Hasta La Gadget!

Guitar Hero drummers who wondered whatever happened to that revamped set we spied months ago can finally sleep more soundly at night, although while still probably tapping out “Sweating Bullets” in their dreams. The cats at IGN got some hands-on time with the new gear, and while there’s no physical pics to show for it, they do report being happy with the overall design and its smaller, but still capable frame. The peripheral is reportedly due in a Band Hero Super Bundle for Nintendo Wii this November. It’s a limited exclusive for the console, meaning the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 packages will include the standard Guitar Hero drums until “sometime later this year.” That leaves at most seven weeks of lead time — not too long, but in the precious time before Christmas, it’s probably quite the coup.

Filed under: Gaming

Band Hero’s revamped drums coming in November bundle, very limited exclusive for Wii originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 02:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Guitar Hero and Rock Band‘s plastic axes aren’t exactly behemoths in their own right, but if you need something even tinier, little-known game accessories company NEXiLUX looks to have a more portable solution in the works. The video for its mini guitar isn’t the clearest, but from we can see, the body is about the same size as the retracted neck, which expands from behind the touch-sensitive pads to reveal the infamous quintet of colored buttons. D-pad, navigation buttons, whammy bar, and pickup selection have all survived the compression, and to make each unit as universal as possible, there’s a switch on the bottom for choosing between either Guitar Hero for Wii or Rock Band for Wii, PlayStation 2, and PS3. Both black and white models are seen here, but there’s no mention either in-video or on the company’s website of price or release date. See it for yourself after the break.

[Thanks, Floyd]

Continue reading Video: Retractible wireless Rock Band / Guitar Hero controller perfect for the five-button shredder on the go

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

Video: Retractible wireless Rock Band / Guitar Hero controller perfect for the five-button shredder on the go originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 31 Aug 2009 21:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We know that DSi of yours is all the rage, but you did hang on to that DS / DS Lite, didn’t you? Phew. Starting this November in Europe and other PAL regions, you’ll have a remarkably good excuse to bust that unit back out, as this new peripheral looks to require that all-but-forgotten GBA slot. At any rate, the title (which goes by Easy Piano in case you glossed over the headline) will allow players to bang out masterpieces such as Bittersweet Symphony, Every Breath You Take and Pachelbel’s Canon on the 8-note, full-octave keyboard accessory. All told, 40 songs will be made available, and there’s even a “creation mode” that enables owners to record up to four 3-minute-long jams. Now, if only we had a North American price and release date to pencil in, we’d be all set.

[Via Joystiq]

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

Easy Piano title lets DS Lite users tickle the ivory originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 09:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We certainly didn’t mind that the Tony Hawk Ride board we played at E3 had a charcoal coloring, and that goes double for our feet. Apparently that sentiment isn’t shared by the game’s director Josh Tsui, who told GamesIndustry.biz that it’ll be launched in a “more consumer friendly… [and] iPod-like” white color, which in our minds all but guarantees someone out there’s gonna mistake this for a new version of the Wii balance board. Tsui’s not shy with praise either, calling the board “the most advanced peripheral on the market.” Ultimately, the color isn’t gonna matter to us, and with a board-compatible sequel rumored to already be in the works, there’s plenty of time to re-release the peripheral in all sorts of attractive palettes — that’d of course be very iPod-like.

[Via Joystiq]

Filed under: Gaming

Tony Hawk Ride’s skateboard peripheral turning white before launch originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Just when you’d given up all hope that Mad Catz would ever ship its Fender Precision Bass for Rock Band, in flies this. If you’ll recall, said axe was originally introduced to the world in September of last year, and with a certain Beatles-inspired bass set to ship in the ninth month of this year, Mad Catz obviously felt the time was right to cease its dilly-dallying. According to company CEO Darren Richardson, the wireless Fender bass for Rock Band will ship “later this month,” which should mean that it’ll be hitting store shelves over the weekend. In related news, the company has inked a multi-year licensing agreement with Microsoft that will allow it to “manufacture, market and sell Xbox 360-branded wireless specialty videogame controllers.” Fun for them, yeah?

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

Mad Catz’s wireless Fender Rock Band bass to ship soon originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 May 2009 11:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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