Guitar Hero DS Comes Alive!
This week, the long-rumored Guitar Hero for the Nintendo DS was officially announced and shall henceforth be known as Guitar Hero: On Tour.

Available this summer (no firm date), On Tour comes with an attachable fret/grip peripheral that serves as your ersatz axe and a stylus in the shape of a guitar pick that will allow you to strum along on the DS touchpad.

No specific tracks for the game have been announced, but, in a press release, Activision mentioned songs by artists like Nirvana, No Doubt, and OK Go will be included.

Wireless co-op and versus modes will be available and the game will even use the built-in DS microphone in a somewhat interesting/disturbing way–if stage pyro goes awry, you blow into the mic to control the blaze… OK! Also, another fun DS touch that will be included is the ability to sign autographs for crazed fans who jump up on stage as you play. Wild!

While the set-up looks cramp-inducing and you will certainly look foolish blowing on a piece of hardware, we expect On Tour to be a gigantic fucking hit and can’t wait to go all Randy Rhodes on that shit.

Rock Band DLC Hits 6 million Downloads
Criminy! Harmonix announced this week that its popular band simulator, Rock Band, has managed to sucker people (including us) into downloading over 6 million songs since it’s release last November.

Paul DeGooyer, Senior Vice President of DVD, Gaming, and Audio at MTV Games, said, “The success of Rock Band downloadable content to date firmly reinforces our vision and its potential as a platform for music discovery. By empowering players with the ability to customize their Rock Band library with a rapidly growing selection of rock artists and songs on a weekly basis, and [by] adding great new features, such as the in-game music store, we are thrilled to give fans more ways to enhance and enjoy their Rock Band experience.”

Whatever you say bro–just give us Master of Puppets and Rush’s “Subdivisions” and we’ll keep your lights on.

And in an effort to make buying songs that much easier, a free, downloadable patch that should hit any minute now will open up a “Music Store” right on the game’s title screen. So instead of having to go on to Xbox Live or the PlayStation Networks and hunt for new tunes through multiple tabs, there will be a detailed description of what is available right when you turn the game on.

And speaking of new downloadable content, no less than six master tracks from Boston will be hitting the Rock Band music store tomorrow, March 25, with the following AOR faves. Get your Bost On!:

“More Than a Feeling”
“Peace of Mind”
“Smokin'”
“Rock & Roll Band”
“Hitch a Ride”
“Something About You”