Hey, Van Halen fans, listen up: Dan at One of Swords is holding a contest to give away a pretty special prize package. It includes a copy of Guitar Hero: Van Halen signed by Eddie, Alex, and Wolfgang Van Halen, along with an Eddie Van Halen-style face plate and some other sweet Guitar Hero swag.

But there’s more! From the post:

For three runners-up, I have unsigned PS3 copies of GH: Van Halen, as well as Guitar Hero embroidered hats and a Guitar Hero rechargable battery kit, with an extra battery. These are nifty little USB chargers that plug right into a spare USB port, so you can always have a battery charging while the other one’s in use. Better than killing Mother Nature with endless AAs.

And all you have to do to enter is answer a trivia question by this Friday. Hit the Read link for all the details.

[Read]

If you bought Guitar Hero 5 and jumped through the appropriate hoops, you already have your copy of Guitar Hero: Van Halen. If not — hey look, it’s available in stores today! Here’s what the press has been saying about it:

G4TV.com: 3/5
“[T]he inability to export the tracks in Guitar Hero: Van Halen to your collection in Guitar Hero: World Tour or Guitar Hero 5 is unacceptable, and raises the larger issue here: this should have been downloadable content packaged with a Van Halen aesthetic.”

GameDaily: 7/10
“The song selection will keep you and your friends happy (just skip Third Eye Blind) and the options are acceptable. Still, with a little more effort, this could’ve been on the same level as GH Metallica. The band deserved better.”

Game Informer: 7.5/10
“Van Halen deserves better.”

GamePro: 2.5/5
“[A]n overall lack of cohesiveness is a common theme throughout the game, and you can’t help but wonder what the point of it all was.”

IGN: 4.9/10
“No effort was put into making it good. It’s a step backwards for the franchise and a totally unnecessary release.”

Official Xbox Magazine: 6/10
“[W]e can’t imagine any non-hardcore Halen fans feeling good about dropping $60 on this half-hearted effort.”

PlayStation: The Official Magazine: 2.5/5
“…a step back for the franchise.”

So you’d rather find out for yourself? That can be arranged. I present to you Amazon links for the different versions of the game:

360 | PS3 | Wii | PS2

If you’ve been itching to try your hand at some one two of Eddie Van Halen’s legendary solos, you’re in luck: A three four-song demo of Guitar Hero: Van Halen has just gone live for the 360.

The demo features Van Halen’s “Panama” [EDIT: and "Eruption"]…and Weezer’s “Dope Nose,” along with Killswitch Engage’s “The End of Heartache.” Because, you know, what people who download a demo of Guitar Hero: Van Halen really want is to play Weezer.

I haven’t had a chance to try them out myself yet, so if you do, let me know what you think in comments.

UPDATE: I made the same mistake Kotaku did; I fired up the demo with just the controller and headset rather than walking allll the way across the room to grab a guitar. Consequently I missed the instrumental “Eruption.” So now it’s like a bonus! Right? No? OK.

[Read, thanks to murph for the HOT TIP]

In a recent episode of the Adam Carolla Podcast, Carolla had as a guest Michael Anthony, the former bassist of Van Halen who’s currently playing in Chickenfoot with Sammy Hagar, Joe Satriani, and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith.

It didn’t take long for talk to turn to Guitar Hero: Van Halen. A listener called in to ask why Anthony wasn’t included in the game. His response:

You’d probably have to call Eddie Van Halen and ask him. … It’s not my image on there, but the singing and playing is mine. You’ll just see it coming through Eddie’s kid’s mouth.

Slight cattiness aside, Anthony seems pretty positive about music games in general:

The whole Guitar Hero phenomenon, it’s great. I’ve got two daughters, and their boyfriends come over and play that thing, but I try to pick it up and play it like the [real] instrument, and these guys kick my ass every time. For all these old rock n’ roll bands, it’s kind of rejuvenating everything with all the young people listening to that. A couple years ago, my nephew comes up to me and says, ‘Check out this band, man, they’re so great!’ And it was Led Zeppelin. It’s great exposure.

The Guitar Hero talk begins at the 26:10 mark, and he goes on to dish out a little more snark about the personality conflicts throughout Van Halen’s history, so check out the whole episode at its home — linked below — or at iTunes. (It’s the November 13 episode.)

[Listen, thanks to Scott Vanderburgh for the HOT TIP]

Yeee-owch. IGN posted their review of Guitar Hero: Van Halen yesterday, and it is brutal. The reviewer knocks the game to the floor and then just keeps kicking: “These non-Van Halen tracks are pure filler and a piss-poor way to round out a set list.” “[B]egs the question as to why this wasn’t simply a downloadable add-on to another Guitar Hero game.” “Talk about phoning it in.”

But here’s a quote that struck me a little odd:

It would be tough to pick a major band that is more irrelevant to popular culture today than Van Halen. The band that wowed arenas filled with screaming fans in the ’80s through the virtuoso guitar work of Eddie Van Halen and on-stage antics of David Lee Roth is best known by the youth of today through kitchy references in Adam Sandler and Judd Apatow films. The majority of Van Halen’s catalog has fallen into obscurity by all but the most ardent fans.

I’m most definitely not a Van Halen fan, but I find this statement hard to believe. Eddie Van Halen is almost universally recognized as one of the all-time greats on the electric guitar; I don’t see how the band that carries his name could ever fall into obscurity. Am I wrong here?

I don’t have the game yet — the downside of being sent a copy of Guitar Hero 5 for review rather than buying it at retail was that I didn’t have a receipt to participate in the Van Halen giveaway. So I’d be curious to hear what those of who you have the game think of it.

For contrast, here’s another review from GameDaily. Though it’s also not a glowing recommendation, it is a bit less, ah, ardent in its criticism.

[Read]

You may remember story about Guitar Hero: Van Halen already showing up in the mailboxes of folks who signed up for a free copy via the GH5 promotion. When you read it, perhaps you dashed out to your mailbox to see if you were one of the lucky ones.

Well, if you’re waiting for a PS3 version, I can pretty much guarantee the answer is no. Joystiq reports that PS3 owners have received an e-mail from Activision explaining that the PS3 version is delayed:

“Unfortunately, we made a printing error on the package of Guitar Hero Van Halen,” the email explains. “Fortunately, we caught and remedied the error prior to sending your disc. Our effort to ensure a completely positive customer experience has resulted in a slight delay in shipping your copy of the game.”

Sounds like they’ll begin mailing this week. You PS3 players really are a patient bunch, you know? Give yourselves a pat on the back.

[Read]

The Guitar Hero-focused 5frets posted an interesting pair of videos last Friday. First is Guinness Record-holder Danny “GuitarHeroPhenom” Johnson five-starring Eddie Van Halen’s legendary solo, “Eruption,” in Guitar Hero: Van Halen.

And second is a video of EVH performing the solo himself. Eddie does a markedly different version live, of course, but as 5frets points out, for the segments that are similar, Johnson’s playing and hand positioning are remarkably similar to Eddie Van Halen’s. And given that the guy absolutely nails the tune, I’m going to go ahead and say he’s playing the song the way the developers meant it to be played. So it’s kind of a neat example of how closely a Guitar Hero tune can mirror its real-life counterpart.

Take a look at both videos after the break. Continue reading →