Look kids — the licensing orgy-a-thon that is Guitar Hero third party products rolls on! Just announced: The Guitar Hero Carabiner! Complete with foldable neck and LCD screen, this bad boy finally answers the question “what would it look like if someone invented a time machine, kidnapped the Tiger Electronics staff of the late eighties, and forced them to port Guitar Hero?”

GH3 money train criticism aside, this actually looks like a pretty sweet little toy. Set to come out late Feb/early March with an MSRP of only $14.99, the Carabiner faithfully recreates the core gameplay elements that have made GH such a huge hit. Expect a smattering of tunes from GH1 and GH2 to make an appearance: Smoke on the Water, Rock this Town, Cherry Pie, Killer Queen, You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’, Miserlou, Heart Shaped Box, Message in a Bottle, Jessica, and Surrender. Lets hope this thing gets a good push again sometime around Christmas, because this thing reeks of stocking stuffer.

So which liscensed GH product would you rather be caught playing with in public? This …or the Air Guitar Rocker?

[via ChipChick]

You know, who would have thought that I’d fall so far out of love with Guitar Hero so fast? We’ve probably mentioned this before but Dan and I jokingly thought about changing the name of this site to World Of Guitarcraft to properly reflect 90% of the posts that we were putting up. There wasn’t a day that went by that we didn’t have some sort of post about Guitar Hero. Now? Now that’s all gone.

Blame it on Guitar Hero III, if you will. I’m choosing to blame it on Activision and Neversoft. Our distaste for GH III was well documented (and in some cases, well counter-argued) but the fact remains the same for both of us: GH III killed the franchise in one fowl swoop.

I’m not really going to go into the details about this newest announcement as they’re readily available on a lot of other sites, like this one. Also, it might sound like I’m shitting on the idea of band-specific branding of a rhythm game, which I’m not…at least not really. It’s probably the pairing of franchise-milking Activision and whore-ourselves-out-for-anything band Aerosmith. I’m not the biggest Aerosmith fan, I liked them better when they were all strung-out and still making albums like Toys In The Attic, but I imagine it was probably either going to be them or U2 to be the first to do something like this. Rock Band’s eventual release of full albums for download without having to purchase a whole different disc seems like the right way to go. Though I’m sure Activision will find a way to rip that off and milk it for all its worth.

Everybody’s favorite female bounty hunter is apparently a rock star. Up for grabs at eBay for a starting bid of US $75 is this custom Metroid Guitar Hero 3 bundle for the Nintendo Wii. The faceplate of the guitar (which has been covered with a high quality vinyl wrap) features custom printed graphics, the best one being Samus herself of course. Included in this bundle is the Guitar Hero III game, the original stickers, an extra controller, and the customized guitar.

Remember when the Sex Pistols were all about rejecting societal norms and rebelling against the establishment? I only ask, because the more I think about it the more it seems like John Lydon is the British-equivilant to Gene Simmons. That dude will shill anything.

Now please don’t take that as a comment on this being a crappy item. On the contrary, I was on the fence about selling GH3 and now I’m likely to keep it just so I can use this sweet faceplate when playing Rock Band. Activision had promised purchasable faceplates when GH3 launched, and this is the first one I’ve seen in the wild. Mind you I’m up here in Canada, so it’s entirely possible these are flooding clearance bins all over the place in the states and this post is just a waste of everbody’s time. C’est la vie. Either way, I know I wants one.

[via The Xbox Collector]

Tis the season to give people free downloadable content! Up on the Xbox Live Marketplace as of now is “We Three Kings” for Guitar Hero 3… for free! My feelings on the game itself aside, I always love to see free quality content going out to people.

There’s also new songs available for purchase but they’re all European bands and to be honest I’ve never even heard of any of them. I’m not saying they suck or anything, they’re just unknown here in the states. I will say this, they’re certainly casting a wide net when it comes to the different bands to include.

Holiday 2007 Single “We Three Kings”

Die Fantastischen Vier “Ernten Was Wir Säen” - Single Track

Extremoduro “So Payaso” - Single Track

Trust “Antisocial” - Single Track

Maybe.. and No. I’m officially done with Guitar Hero. After the little pissing contest of blocking the Harmonix patch on the PS3, Activision promising to “exploit” (their words) the franchise and the general sucktitude that is GH3 I’ve had enough. I love me some rhythm games, and Rock Band owns a piece of my soul. But the Guitar Hero series can (until further notice) go fuck off.

So seeing how Activsion has treated their new golden property, it came as little surprise to us that they were already prepping a new Guitar Hero IV to possibly go out the doors. Of course this is all still rumor, but with Activision taking the mantle from EA as the “evil” company dujour, would you be surprised if this turns out to be true?

Thought not.

[G4's The Feed]

No no, not Guitar Hero III, but Guitar Her II (otherwise known as the last good Guitar Hero). It’s another indie pack, and it’s still overpriced. It includes “You Should Be Ashamed of Myself” by The Bled, “Memories of the Grove” by Maylene and The Sons of Disaster and “The State of Massachusetts” by Dropkick Murphys.