Enter, Band Hero DS which is exactly what you woudl expect, Band Hero for the Nintendo DS. The game will be developed by Activision owned Vicarious Visions and will come bundled with a guitar peripheral along with a never before seen drum peripheral.

For gamers who liked the previous Guitar Hero DS games, this is for you. As for the rest of you, move along.

via Kotaku

Guitar Hero 5 will be out September 1st for the PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, and PC.

• 3 Doors Down
• A Perfect Circle
• AFI
• Arctic Monkeys
• Attack! Attack! UK
• Band Of Horses
• Beastie Boys

The rest of the list can be viewed after the jump.

• Beck
• Billy Idol
• Billy Squier
• Blink-182
• Blur
• Bob Dylan -  All Along The Watchtower
• Bon Jovi
• Brand New
• Bush
• Children Of Bodom
• Coldplay
• Darker My Love
• Darkest Hour
• David Bowie
• Deep Purple
• Dire Straits
• Duran Duran
• Eagles Of Death Metal
• Elliott Smith
• Elton John
• Face To Face
• Garbage
• Gorillaz
• Gov’t Mule
• Grand Funk Railroad
• Iggy Pop
• Iron Maiden
• Jeff Beck
• Jimmy Eat World
• John Mellencamp
• Johnny Cash – Ring of Fire
• Kaiser Chiefs
• King Crimson
• Kings Of Leon – Sex on Fire
• Kiss
• Love and Rockets
• Megadeth
• Mötley Crüe
• Muse
• My Morning Jacket
• Nirvana
• No Doubt
• Peter Frampton
• Public Enemy Featuring Zakk Wylde
• Queen & David Bowie
• Queens Of The Stone Age
• Rammstein
• Rose Hill Drive
• Rush
• Santana – No One To Depend On (LIVE)
• Scars On Broadway
• Screaming Trees
• Smashing Pumpkins
• Sonic Youth
• Spacehog
• Stevie Wonder
• Sublime
• Sunny Day Real Estate
• T. Rex
• The Bronx
• The Derek Trucks Band
• The Duke Spirit
• The Killers
• The Police
• The Raconteurs
• The Rolling Stones – Sympathy for the Devil
• The Sword
• The White Stripes – Blue Orchid
• Thin Lizzy
• Thrice
• Tom Petty – Runnin Down a Dream
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
• TV On The Radio
• Vampire Weekend – A-Punk
• Weezer
• Wild Cherry
• Wolfmother

The plot is about what you’d expect for a game like this, where those brain-damage cases with bunny ears and horrible dental work, the Rabbids, are once again pursuing Rayman for reasons that probably only make sense to them, if they make sense to anyone at all.  From what I can tell, Rabbids were a race of extremely trusting idiots, kind and gentle, but wholly idiotic.  This left them the butt of numerous jokes, and, unable to take the abuse any longer, the Rabbids snapped, resulting in the lunatic wackjobs who beat anything and everything that comes nearby, including each other.  Anyway, due to a freak lightning strike, the Rabbids end up transported to an alternate dimension located inside a television.  Now the Rabbids have seized control of the programming and are recasting it in their own image, forcing you to play along.  The sheer parody value alone is worth the price of admission, as they’ve skewered most every TV show imaginable and several movies to bring you this game.

As is generally the case with games like this, you get a whole slew of things to do—the Rabbids have seized the entirety of cable, apparently—and you’ll get to choose the programming for the Rabbids’ new network by selecting one of several minigame choices for that day.  You might be playing music by shaking your Wiimote, or dancing (or doing aerobics) by holding it in a certain position.  You’ll shoot plungers at targets, you’ll drive a lawn mower, you’ll kill weeds, you’ll decimate towns with radioactive fire.  You’ll do literally hundreds of different things in the course of this game, and that’s what I love about it.

There is an INCREDIBLE variety here.  It is a time sink the likes of which I haven’t played since my last round of Fallout.  Seriously—I started this one last night and figured I’d play a bit this morning just to get reacquainted before I wrote it up.  I wanted a half hour…but by the time I noticed the clock again forty-five minutes had passed.

I didn’t even notice.  I lost almost an hour and I didn’t notice.

To me, that’s the surest sign of a game’s success—when I no longer care about time.  When I’m having so much fun playing a game that the clock no longer has any bearing, that’s a good game.  And that means this is a good game.  Sure, it’s simplistic. There’s no great and epic storyline here.  There’s decent sound and good graphics (for the Wii, anyway, which is always something of a laggard in graphics), and most importantly, a whole lot of fun.

Granted, if you don’t like simple games, and you crave a good story, Rayman: Raving Rabbids TV Party isn’t going to be the game for you.  You can look at the front of the box and tell it’s not going to be the game for you.  But if you want something fast and simple that’ll eat up a whole lot more time than you’ll ever see coming, then this is the game right here.

If you haven’t already had the chance to try this one, go.  Go and grab it.  This thing is downright amazing and I relish every moment.  Chances are, you will too.

The karaoke themed Lips series didn’t really catch on in North America as it did in Europe but despite this Microsoft has dated an addition to the series, Lips: Number One Hits, for October.

This game will feature the same basic karaoke gameplay featured in the previous Lips title but will feature a new track list that includes:

“Viva La Vida” by Coldplay

“Disturbia” by Rihanna

“U Can’t Touch This” by MC Hammer

“More Than Words” by Extreme

“Apologize” by Timbaland featuring OneRepublic

“Karma Chameleon” by Culture Club

“I Heard It Through the Grapevine” by Marvin Gaye

“Oh, Pretty Woman” by Roy Orbison

“Ready, Set, Go!” by Tokio Hotel

While there is definitely a market for these games, Joystiq notes the fact that the developers could have just continued to release new downloadable songs instead of an entire new title.

An alliance between 505 Games and Rolling Stone magazine was recently forged to bring the Wii title Rolling Stone: Drum King to North America.

Don’t go thinking you’ll have to shell out another $100+ for this game as it’ll utilize the Wiimote and Nunchuk in place of actual drumsticks.

Publisher of Rolling Stone magainze Will Schenck had this to say about the partnership:

For more than 40 years, Rolling Stone has been a staple in the voice of American music culture and entertainment and we are pleased to collaborate with 505 Games as we venture into video games for the first time. With more people playing console video games than ever before, this was a natural next step for the Rolling Stone brand.

Rolling Stone: Drum King is set to be released sometime later this spring and thanks to Kotaku we have a list of all 29 original songs cover songs that will be featured in the game; check it out after the break.All Star – Inspired by Smash Mouth
Banquet – Inspired by Bloc Party
Be My Baby – Inspired by The Ronettes
Blister in the Sun – Inspired by Violent Femmes
Born to Be Wild – Inspired by Steppenwolf
By the Way – Inspired by Offcuts
Can’t Get Enough – Inspired by Bad Company
Can’t Stand Losing You – Inspired by The Police
Cissy Strut (instrumental) – Inspired by The Meters
Click Click Boom – Inspired by Saliva
Direction – Inspired by Starting Line
Feel Good Inc. – Inspired by Gorillaz
Fight the Good Fight – Inspired by Triumph
I Fought the Law – Inspired by The Clash
In Too Deep – Inspired by Sum 41
Let There Be Drums – Inspired by The Ventures
Lifestyles of the Rich and the Famous – Inspired by Good Charlotte
Mickey – Inspired by Toni Basil
No One Knows – Inspired by Queens of the Stone Age
On Top of the World – Inspired by Boys Like Girls
Pull Me Under – Inspired by Dream Theatre
Saturday Superhouse – Inspired by Biffy Clyro
She Sells Sanctuary – Inspired by The Cult
Song 2 – Inspired by Blur
Soundgarden – Inspired by Spoonman
Stay With Me – Inspired by Faces
The Take Over, The Breaks Over – Inspired by Fall Out Boy
The Final Countdown – Inspired by Europe
We Will Rock You – Inspired by Queen

Considering that a proper drum kit with all the bells and whistles can cost hundreds, even thousands, of dollars, the fact that this one only costs two hundred Microsoft points and yet offers fully fifty different customizable drum sounds is a point worth bearing in mind.  You can even string together two different Xbox 360 controllers to simulate a full drum kit.  Fully customizable in a lot of different ways, this may well be the most extensive drum simulator ever released, even counting Rock Band.

If you ever wanted a drum kit growing up, or were a former percussionist looking to get back into practice, then you’ll likely enjoy playing Drum Xplosion.  In fact, parents out there should be advised that, now, Junior can actually afford his OWN drum kit even on what little allowance you’re giving him.  But if you can’t stand the racket or weren’t a band nerd back in high school, then this one may not be the one for you.

Yes, when you start playing Aria, you’ll notice that it plays a lot like other games like Powerup Forever, Geometry Wars, and a host of others.  But this one is different–see, what it’ll do is take your music library, assuming you have one, and send out its steadily growing flood of enemies in time with the music, while playing it.  This is actually a really exciting feature, if not necessarily a real game-changer.

If just listening to music has grown tiresome, then you’ll probably get a kick out of playing your playlist.  As in  playing AGAINST your playlist. The thought of my music turning on me is actually a cheerful one, and makes a nifty game.  Sure, the gameplay’s a little on the soft side, and frankly, they definitely could’ve done a lot more with it but they’ve broken some interesting ground and hopefully paved the way for refinement.

And at the low price of four hundred Microsoft points, well, it’s worth the cost.

Here we go again — Joystiq recently noticed that GameStop’s website had a listing for Guitar Hero: Van Halen up for a small period for time. After being discovered, the listing was quickly pulled with no reasoning explained.

See now this is all find and dandy except for one thing, Activision hasn’t said anything at all about Guitar Hero: Van Halen. However, we all know that Activision loves milking the Guitar Hero franchise for all it’s worth so it would make sense that they would come out with another band themed game, right? I mean, there’s a Guitar Hero: Metallica and Guitar Hero: Aerosmith so why not Guitar Hero: Van Halen?

Before it was pulled, the listing had the game set for an August 4th release on the Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, and Wii. Now let’s just wait for Activision’s official announcement.

Word has recently gotten out about 4 new Rock Band tracks set to hit Xbox Live and the PSN next week

This time we have offerings from The Offspring, R.E.M. and Richard Thompson:

The Offspring “All I Want”
The Offspring “The Kids Aren’t Alright”
R.E.M. “Losing My Religion”
Richard Thompson “The Way That It Shows”

These 4 tracks will be available as DLC for both Rock Band and Rock Band 2 on March 10th for $1.99 or 160 Microsoft Points each.

Read (Kotaku)

If this rumor is true theres no question about it, Activision is looking to suck the Guitar Hero franchise for all it’s worth, and I don’t blame them even though these announcements get somewhat repetitive.

Recent speculation suggests that Activision is working on a new Guitar Hero based on popular band Van Halen, appropriately titled Guitar Hero: Van Halen.

Joystiq reports that Guitar Hero: Van Halen will be on it’s way out the door once Guitar Hero: Metallica hits shelves, along with the 50 other Guitar Hero games Activision has in works.

Much of the released music was previously only available through the games’ collector’s editions, or at special events such as the BlizzCon gaming convention. The soundtracks released today are: StarCraft, Diablo 2, Warcraft 3, World of Warcraft, The Burning Crusade and Taverns of Azeroth.

The albums are available through a new Blizzard Entertainment hub page within the iTunes store. It also hosts BlizzCast podcast and various media from the studio’s upcoming games.

Additionally, the “Diablo 3 Overture” track has been released as a single and has been highlighted as a “Discovery Download”, making it free to download till this Tuesday.

The songs are “Overkill” by Motorhead, “Pretty Vacant” by The Sex Pistols and “Kick Out the Jams” by MC5. Most notable is the fact that each song was specially re-recorded for the game, with the MC5 song “updating and modernizing the sound” through the participation of guitarists Wayne Kramer, Jerry Cantrell and Gilby Clark.

Guitar Hero World Tour is scheduled for release this Fall on PS2, PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii.

• Airbourne – “Too Much Too Young…”
• Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – “Weapon of Choice”
• Bob Seger – “Hollywood Nights”
• Dinosaur Jr. – “Feel The Pain”
• Silversun Pickups – “Lazy Eye”
• Survivor – “Eye of the Tiger”
• Black Label Society – “Stillborn”
• Metallica – “Trapped Under Ice”
• System of a Down – “B.Y.O.B.

The game is due out this Fall on PS2, PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii. It introduces vocals and drums to the franchise.

The expansion itself is slated for launch on August 26 in North America and August 22 in Europe and Asian. Hit the jump for the full soundtrack listing.

“Everything” Performed by A Cursive Memory

“Getting Better” Performed by Bob Schneider

“Radio” Performed by Castaneda

“Fancy Footwork” Performed by Chromeo

“Battle Royale” Performed by Does It Offend You, Yeah?

“Sweet About Me” Performed by Gabriella Cilmi

“Club Soda” Performed by Ghostland Observatory

“Where Would We Be Now” Performed by Good Charlotte

“Violet Stars Happy Hunting!” Performed by Janelle Monae

“Crazy” Performed by Jem

“Mad Pursuit” Performed by Junkie XL feat. Electrocute

“Hot N Cold” Performed by Katy Perry

“Ghosts” Performed by Ladytron

“Mozdulj Mar (Mondulo Mar)” Performed by Lola

“Ona Odna (She’s Alone)” Performed by Ranetki Girls

“This Is Not A Test” Performed by Shock of Pleasure

“Brainless” Performed by Sunny Day Sets Fire

“Good Day” Performed by Tally Hall

“Come My Sunshine” Performed by The Comas

“Divebomb” Performed by The Whip

“Not A Love Song” Performed by Uh Huh Her

“On & On” Performed by Vanilla Sky

“Can’t Believe My Eyes” Performed by Wainwright