 10).

That's quite pricey, but not as expensive as Tetris Party, which costs 1200 Wii Points (GBP 9 / EUR 12). That's Tetris, then, but broken into mini-games with balance board support and online multiplayer for six people.

Expect our thoughts on these in prompt fashion. ...

via Eurogamer


Peripheral perfectionist Logitech has unveiled a ridiculously lavish guitar for Guitar Hero World Tour.

This Premiere Edition peripheral features a wooden neck, rosewood fingerboard, metal frets, metal tuning pegs, a one-piece contoured shape and crimson body.

More importantly, for us at least, are quiet buttons - using some noise-reducing rubber keyboard technology - and a touch-sensitive neck slider.

This, one of the new features in Guitar Hero World Tour, allows you to slide a digit up and down the fret instead of fingering hairy passages - represented in-game by a funny line joining the notes together.

This Premiere Edition guitar is also wireless and comes with a gig bag to protect the instrument as well as store the USB receiver and game disc.

But what does this all cost? Well, USD 249.99. That's 160 English pounds, which is roughly how much an entire set of Guitar Hero World Tour instruments plus game will cost upon November release - and the RedOctane guitar seemed pretty good to us. And light.

You can catch our full review of Guitar Hero World Tour on Monday, whereas this silly old guitar is not out in the US until December.

Logitech, incidentally, was announced as a Guitar Hero peripheral maker back in August. We expect some rather fancy equipment. ...

via Eurogamer


Prince of Persia Classic and Novastrike arrived on the PS3's PlayStation Store this week, while PSP owners were invited to buy previously UMD-only titles Puzzle Quest and Practical IQ and nostalgic owners of both systems can glory in memories of, er, Crash Bandicoot 3 Warped.

Meanwhile, there's a host of PS3 add-ons for current games, including new suits for Dead Space (out today), new modes for Mega Man 9 and various packs for Civilization Revolution, including some free content. Those of you who bought the PS3 version of Soul Calibur IV can now get your hands on Yoda, too, having previously had to make do with boring old Darth Vader.

Rock Band fans can also get their hands on the Nirvana tracks released on Xbox Live this week, either as a multi-song pack or individual downloads, and Motley Crue's album Dr. Feelgood is up there too.

There are also demos of NBA 2K9 and WWE Smackdown Vs. RAW 2009 for PS3 owners and lots of other trinkets, which we've neatly summarised for you below, along with all the prices.

Proper games on PS3 Store

• Crash Bandicoot 3 Warped (GBP 3.99 / EUR 4.99)
• Novastrike (GBP 6.29 / EUR 7.99)
• Prince of Persia Classic (GBP 7.99 / EUR 9.99)

Proper games on PSP Store

• Crash Bandicoot 3 Warped (GBP 3.99 / EUR 4.99)
• Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords (GBP 15.99 / EUR 19.99)
• Practical IQ (GBP 15.99 / EUR 19.99)

PS3 Demos

• NBA 2K9 demo (free)
• WWE Smackdown Vs. RAW 2009 demo (free)

PS3 Add-ons

• Buzz! Horror Movies Quiz (GBP 3.99 / EUR 4.99)
• Dead Space Obsidian Suit (free)
• Dead Space Scorpion Suit (GBP 2.39 / EUR 2.99)
• G1 Jockey 4 2008 Additional Horses Data (free)
• Mega Man 9 Hero Mode (GBP 1.19 / EUR 1.49)
• Mega Man 9 Special Stage (GBP 1.19 / EUR 1.49)
• Mega Man 9 Superhero Mode (GBP 1.19 / EUR 1.49)
• Sid Meier's Civ Rev Scenario Pack #1 The Victory Pack (GBP 0.79 / EUR 0.99)
• Sid Meier's Civ Rev Scenario Pack #2 The Survival Pack (GBP 0.79 / EUR 0.99)
• Sid Meier's Civ Rev Single Player Map Pack #1 Brave New Worlds Pack (free)
• Sid Meier's Civ Rev Single Player Map Pack #2 Surreal Pack (free)
• Soul Calibur IV Yoda character (GBP 3.19 / EUR 3.99)
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 Spyglass Hill (GBP 4.99 / EUR 7.99)

PS3 Rock Band stuff

• Nirvana - "Breed" (GBP 0.99 / EUR 1.49)
• Nirvana - "Lounge Act" (GBP 0.99 / EUR 1.49)
• Nirvana - "On A Plain" (GBP 0.99 / EUR 1.49)
• Nirvana - "Polly" (GBP 0.99 / EUR 1.49)
• Nirvana - "Something in the Way" (GBP 0.99 / EUR 1.49)
• Nirvana - "Stay Away" (GBP 0.99 / EUR 1.49)
• Nirvana - "Territorial Pissings" (GBP 0.99 / EUR 1.49)
• Nirvana Pack 01 inc. all the above (GBP 4.99 / EUR 7.99)
• Motley Crue - Dr. Feelgood album (GBP 8.99 / EUR 10.99)

Other things of interest for PS3

• GT Academy Silverstone trailers (free - all six of them)
• Linger in Shadows Cat and Robot (both free)
• WipEout HD Theme Colour (free)

...

Forget for a moment that we called 2007 "The Year of the PSP." Somebody, somewhere *must* have called 2008 "The Year of the PSP" as well. Sony is now claiming that next year, 2009, will be "The Year of the PSP." The new PSP-3000 has been released, and the company is bullish on upcoming titles. Says PlayStation Canada mouthpiece Matt Levitan, "I also think 2009 is going to be the year of the PSP. We have Resistance: Retribution coming in February but I've seen a lot of the stuff in development and it is not a mistake by any means to a buy a PSP now." That's right, if you missed picking up a PSP during its last "Year Of The PSP," make sure you get one during the next "Year of the PSP" or maybe even in "The Year of the PSP" after that.

http://kotaku.com/5068091/guess-what...ear-of-the-psp ...

Forget for a moment that we called 2007 "The Year of the PSP." Somebody, somewhere *must* have called 2008 "The Year of the PSP" as well. Sony is now claiming that next year, 2009, will be "The Year of the PSP." The new PSP-3000 has been released, and the company is bullish on upcoming titles. Says PlayStation Canada mouthpiece Matt Levitan, "I also think 2009 is going to be the year of the PSP. We have Resistance: Retribution coming in February but I've seen a lot of the stuff in development and it is not a mistake by any means to a buy a PSP now." That's right, if you missed picking up a PSP during its last "Year Of The PSP," make sure you get one during the next "Year of the PSP" or maybe even in "The Year of the PSP" after that.

http://kotaku.com/5068091/guess-what...ear-of-the-psp ...

While Wii Music has been getting a tepid reception, at least Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto is excited. Really, really, really excited. So excited that even after working on the game all those months, he's still rushing home to play it. When he's not playing it, he's thinking about it — a sign, Miyamoto says, that he's created a fun game. Good signs! And to those who are sadden that their favorite Nintendo songs haven't made it onto the game, Miyamoto explains:

We wanted the music to appeal to a very broad audience and if you look at the mass market, probably not nearly as many people would be as familiar with [NES/SNES] songs. We wanted to focus on songs that people will know by ear, because that in and of itself is going to make it easier to play and then improvise the songs.

That makes sense. Doesn't make it right, but makes it make sense.

http://kotaku.com/5068127/we-wanted-...broad-audience ...

Or, to be more precise, puts the Mickey into Mario, in this figure by Dave Bondi, which actually has zero Disney/Nintendo involvement whatsoever. We know, we know, it's another pretentious "urban vinyl" figure, but the sheer horror of seeing Disney's and Nintendo's flagship mascots thrown in a bucket together makes it worth a closer look. *looks closer*. Oh, the horror.

http://kotaku.com/5068095/disney-tak...y-out-of-mario ...