Normally I’m scarce around here on Wednesdays, but this is too juicy to pass up. Rolling Stone is reporting that No Doubt is very, very unhappy about the way their likenesses are being used in Band Hero.

Sound familiar?

That’s right, much like Courtney Love and the surviving members of Nirvana with Kurt Cobain’s likeness, No Doubt has discovered that their virtual selves can be used to sing all sorts of songs that are most definitely not No Doubt tunes.

But this one is looking more nasty than even to Cobain debacle. From the article:

When the band brought their concerns to Activision, they allege the company “refused to correct its actions.” “An Activision executive asserted that [changing the game] would be ‘too expensive’ and would jeopardize their revenue,” according to the complaint.

Ruh roh.

Rolling Stone has a full statement from the band, which includes this spicy quote:

Without the band’s knowledge or approval Activision turned the group into virtual karaoke players by having them perform over 60 additional songs by other musical groups.

See the whole article for more details. I’ve contacted Activision for a comment, and I’ll let you know if I hear back.

UPDATE: Activision just sent over a statement:

Some of the world’s most popular and iconic artists have been featured in Guitar Hero as playable characters, and we are proud to count No Doubt among them. Activision has a written agreement to use No Doubt in Band Hero – an agreement signed by No Doubt after extensive negotiations with its  representatives, who collectively have decades of  experience in the entertainment industry. Pursuant to that agreement, Activision worked with No Doubt and the band’s management in developing Band Hero.  As a result, Activision believes it is within its legal rights with respect to the use and portrayal of the band members in the game and that this lawsuit is without merit.  Activision is exploring its own legal options with respect to No Doubt’s obligations under the agreement.

The thing that interests me is the phrase about No Doubt’s representatives having “decades of experience.” The implication there seems to be that the use was in the contract, and that No Doubt’s representatives ought to have seen it.

[Read, thanks to DJ Pooka for the HOT TIP]

It’s a banner day for youngsters looking to get their music game on. Here’s what the press has been saying about the Taylor Swift-fronted Band Hero. So far almost no one has posted reviews, but I’ll update this post as new ones roll in. Because I care, that’s why.

1UP: A-
“Band Hero proves that Activision is finally treating their Hero franchise as a music platform and not a series of unrelated titles. And in this case, you get to choose which graphical skin you like: ‘Top 40′ Band Hero or ‘Hard Rock’ GH5.”

1UP: C+ (DS Version)
“When it comes to bringing the full complement of instruments to the DS, Band Hero represents a very rocky start. If it weren’t for the game’s shortsighted and unintuitive peripherals, there might actually be something worthwhile here”

G4TV.com: 4/5
“[For a] casual audience, Band Hero is a good package. It combines pop hits for younger players with classic tunes for their parents. It contains many of the mechanics that made Guitar Hero 5 a much-improved sequel. Although it has some of that game’s quirks, it adds some charm of its own.

G4TV.com: 2/5 (DS Version)
Band Hero DS has translated the button-pushing function in a workable, if compromised way, but the exuberant joy of rocking out just doesn’t come through. … Band Hero might hold the attention of some younger gamers for a few hours, but it’s a game that deserves to be forgotten.

GameDaily: 7/10
“If you haven’t played the latest Guitar Hero or are looking for something that all ages of players can get into, it’s a respectable choice. However, its mostly flat song list and almost complete lack of anything significantly new may have you feeling a sense of deja vu that can’t be shaken. Rent it first just to be safe.”

Game Informer: 7.75/10
“It’s hard to take Band Hero out of the context of its recent music game brethren. Band Hero is the least innovative of the bunch, but that certainly doesn’t make it bad. For players who found previous releases too hard-edged for their tastes, Band Hero is exactly what they’ve been waiting for.”

GameSpot: 8/10
“There’s a lot of good stuff here, unless, of course, you already own Guitar Hero 5, in which case it is little more than a full-price track pack. But if you’re looking for more songs or interested to see what this plastic video game rock craze is all about, Band Hero is a great option.”

GameSpy: 4.5/5 [Disclosure: I made this!]
“[I]f you’re interested in even half the songs, I can almost guarantee you’ll find at least a couple more surprisingly entertaining. And that pretty much sums up Band Hero for me: It’s not a revolution for the genre, but it is a surprisingly solid, well thought-out, and just plain entertaining game.”

IGN: 7.9/10
“For better or worse, this is a re-skinned version of Guitar Hero 5. Now, that’s not bad because that game was great, but it is disappointing if you were expecting something special from Band Hero.”

IGN: 7.5/10 (DS Version)
“[D]on’t get me wrong; Band Hero’s fun. The trouble is that it’s just a noisemaker that you pick up and jam out with before moving on to the next thing. You’re not going to get super involved with your band and you’re going to be lugging around a bunch of add-ons if you want to get the full experience.”

IGN: 5/10 (PS2 Version)
“This game is the same Guitar Hero you’ve been playing on the PS2 for years. Perhaps it’s worse because we’ve seen the franchise grow on the other systems and stay stagnant here.”

TeamXbox: 8.4/10
There’s no doubt that Band Hero is fun to play, but Activision could have had so much more to show if it had evolved it better in relation to the other Hero games.

And if the word on the street has whet your whistle for some ‘tweentastic rocking, you may satisfy your dark urges via one of the following Amazon links.

360 Disc | 360 Bundle | PS3 Disc | PS3 Bundle | Wii Disc | Wii Bundle | PS2 Disc | PS2 Bundle | DS Bundle

The Guitar Hero Developer Blog has an interesting post about an odd achievement hidden throughout the Band Hero track list. Apparently, 19 different songs each have “secret notes” which, when played successfully, reward the player with an instant achievement or trophy (depending on whether you’re playing on 360 or PS3). On 360, each secret note section is worth 5 points — but hunting down all 19 songs gets you an additional 490 points.

From the post:

To aid in your search, the description for each secret note Achievement/Trophy contains a clue as to who performs the song you will need to play. You will need to figure out who that artist is and then play their song and try to locate the secret notes by playing them all successfully.

I rarely go out of my way to hunt down achievements on 360 (and honestly barely even notice trophies on PS3), but this strikes me as a neat way to induce players to check out songs they might not otherwise queue up.

[Read]

Gamertag Radio brings us news of a Band Hero event at the Nintendo World store in Rockefeller Plaza this Sunday. The event begins at 11:00 AM — and the first 50 people in line get a free copy of Band Hero for the Wii.

And if that’s not enough, you’ll also get a chance to see Weezer singer Rivers Cuomo rocking out with the game.

New Yorkers, hit the Read link for all the details.

[Read, via @GuitarHeroDevs]

OK, yes, this video of random people in a pedestrian mall rocking out to Band Hero on the DS has its awkward moments — witness the dude swaying soulfully to someone else’s playing at the 30-second mark. But it shows off a bit of the game in action, and offers a bit of rationale for the “drum skin” attachment that’s been causing some head-scratching.

It also drives home the fact that this is a game aimed squarely at the ladies, specifically the younger ladies who might own one of the many pink DSes shown in the clip. I know the game’s been getting a lot of grief from longtime music gamers for its poppy set list, but it should be clear by this point that the game isn’t for hardcore players. It’s an attempt to broaden the audience of music games, and I say the more, the merrier.

I’ve embedded the video after the break to tempt you. You know you want to see it.

Continue reading →

The good people at 1UP have taken a nice, long look at how the Wii version of Band Hero will interface with the DS version, and it looks like it’s a nice evolution of the roadie battles and other minigames in Guitar Hero 5.

From the article:

New to this version is DS Party Play, which allows spectators to set up new songs with an empty DS while everyone else is playing.

Calling it “playlist mana,” [Vicarious Visions CEO Karthik] Bala said, “We’re basically putting the game’s entire library on the Nintendo DS.”

“When we were designing the game, we asked ourselves, ‘What about the people who aren’t playing.’ This new feature provides a social catalyst for the people who are waiting to jump in and play.”

Have a look at the whole story if you’re looking to do some Nintendo-centric pop-rocking.

[Read]