Crispy Gamer News

Activision Publishing announced this morning that it has acquired UK-based FreeStyleGames. The Lemington Spa-based team previously worked on the music dance game B-Boy. Freestyle Games will become an internal team supporting localized downloadable content for the Guitar Hero franchise. Activision did not disclose how much this acquisition costs the company, but did say that FreeStyleGames executive team have signed long-term employment contracts with the company.

Metallica’s Death Magnetic album is available today for Guitar Hero III as a download via Xbox Live Marketplace for 1440 Microsoft Points. Available in all regions, the album offers 2 exclusive versions of “Suicide & Redemption”, including - “That Was Just Your Life”, “The End Of The Line”, “Broken, Beat & Scarred”, “The Day That Never Comes”, “All Nightmare Long”, “Cyanide”, “The Unforgiven III”, “The Judas Kiss”, “Suicide & Redemption J.H.”, “Suicide & Redemption K.H.”, and “My Apocalypse”. This downloadable content is playable in both Guitar Hero III and Guitar Hero World Tour.

Get if you’d like, but I haven’t been a fan of this band since they cut their hair and started suing fans for web sites…

Source: Major Nelson

Three artists from the Interscope Records label will soon take center stage in Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. The three-song Interscope Track Pack will be released on August 7. The pack will include Flyleaf’s “Tina,” “Carcinogen Crush” from AFI, as well as a remix of Marilyn Manson’s “Putting Holes In Happiness” by Nick Zinner from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

The Interscope Track Pack, originally offered to purchasers of the Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock soundtrack CD, will be available on August 7 on Xbox LIVE Marketplace and PLAYSTATION Store.

Three legendary guitar artists debut later this month in Guitar Hero III: Legends Of Rock. The Guitar Virtuoso Track Pack features three fresh master tracks set to storm living rooms across the globe on July 24. The pack includes Joe Satriani’s 1987 hit, Surfing with the Alien, Steve Vai’s For the Love of God, and Buckethead’s Soothsayer. The Guitar Virtuoso Track Pack will be available July 24 on Xbox LIVE Marketplace and the PLAYSTATION Store.

Learn more about the pack by visiting community.guitarhero.com.

Just in case you managed to rescue whatever shred of dignity you had with your friends and relatives after seeing you play with Barbie’s boyfriend, Ken, Todd McFarlane’s McFarlane Toys are determined to squash it by making you purchase their Guitar Hero action figures.

And that’s just it. You can call them action figures all you like, but remember that’s just a clever marketing spin. You, my friend, are, ipso facto, playing with dolls.

So about the four characters that will get their likeness modeled in the form of “action figures,” they are as follows:

Lars Umlaut, the makeup-wearing fattie

Axel Steel, the denim-clad thrasher

Johnny Napalm, the punker with a mohawk

The God of Rock, who looks like Zeus with a six-string

More info on the “action figures” can be found here.

If this is Activision and Blizzard’s idea of “synergy,” then, maybe they should let someone other than 12-year-olds high on Gummy Bears carve out their business strategy.

That said, a World of Warcraft-themed song will be distributed as a free downloadable on Guitar Hero III, starting as of today. The tune is titled I AM Murloc, and it’s some sort of Heavy Metal abomination, which kicks off with a Murloc gurgling sound.

Enough said I think.

But seriously, all my smart-alecky verbal jabs aside, this is rather cute, especially considering that I AM Murloc is written and performed by Level 70 Elite Tauren Chieftain, a band formed by Blizzard executives and talent, including president Mike Morhaime on bass and art director Samwise Didier on vocals. (I win the long sentence contest today.)

Microsoft has released Xbox Live activity data for the week of Jan. 28, revealing that Call of Duty 4 and Halo 3 continue to battle for the hearts and minds of gamers. This week Call of Duty 4 knocks Halo 3 off the perch to take the top spot, after being pushed from #1 by Bungie’’s action game last week — the week prior to that, Call of Duty was #1. Based on unique users (UUs) connected to Xbox Live, Call of Duty 4, Halo 3 and Guitar Hero III held the top slots.

The top arcade titles for the week were the freshly released Rez HD, Chessmaster Live and Metal Slug 3. This list is based on full versions purchased during the week.

Finally, Halo 2, Star Wars: Battlefront 2 and Counter-Strike were the most popular Xbox original titles played during the week — again based on unique users connected to Xbox Live. A full accounting can be found below:

Xbox 360 Top Live Titles (based on UUs)
1 Call of Duty 4
2 Halo 3
3 Guitar Hero III
4 Gears of War
5 Rock Band
6 Devil May Cry 4 Demo
7 Madden NFL 08
8 Turok (Demo)
9 Assassin’s Creed
10 Rez HD

Top Arcade Titles (Full Versions)
1 Rez HD
2 Chessmaster Live
3 Metal Slug 3
4 UNO
5 Bomberman LIVE
6 Sonic The Hedgehog 2
7 TMNT 1989 Arcade
8 Worms
9 Marble Blast Ultra
10 Arkadian Warriors
The above arcade list is based on full versions purchased.

Original Xbox Top Live Titles (based on UUs)
1 Halo 2
2 Star Wars: Battlefront 2
3 Counter-Strike
4 Battlefield 2: MC
5 Fable
6 Burnout 3
7 Madden NFL 08
8 Call of Duty 3
9 Doom 3
10 Conker: Live Reloaded