XYBA Podcast Ep 17

Andy, Eric, Jeff, and Josh are back with the last XYBA Video Game Podcast of 2007. We discuss games we played on holiday and games we got for Christmas. Good times.

00:00 - Intros
00:35 - Games We're Playing :|: Geometry Wars: Galaxies, Gundam, Viva Pinata: Party Animals, Uncharted: Drakes Fortune, SceneIt, Call of Duty 4, Half Life 2, Guitar Hero III, Tenchu Z, Transformers, Contra 4, New York Times Cross Word Puzzles, The Simpsons Game, Rock Band,
50:57 - Gaming News
1:02:30 - What We Are Looking Forward to For Gaming in 2008
1:34:38 - Rantz :|: Jeff goes off on Sony and their firmware restrictions

Download XYBA Podcast Ep 17

Guitar Hero III Demo

A Guitar Hero III demo came out recently for the Xbox 360 in the December issue of OXM. And if you only get yours news from us(you must hate gaming news), you may not yet be aware that you can get this demo for free.

Someone ripped the demo and put it out there on the internet. You can download it and burn the ISO to a CD or DVD then put it in your 360 and find the demo under Demos in the dashboard. It's fully playable, and nobody has raised a fuss about it(meaning it shouldn't get you banned).

There are five songs available on the demo:

* "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" - Pat Benatar
* "Lay Down" - Priestess
* "Even Flow" - Pearl Jam
* "Rock You Like A Hurricane" - Scorpions
* "The Metal" - Tenacious D

I burned it tonight and played it. If you liked Guitar Hero II, you'll like Guitar Hero III. The demo seemed to load very slowly, but I'm hoping that won't be true in the real game.


The graphics are improved and a little bit more realistic in Guitar Hero III. The guitar part of the screen seems even bigger.

A few improvements are that once you start getting a good note streak going, it starts showing the count in the lower left hand corner. It also flashes across the screen every 50 note in your note streak. In the lower right hand corner, you can see how well you are rocking, just like in GH2.

Guitar Hero ... III?

More news about Guitar Hero III. That's not the official name yet, just what the kids on the street are calling it. And not to be confused with Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s.

Anyway, as we've stated before, it will be released on the PS2, PS3, Wii and Xbox 360. It will feature wireless guitar controllers, new play modes, online multiplayer and downloadable content. The guitars will have removable faceplates.

However, now some of the songs that will be playable have been named. These will be played and sung by the original artists:

• The Rolling Stones - "Paint It Black"
  
• Smashing Pumpkins - "Cherub Rock"
  
• Beastie Boys - "Sabotage"
  
• Tenacious D - "The Metal"
  
• Weezer - "My Name is Jonas"
  
• Muse - "Knights of Cydonia"
  
• Living Colour - "Cult of Personality"

The developers have also acquired the rights to four songs that will be performed by cover artists:

• Kiss - "Rock And Roll All Nite"
  
• Alice Cooper - "School's Out"
  
• Fog Hat - "Slow Ride"
  
• Heart - "Barracuda"