Activision Pulls the Plug on Guitar Hero

 (2005 - 2011)

Guitar Hero, we hardly knew ye.

It doesn't seem all that long ago that Guitar Hero was a cultural phenomenon. Now, as has been confirmed by Activision themselves, the franchise is no more. As Kotaku points out, sales of the series have been on the decline for a while now, so it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that the series was axed.

From where I'm sitting, there's a couple of different reasons why the series died. First, Activision more or less flooded the market with, essentially, the same game over and over. In classic Activision form, they took a popular franchise and tried to squeeze every last dollar out of it by cranking out games as fast as they could. Second, I think people got tired of having to buy and store those plastic instruments. Lastly, perhaps the entire genre was merely a fad that has finally passed. It's easy to see how people could become disenchanted with the game when you consider my previous two points.

So fare thee well, Guitar Hero, it was fun while it lasted.

New Screenshots and Art from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Skyrim Skyrim Skyrim Skyrim Skyrim... Skyrim. It's ridiculous how much I'm looking forward to making a return journey to Tamriel later this year (if all goes well... big bucks no whammies no delays STOP!). We got some cool details about the new game engine earlier, but now the Official XBox Mag has some delicious new screenshots and artwork for your perusal. Dragons and yetis and mammoths, oh my!

First Official Look at the Playstation Phone

If you're a loyal reader of this blog (and I know none of you are, but humor me for a second), then you know I kind of completely skipped over the reveal of the NGP / PSP2. Kind of big news, but I was busy and I just never got around to writing about it. I apologize.

That being said, here's the long-rumored Playstation Phone, officially know as the Xperia Play. We don't know much about it now, but at least we've got a picture. We'll know more about it Sunday Feb 13, so stay tuned.

IGN has coverage of the device here, and Kotaku as well here, so thanks to both of them.

Awesome GTTV Interview with Reggie Fils-Aime About the 3DS

Video Games | Nintendo 3DS | Reggie Fils-Aime Extended Cut

Xbox 360 | PlayStation 3 | Nintendo Wii | PC Games

Geoff Keighley from GameTrailers recently got together with Nintendo of America Prez Reggie Fils-Aime to talk about the upcoming 3DS game device machine, which you may have heard about. The Regginator is in fine form here, knocking "disposable" iPhone games down a peg and (more or less) saying "haters gonna hate" with regard to people complaining about the 3DS' software lineup. Other topics include digital content, the eShop, AR games, retail game prices, future announcements, and an awesome Bowser backpack.

Look Back: The Music of Square SNES Games

Without a doubt, my favorite game system of all time is the SNES. It had an absolute abundance of amazing titles, too many for me to even attempt to list them all. And where there's great games, great game music is sure to follow. For this blog post, I'm going to focus particularly on the games of Square (now Square Enix).

Some game developers, in my mind, become almost synonymous with certain systems because of the library of awesome games they create on those systems. Rare with the N64, Valve with the PC, and Square with the SNES are some examples for me. The SNES was a hotbed for amazing RPG games, and Square was right in the thick of it, developing a number of incredible RPGs for the venerable console. Below, I've embedded a song from six different Square RPGs for the SNES. Each game had so many great tunes that I could have easily picked 7 or 8 per game, but I've got to stop myself somewhere, right? Enjoy!

Final Fantasy IV

Boss Battle Theme - composed by Nobuo Uematsu



Secret of Mana

What the Forest Taught Me - composed by Hiroki Kikuta



Super Mario RPG

Nimbus Land - composed by Yoko Shimomura



Secret of Evermore

Ivor Tower (The Town) - composed by Jeremy Soule



Chrono Trigger

600AD (Yearnings of Wind) - composed by Yasunrori Mitsuda



Final Fantasy VI

Locke's Theme - composed by Nobuo Uematsu

Platinum Games Debuts Teaser Trailer for Anarchy Reigns

One of my favorite developers out there today is Platinum Games, makers of such titles as MadWorld, Bayonetta, and, most recently, Vanquish. Their games always have a masterful blend of action, style, and all-out fun. So, it should go without saying that I'm pumped for their next project, Anarchy Reigns. Check out the debut teaser trailer below:

More Anarchy Reigns Videos

Jack! In beautiful HD! In case you're unfamiliar with the game, Anarchy Reigns is being described by Platinum as a "Massively Multiplayer Melee Fighting Action" game (or, MMMFA, for those of you who like to make up acronyms). Here's a story that descibes the game in a little more detail. Frankly, it sounds awesome, and it should be another surefire hit for Platinum.

Anarchy Reigns is tentatively scheduled for release this Fall on the XBox 360 and PS3.

Be the First to Comment!

Three-Life Legends has been around for a little while now (since June 18, 2010, to be exact), and one thing that has thus far eluded this humble blog is a reader comment. Someone, somewhere, who read this blog and left their mark by leaving a comment/question/spam/flame/nonsense/exclamation/"first!"/whatever.

Well, I think it's about time 3LL got its first comment, and I intend to make that happen by, in true fledgling blog fashion, shamelessly pandering for one. If you are the first person to leave a comment on the site (on any post), then you win a prize! What do you win? Who knows, but it could include, although is certainly not limited to, my undying love and devotion.

So will you be the first to comment? Perhaps! But even if you aren't, be sure to leave a comment anyway. It would please me mightily.