Rumor: Activision Prepping Hard Rock: Van Halen And Band Hero

Van Halen

The Guitar Hero franchise has become a smash success for Activision, and this means you will only see more installments and spin-offs in the years to come. This month, we get Guitar Hero: Metallica, and the next...well, there are a few things to talk about, apparently.

According to Eurogamer, Activision Publishing president and CEO Mike Griffith spoke about a few of the relevant upcoming projects. We already know about Guitar Hero: Greatest Hits, but Griffith had much more up his sleeve. Fans of the franchise; keep those fingers loose and accurate...said Griffith:

"As we look at that back half of the year we expect to release the majority of our games. Starting with the Guitar Hero franchise, we'll launch a major restage of the business, with all-new differentiated Guitar Hero products, plus the launch of DJ Hero, a line extension that enhances the franchise."

Not long after this initial report, Eurogamer cited a "source close to the publisher" and said that Guitar Hero 5 will launch this September, while DJ Hero will follow in October. Then, they talk about Hard Rock: Van Halen in August and Band Hero in November, which has caused some confusion. Why it's not called Guitar Hero: Van Halen is still a mystery, and we haven't heard anything about Band Hero. So far, we've seen no confirmation from Activision on either of these two currently unannounced titles, but both certainly seem plausible. We could use an explanation, that's all.

We will say that Van Halen does seem like yet another logical choice. We'll always be partial to the David Lee Roth iteration of that band, but Hagar and Co. had some great stuff, too. Besides, without Eddie Van Halen, many later guitar stars may never have picked up the instrument.  What student of the guitar hasn't wanted to step into Van Halen's shoes at one time or another?

3/9/2009 Ben Dutka

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