The Top 8 Guitar Hero Games I’d Like To See
The Guitar Hero franchise has become quite the staple of family gaming in my house. We love them, the kids love them, and seemingly, the rest of the music gamers out there do, too.
Alas, this is the only Guitar Hero game we’ve yet to purchase, but never fear, we will soon. We’ll play it until the disc dies, I’m sure.
What if you could choose which rock gods came out with a Guitar Hero game? Who would you pick? Here’s my favorite top eight choices, in no particular order.
8. KISS 
Can you imagine jamming out to Love Gun or Strutter? How about rocking out to Detroit Rock City or Rock N Roll All Nite? I can’t figure out why Gene Simmons hasn’t capitalized on this idea yet. He’s got the Kiss name on everything else under the sun. Why not a video game?
7. LED ZEPPELIN 
This one was just obvious for me. Who wouldn’t break out that Les Paul and wail along to some Led Zeppelin? I want to play Black Dog, Rock And Roll, Misty Mountain Hop, and some Kashmir. This band was a fixture in the 70’s, 80’s and they still are. I wish they would get back together already.
6. VAN HALEN 
Jump, Why Can’t This Be Love, Hot For Teacher…I could go on. They could even add some of David Lee Roth’s solo stuff as an added bonus. I’d buy it. Van Halen rocks. Heck, they could probably throw in some Sammy Hagar for good measure, it’d still be alright.
5. ELVIS 
There, I said it. Elvis Presley deserves a nod on this list, too. He was a great singer and did some guitar playing in his day. If the powers that be at Activision can add Cream into the mix, then why not some of the King? They could put in Don’t Be Cruel, All Shook Up, Heartbreak Hotel, and Blue Suede Shoes. If you haven’t heard of these, please consult the wonderful people at Wikipedia.
4. NIRVANA 
Nirvana also deserves a mention on the list of bands that I would love Guitar Hero to make into a new version of the game. Why? Because THEY’RE NIRVANA. Courtney Love can’t take away what they’ve already done for the music industry, but she could probably give this one the go-ahead. Maybe one day in one of her drunken/druggie rants on MySpace, she might have a moment of enlightenment and think of Kurt’s fans. They could include the entire Nevermind album, along with In Utero. I’d eat it up. I always wanted to play Smells Like Teen Spirit, Come As You Are, Heart-Shaped Box, and Lithium, to name a few.
3. OZZY OSBOURNE 
Enter in The Prince of Darkness, Ozzy Osbourne. I know that he wasn’t the guitarist on any of his albums, but how could you ignore the music that he made. Don’t you want to play Crazy Babies, Crazy Train, or any other “Crazy” stuff he can come up with? I do. He’s classic, for sure. I want to rock out to Mr. Crowley, Goodbye To Romance (even though that’s a slow one), Iron Man (this one would go without saying), and Suicide Solution. RIP Randy Rhoads.
2. GRATEFUL DEAD 
A classic band if there ever was one. Even though the lead singer, Jerry Garcia has passed on, him and the Deadheads will always live on. I’d play Touch Of Grey, wouldn’t you? If you were born after 1980, then you’ve probably never heard of these guys. Truckin’ was also a good song to play the guitar to, along with Johnny B. Goode. I know it wasn’t there’s originally, but the Activision gods would probably get somebody to cover it anyways.
1. THE BEATLES 
It was already rumored last October that Harmonix (which means it’s likely to go the route of Rock Band) was thinking about doing a video game for The Beatles catalog, so let’s hope that comes to fruition. I want to play Can’t Buy Me Love, Help, Let It Be, which is heavy on the piano playing, but would still make a good track to include. RIP George Harrison and John Lennon.
Who would you add?
Images Courtesy of Amazon.
You forgot The Who, who wouldn’t want to rock out to some great rocken songs and do the windmill on the GH controller
Comment by Jason — January 28, 2009 @ 11:30 am
You know who else I forgot….Queen…Love them.
Comment by Roberta — January 28, 2009 @ 11:32 am
Forget the band themes… How about Genre? Guitar Hero Jam Band would rock! moe., Phish, Grateful Dead, Widespread… 20 minute riffs and solo’s! Now that would be fun! :-D
Comment by Jeremy — January 28, 2009 @ 11:59 am
They should really go for Rock decades, 90’s alt would be a hit (Chili Peppers, Nirvana, Bush, Soundgarden) Decades would be the way to go
Comment by Chuck — January 28, 2009 @ 12:12 pm
In November of 1955, sales of acoustic guitars, along of those of basses, drum kits, electric guitars, organs, microphones, amplifiers, as well as any instrument imaginable, I mean of the ones needed to either start a band, or to organize a musical event, let alone those items which made possible its broadcast to the masses, starting with transistor radios, radios, record players and yes, televisions, resulted in revenue which accounted for less than 1 percent of the US Gross national product.
By November of the next year, in other words, in exactly twelve months, they had tripled, quadrupled, and in some cases increased by more than 500 percent. The effect that Presley’s 11 presentations on national television had, in that 12 month period, which drew in excess of 230 million cumulative viewers had, as far as the sale of product along the lines mentioned above, and the changes effected in how the youth market started, right there and then, to have a direct effect on all of those economic variables, first in America, and then in the rest of the world, is how do I put this, incalculable.
Of course, Elvis Presley’s influence on the use, and non use, of a guitar, of a microphone, of a stage,as well as the interaction he had with the audience, the use of lights, props, is part and parcel of the history of the second half of the 20th Century.
This extraordinary upsurge, which prompted SONY in Japan, to dedicate itself to the research and production of a line of products in direct proportion to what they saw was happening in America (a reading of SONY’s early history, available on the net, will convince even the less inclined to give Presley the credit, that it was indeed the revoultion he created, inadvertant as it may have been, which caused the now the world’s entertainment industry giantm to go in the direction it went.
So, Presley as a guitar icon, in the the list of 8, that’s one proposition that is well founded.
Comment by Jim Burrows — January 28, 2009 @ 12:35 pm
I honestly don’t know how fun a GH: Nirvana would be. KISS probably want TOO much money to do it, even though it would probably sell better than any other GH game.
I think a genre geared GH would sell well. World tour sucks…to me it absolutely sucks. If I were you, Roberta, I would wait for GH Metallica and buy a the World Tour accessories used if you desire the drum kit and mic.
The problem with a GH Beatles, Zeppelin, etc. is that it would not sell as well as one would think. The games are geared towards kids and even though Aerosmith did amazing with sales, I just don’t see it happening as well with the others. While they are historic bands, they aren’t as relevant as far as marketing towards a younger generation.
Then again this post isn’t what would sell, but what you’d like to see…So I say GH: Megadeth and Pantera.
Comment by Scott — January 28, 2009 @ 1:33 pm
um..buy Rock Band, and download Nevermind. They’ve also released a bunch of Grateful Dead songs, with more on the way.
I dislike the niche game titles (didn’t like Aerosmith, and I’m not that psyched about the Metallica, either.
I think having a good mix on the game, with stuff available for download in the optimal model.
Comment by Big blue monkey — January 28, 2009 @ 3:45 pm
You know what urks me about GH: World Tour? You get to unlock Zakk Wylde, that’s cool and everything…but then you’ll be using him and you’ll be playing crappy songs with him. Not to mention he does the stupid dropping guitar and floor punching thing after every song.
Comment by Scott — January 28, 2009 @ 8:21 pm
Ahhh….well that’s just about retarded. Why would they let you unlock Zakk and make you play crappy songs with him and dropping the guitar? I’ll wait….maybe I will pick up the Metallica game instead.
Comment by Roberta — January 28, 2009 @ 9:26 pm
To me it’s not fun to play as much as 1,2,3 and Aerosmith. Your boys might like it, though.
Comment by Scott — January 29, 2009 @ 6:26 pm
hmmm…then maybe we’ll wait on it. We have Aerosmith and the Metallica title does have some good tracks on it. Thanks for the tip Scott.
Comment by Roberta — January 30, 2009 @ 3:42 am
i hate to admit it but i think that this is the new generation of rockers… I mean you can take a hobo off the streets with guitar hero world tour and he can make a song without even picken up a fricken guitar… (a real one that is… And hed have to be one of those smart hobos you know the kind that fought in vietnam but his family and his country said “ehh f**k him)
Comment by Jerry — February 11, 2009 @ 11:11 pm
How’s bout a GH:AC/DC. I’d personally like to see a Megadeth or Black Sabbath
Comment by Hector — April 9, 2009 @ 2:28 am