British power metal squealers DragonForce will debut a new and inevitably over-the-top single in a Guitar Hero III track pack later this week. Taken from their new album, Ultra Beatdown, "Heroes of Our Time" will no doubt challenge serious shredders with a never-ending string of shifting notes and finger-knot solos when it arrives on Xbox Live Marketplace and the PlayStation Store on August 21.

The DragonForce Track Pack will also provide two other overwrought songs, namely "Revolution Deathsquad" and "Operation Ground and Pound," from the album dubbed Inhuman Rampage. Expect this one to go for the usual 500 MS Points ($6.25).

[Via press release]

Clarifying its stance on rhythm game compatibility issues, Microsoft's Gamerscore Blog announced today that all the instruments for Rock Band 2, Guitar Hero: World Tour and Rock Revolution will be "cross-compatible" on Xbox 360.

Sony announced yesterday that PlayStation 3 would feature full cross-compatibility among the three games as well. Guess that leaves only Nintendo to make it official.

Update: The Instrument Compatibility Matrix has been updated
[Thanks, Mike]

With Sony shedding some new light on the sea of plastic instrument compatibility nonsense, we thought it was time to update our compatibility charts for the Guitar Hero and Rock Band series, as well as newcomer Rock Revolution. Introducing the Instrument Compatibility Matrix, version 3.0. We'll keep updating this page as new information percolates out, hoping one day to fill in every square with a green "yes." Until that time, check out our chart skills.

Update: Now with more green care of Microsoft's compatibility commitment.

It's about time someone stepped in and took an active role in fixing this nonsense. SCEA Director of Publisher Relations Michael Shorrock has announced on PlayStation.Blog that Sony has reached an agreement with Activision, Neversoft, Harmonix and Konami to ensure that all the instrument peripherals for Rock Band 2, Guitar Hero: World Tour and Rock Revolution will work across all games for PlayStation 3.

In case you're too stunned to comprehend what should've been no-brainer functionality from the start, your PS3 Rock Band 2 drum set should now be guaranteed to work with GH:WT and RR, and likewise for every game's guitar and drum peripherals. Said Shorrock, "We're still working hard to ensure compatibility between the Guitar Hero and Rock Band titles currently on the market, and we hope to have an announcement on that shortly."

We're excited, but at the same time, we're a bit dismayed it took this long to sort out. To be clear, instrument compatibility has not been confirmed for Xbox 360 (although we do know GH:WT instruments work with RB2) or Wii versions of the music games. Microsoft, Nintendo, we're looking to you to make this universal compatibility, erm, more universal.

Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure combines a block-matching, DS puzzle game--think Panel de Pon/Planet Puzzle League--with a side-scrolling platformer. This puzzling mash-up keeps the blocks on the bottom screen, Hatsworth jumping up top, and you toggling between each to maintain progress. We recently played this stylish title, due at the beginning of 2009. With so many small things to get right, we're uncertain that the puzzle-platformer will work, but we're impressed by its potential.

Australians love the rock music just as much as the inhabitants of any other country, but did you know that they've yet to receive Harmonix's rock star simulator, Rock Band? According to an unidentified retail tipster on IGN, Aussies may remain Rock Band-less indefinitely -- it seems retailers are hesitant to transport and shelve the bulky bundles, especially since the title is nearly a year old. The same tipster also disclosed that Australian stores are much more likely to sell the cheaper and newer Guitar Hero: World Tour when it drops later this year.

It's great news for Activision, but EA may be in a heap of trouble Down Under -- further speculation from IGN's tipster states that for similar reasons, Rock Band 2 may skip over the sunburned country, making the Commonwealth of Australia a strictly Guitar Hero territory. It's regrettable that they might not have the faux-rocking opportunities afforded to the rest of the gaming world -- though we're certainly jealous that they may not have to suffer the Battle of the Band Simulators that has nearly torn the rest of the planet asunder.

[Via X3F]

While not as funny as Circuit City's "$10,000" Madden PSP bundle, Amazon has listed every Rock Band 2 game, bundle, peripheral and the Rock Band Track Pack as coming to Nintendo 64. While we were quick to assume this meant an overindulgent revival of the best Nintendo console ever, we quickly came back to reality after we noticed the box shots were showing the correct consoles (Xbox 360, PS3, etc.). Revival averted.

[Thanks, Justin!]

Get ready to whip it good (even though that song's not in there), as Devo and Duran Duran bring a new wave of music to Rock Band's store next week. Prices return to normal this week (everything's back to $2), except for the song "Get Your Rock On" from the American Mall soundtrack.

Individual songs

• "Girl U Want" - Devo (160 / $2)
• "Through Being Cool" - Devo (160 / $2)
• "Girls on Film" - Duran Duran (160 / $2)
• "Rio" - Duran Duran (160 / $2)
• "Get Your Rock On" - The Janitors (80 / $1)

Videos for the tracks can be found after the break. The songs will be available for download next Tuesday and Thursday for Xbox 360 and PS3, respectively.

ShackNews ran a piece today, pretty much reiterating our details from a couple weeks back, about the status of various Rock Band 2 release dates. Many retailers are still listing the release date for the standalone disc and individual instruments for Rock Band 2 on Xbox 360 as Sept. 14. All other console versions, along with the Xbox 360 "Special Edition" bundle with all the instruments included, are currently listed with an Oct. 19 release.

A Harmonix rep responded today to Joystiq's inquiry on the subject saying, "We have not confirmed this information yet."

Well, looking at the dates here, it's about time someone did.

Even more metal is making its way next week to Rock Band as DLC. All songs will be offered at $1 apiece for a month, then the price will double. You may commence the banging of heads ... now.

Roadrunner pack (480 / $6 for one month, then it jumps to 800 / $10)

• "Runnin' Wild" - Airbourne (80 / $1 for one month, then it jumps to 160 / $2, same applies to all other songs)
• "Clouds Over California" - DevilDriver (80 / $1)
• "Constant Motion" - Dream Theater (80 / $1)
• "My Curse" - Killswitch Engage (80 / $1)
• "Aesthetics Of Hate" - Machine Head (80 / $1)
• "Sleepwalker" - Megadeth (80 / $1)

Videos for the tracks can be found after the break. The songs will be available for download next Tuesday and Thursday for Xbox 360 and PS3, respectively.

IGN was able to pin down seven new tracks for Guitar Hero World Tour and it's, well ... it's a mixed bag, to put it kindly. Let's take a look:

• Airbourne – "Too Much Too young..."
• At the Drive-in – "One Armed Scissor"
• 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"

Anything jump out at you specifically? Yep, Bob Seger. Now, of the Bob Seger songs you could choose from, you could do a lot worse than "Hollywood Nights." But Seger is also responsible for "Old Time Rock 'n' Roll," which is scientifically, quantifiably the second worst song ever recorded (after Phil Collins' version of "Groovy Kind of Love.") Shouldn't that preclude Seger's involvement with anything ever? Or are we being too restrictive?

If you had asked us what Ozzy Osbourne had in common with Bret Michaels just yesterday, we would have only been able to come up with "relentlessly unwatchable reality shows." But today we learn that both are members of the proud fraternity of artists featured in Guitar Hero games that aren't really known for playing guitar. G4 reported today that Ozzy would appear in Guitar Hero: World Tour, as would his tracks "Crazy Train" and "Mr. Crowley."

Arguably, Ozzy makes for a more logical addition now that the game includes singing as well as shredding. But we're still happy to hear that he'll be bringing actual guitar hero Zakk Wylde along for digitization.

[Via ScoreHero]

The original Rock Band on Wii was, well, not really Rock Band. It looked and played the part, but lacked a certain something. Or, rather, somethings. You know, like downloadable songs, online play, create-a-rocker, and a proper World Tour mode a la the 360 and PS3 versions. Thankfully that won't be the case with Rock Band 2.

Wired reports that the Wii version of Rock Band 2 will, according to Harmonix, be "fully-featured." In fact, this includes DLC (no word on how that's going to work storage-wise) and online play. If it's going to be a "much more competitive product" as its developers say, then we should also expect to be making music with band members of our own design and touring the world as we see fit when the game hits the stage in November.

[Via NWF]

It's alright Lars, you don't need to keep it a secret any longer. With or without your intimations, we all know Guitar Hero: Metallica will be joining the pantheon of geriatric rock simulators right alongside that other game, probably next summer. But if you really just want to get it off your chest, go right on ahead ...

When asked about the existence of the aforementioned game by MTV News, Metallica drummer and lead Napster-hater Lars Ulrich said, "... if somebody's gonna follow [GH: Aerosmith] up ... we're talking, and its exciting, and the people at Guitar Hero and Activision are rapidly becoming our best new friends in the world. You can put the rest of it together yourself." We took a moment to put those various pieces together and, sure enough, they basically assembled the retail packaging for the game. For further evidence, hit up the video after the break.

Your attention has probably already turned to the Fall and the imminent arrival of Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero: World Tour. But we've always believed that one should make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other is gold. Actually, that's a song the Girl Scouts sing, but we think the logic still holds true. So we won't be forgetting about old friend Guitar Hero III, which will be getting a brand new track pack tomorrow.

You can expect Flyleaf's "Tina," "Carcinogen Crush" by AFI and a remix of Marilyn Manson's "Putting Holes In Happiness" by Nick Zinner from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. There's no price attached, but 500 points seems to be the standard for this sort of thing.