Maybe some of you have heard of this game called Guitar Hero. I am sure some of you are fans of Rock Band and want nothing to do with Guitar Hero. I am probably one of the very few people who has never played Guitar Hero or Rock Band. I have heard  people talk about it endlessly  and been at parties where people have been playing it, but I have resisted for some reason. I guess it is sort of like Karaoke. I love the idea of it and actually love watching people "perform" at Karaoke bars but am just too shy to actually sing out loud in front of large crowds of strangers. A couple of years ago one of my friends dragged me to one of those private Karaoke booths that they have in Japantown in San Francisco. I never even really knew these existed. I could finally do karaoke. I really don't mind embarrassing myself in front of my friends. I just don't like strangers I guess. So really I should love Guitar Hero. There will be no strangers watching me embarrass myself. I just never had this game in my own house before.

Up until last week the newest game system I had was a Super Nintendo. They unfortunately did not make Guitar Hero for Super Nintendo. I have spent numerous nights playing Nintendo Jeopardy and Super Mario World late into the night, but I never really felt the need to upgrade. In my mind all the new games were for people who were obsessed with sports or war games. I didn't really feel the need to kill people in a game. I felt that I could happily live out the rest of my life living off used Super Nintendo games from thrift stores. Then I found out that there are actually new games for people like me. I just never spent the time to find them. When I found out Amoeba was going to be in the new Guitar Hero game, I realized I had to get myself some sort of new game system. I could not let this moment in history pass me by. Amoeba Hollywood always carried used games, but we never really got into the whole new games market until now. How could we not carry a game that we are a star of!? We are carrying the Guitar Hero games in all versions at all 3 stores. But we also have a selection of other games at the Hollywood store. I am so excited that game nerds can now hang out with music and movie nerds. I am sure we will all get along. We don't sell the actual game systems, but I imagine you can figure out where to find those. I could have gotten a Play Station or XBOX, but being a long time fan of Nintendo, Wii was the obvious choice for me. Of course, these are the hardest systems to find, but I managed to track one down last week, and I will be bringing home my new copy of Guitar Hero very soon. The new version of the game, Guitar Hero World Tour, actually came out yesterday, October 26th. The Game industry seems to have their own set of rules. Guitar Hero actually came out on a Sunday! They can't even wait until the Tuesday street date like the movies and music.

I am excited to be able to embarrass myself in front of my boyfriend and friends. The new Guitar Hero will let me do that numerous times I am sure. Rock Band was basically a more involved version of Guitar Hero. You didn't just get a guitar but a drum kit and microphone. Guitar Hero has now become the best again with Guitar Hero World Tour. Not only does the game feature Amoeba Music Hollywood as one of the venues you get to play in, but it also comes with a whole lot of extra stuff. The band kit comes with drums, a guitar, and a microphone. It even has a music studio program that lets you create your own digital songs that you can share with other users of the game. I will be patiently waiting for the New Wave Edition that comes out with a keyboard! This is surely the next step. Come on, Guitar Hero, do it for me! I could also go for the Shoegaze edition. I would most likely do a lot better playing a Lush song than Korn. But for now, I will settle for Guitar Hero World Tour. In case you are dying to see the songs that come with this new edition, here they are...

• 311 - "Beautiful Disaster"
• 30 Seconds To Mars - "The Kill"
• Airbourne - "Too Much Too Young"
• The Allman Brothers Band - "Ramblin' Man"
• Anouk - "Good God"
• The Answer - "Never Too Late"
• At The Drive-In - "One Armed Scissor"
• Beastie Boys - "No Sleep Till Brooklyn"
• Beatsteaks - "Hail to the Freaks"
• Billy Idol - "Rebel Yell"
• Black Label Society - "Stillborn"
• Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - "Weapon of Choice"
• blink-182 - "Dammit"
• Blondie - "One Way or Another"
• Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band - "Hollywood Nights"
• Bon Jovi - "Livin' On A Prayer"
• Bullet For My Valentine - "Scream Aim Fire"
• Coldplay - "Shiver"
• Creedence Clearwater Revival - "Up Around The Bend"
• The Cult - "Love Removal Machine"
• Dinosaur Jr. - "Feel The Pain"
• The Doors - "Love Me Two Times"
• Dream Theater - "Pull Me Under"
• The Eagles - "Hotel California"
• The Enemy - "Aggro"
• Filter - "Hey Man, Nice Shot"
• Fleetwood Mac - "Go Your Own Way"
• Foo Fighters - "Everlong"
• The Guess Who - "American Woman"
• Hush Puppies - "You're Gonna Say Yeah!"
• Interpol - "Obstacle 1"
• Jane's Addiction - "Mountain Song"
• Jimi Hendrix - "Purple Haze (Live)"
• Jimi Hendrix - "The Wind Cries Mary"
• Jimmy Eat World - "The Middle"
• Joe Satriani - "Satch Boogie"
• Kent - "Vinternoll2"
• Korn - "Freak On A Leash"
• Lacuna Coil - "Our Truth"
• Lenny Kravitz - "Are You Gonna Go My Way"
• Linkin Park - "What I've Done"
• The Living End - "Prisoner of Society"
• Los Lobos - "La Bamba"
• Lost Prophets - "Rooftops (A Liberation Broadcast)"
• Lynyrd Skynyrd - "Sweet Home Alabama (Live)"
• Mars Volta - "L'Via L'Viaquez"
• MC5's Wayne Kramer - "Kick Out The Jams"
• Metallica - "Trapped Under Ice"
• Michael Jackson - "Beat It"
• Modest Mouse - "Float On"
• Motorhead - "Overkill"
• Muse - "Assassin"
• Negramaro - "Nuvole e Lenzuola"
• Nirvana - "About a Girl (Unplugged)"
• No Doubt - "Spiderwebs"
• NOFX - "Soul Doubt"
• Oasis - "Some Might Say"
• Ozzy Osbourne - "Crazy Train"
• Ozzy Osbourne - "Mr. Crowley"
• Paramore - "Misery Business"
• Pat Benatar - "Heartbreaker"
• R.E.M. - "The One I Love"
• Radio Futura - "Escuela De Calor"
• Rise Against - "Re-Education Through Labor"
• Sex Pistols - "Pretty Vacant"
• Silversun Pickups - "Lazy Eye"
• Smashing Pumpkins - "Today"
• Steely Dan - "Do It Again"
• Steve Miller Band - "The Joker"
• Sting - "Demolition Man (Live)"
• The Stone Roses - "Love Spreads"
• Stuck In The Sound - "Toy Boy"
• Sublime - "Santeria"
• Survivor - "Eye of the Tiger"
• System of a Down - "B.Y.O.B."
• Ted Nugent - "Stranglehold"
• Ted Nugent's Original Guitar Duel Recording
• Tokio Hotel - "Monsoon"
• Tool - "Parabola"
• Tool - "Schism"
• Tool - "Vicarious"
• Trust - "Antisocial"
• Van Halen - "Hot For Teacher"
• Willie Nelson - "On The Road Again"
• Wings - "Band on the Run"
• Zakk Wylde's Original Guitar Duel Recording

While these are not exactly the songs that I would have picked I am sure I will end up knowing more of these songs than I think I do. I am excited to see Oasis and the Stone Roses, and can't wait to perform "Eye of the Tiger." But where is The Cure?? Black Sabbath?? Def Leppard?? AC/DC?? Journey??? Judas Priest?? Guns N' Roses?? I guess you can't get everything. And I am sure much work goes into the acquisition of these songs for the game. I wasn't really expecting to find Suede and The Cocteau Twins. But is The Cure too much to ask for?

           

In case you haven't already heard this, Saturday night at Blake's in Berkeley Amoeba Music is throwing a very special Midnight Sale and Preview Party for the brand new Guitar Hero World Tour game whose official release date is Sunday (Oct 26th). This brand new Guitar Hero (for Wii, PS3, and Xbox360) will be sold at Blakes by itself as well as along with the bundle pack, according to Amoeba's Tarin Muir. 

From all reports, this anticipated new Guitar Hero is sure to be a big hit, especially for the upcoming holidays. Guitar Hero World Tour comes complete with new wireless six-piece drum set with fan-like cymbals, a slap-strum pad on its 25% larger sunburst guitar, an impressive 86 master recording track list, plus lots of new features such as Wii Freestyle (scroll down to video below poster to learn more about this Wii-only mode).

The no-admission Amoeba Guitar Hero World Tour Midnight Sale & Preview Party at Blake's on Telegraph Ave starts at 10PM Saturday night, October 25th. Note that even though the party is a 21+ event, there will be window sales for anyone underage to pick up the game.