Canadian? No free ‘Van Halen’ game for you
Fans of the “Guitar Hero” video games probably heard about Activision’s sweet deal: mail in proof of purchase from the new “Guitar Hero 5″ and you’ll get a free copy of “Guitar Hero: Van Halen” later this year. Not so, if you’re Canadian.
Sync confirmed with Activision’s public relations department this free Guitar Hero: Van Halen offer is for U.S. residents only. Bummer.
Our friends south of the border who picked up the just-released Guitar Hero 5 (any version) can mail in proof of purchase and receive a copy of this second game when it launches in a couple of months.
At least offer all the Van Halen songs to us digitally rather than mailing us the disc, if shipping is the issue. Sigh.
That said, Canadian music fans who pick up Guitar Hero 5 will find the game a surprisingly fresh sequel that offers a ton of depth and breadth.
Once again players are challenged to jam along with many songs over the past few decades — either with previously purchased instrument peripherals (guitar, drums or microphones) or bundled with the game — and the better they play, the more points are awarded and the more songs, venues and characters can be unlocked. Hit a few sour notes or poorly-timed taps and you’re booed offstage.
Players have access to a wide variety of music, and all available from the get-go, such as Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition,” The Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy For The Devil” and “Elton John’s “Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting).” Gamers can also download more than 150 extra songs (for a couple of bucks apiece) or import some songs from past Guitar Hero games
But Guitar Hero 5 offers a lot more than just a huge library of 85-odd songs to play through. For the first time in the series, players can have multiple guitarists, bassists, drummers and singers, in any game mode, rather than everyone choosing a different peripheral. And with the game’s new social Party Play mode, players can now jump in or drop out of the game at anytime (playing any instrument on any difficulty level) — without interrupting the co-op jam session.
In-game characters include virtual replicas of Carlos Santana and Shirley Manson (of Garbage fame), along with two celebs that have been resurrected from the grave: Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain and the man in black, Johnny Cash.
Finally, Guitar Hero 5’s enhanced and easier-to-use “GH Music Studio” feature lets gamers write, edit and upload their own song creations — now with many more tools available at their disposal.
While some might feel the rhythm genre has already reached (and surpassed) its peak, Guitar Hero 5 proves to be a refreshingly fun game for the entire family.
And this is NEWS? It has always been onesided when concerning USA. Listen-up.—The only way to fix this is to stop buying things that come through USA, if you notice countless prizes and contest through media and magazines (one example is womens world mag)all state that USA citizens only can claim for these contests etc, but they sure don’t mind taking money from Canadians who support these magazines and ads. I say STOP BUYING AND SUPPORTING THESE GREEDY MONEY MONGERS IN USA——and only support our canadian entities. YES??????
It could have changed but in the past, the reason why Canadians couldn’t enter contests in American magazines is because Canada had a law that stated contest winners have to answer a skill testing question.
I love the GH series…but because I am canadian I penalized. I say NO to GH5. I do not really care how good it is….I will not buy it. I own every single one up to now on two systems. I guess I will wait until GH6 to but IT or until another company steps up and knocks them off their pedestal. F’n greedy people.
Yah, Im with you Cory. I own every single Guitar Hero up to now and i was going to get GH5. But i am not getting it now. I AM CANADIAN AND IM DAM PROUD TO BE IT!!!!!!
I too am a fan of GH, but I am sick of this type of thing.
So nope, I am not buying GH5 as I have planned, unless they give me GH VH!
I have been saving up for a good game like this since I’m only 13, but this is just rediculas. I want the game but I’m not getting it if i don’t get GH VH. I meen like why does only the U.S. get it? I don’t think that it’s a shipment problem.
Again a very huge fan of the gh game.After reading this I have taken back my pre order paymeny and will not be purchasing any more gh series as I AM CANADIAN. Keep your money………
If you have a Wii, just burn the damn game and you save your money right there. Google it, its pretty simple!
There you go Guitar Hero, there are always people smarter then you are.
Look, this happens with a tonne of stuff. Just because we aren’t Overweight, Undereducated, Uninsured, and Gun-Happy Americans, we don’t deserve to be treated equally. This really shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone. It certainly isn’t suprising to me.
Every time an American company holds some sort of special offer, they either restrict it to US residents only, or they make up some ridiculous terms that international fans have to meet, while US residents get off easy with a free handout, or a small fee. You would think that at this point, the people of the nation would’ve figured out that this is exactly why the world is so tired of their entire existance.
Luckily, it isn’t hard to get them to fold. The simple answer is for buyers in countries outside the US to just hold out on purchasing the game. Activision is a terrible company, and GH is all it has going for itself at this point. Boycott their latest edition outside America and you’ll be speaking in a way they actually understand. Because annual profit reports speak much higher volumes to most corporations than letters from the disgruntled.
LOL…Some Americans probably assume we don’t even know what or who Van Halen is……or whether we’re even familiar with the US rock anthem ‘Born to Be Wild’ despite it being originally written by a Canadian (Mars Bonfire) & recorded by a Canadian band (Steppenwolf).
“By 1967, The Sparrow had run its course and Kay was back in Los Angeles, where ABC-Dunhill Records staff producer Gabriel Mekler encouraged him to form a new group to record for his label. Towards that end, the singer reenlisted two old Sparrow bandmates, drummer Jerry Edmonton and keyboardist Goldy McJohn, and recruited 17-year-old guitar prodigy Michael Monarch and bassist Rushton Moreve. The new outfit was christened Steppenwolf, after Hermann Hesse’s mystical novel of the same name.”"
Of the original members of Steppenwolf, one was German (Lead Singer), two were American (Guitar & Bass), and two were Canadian (Keys & Drums)… They formed in L.A. out of the ashes of a Canadian band (The Sparrow)…
If that makes the band Canadian, I’ll eat my hat.
Firstly from wiki….Steppenwolf is a Canadian hard rock group prominent in the late 1960s. The group was formed in 1967 in Toronto by vocalist John Kay, guitarist Michael Monarch, bassist Rushton Moreve, keyboardist Goldy McJohn and drummer Jerry Edmonton after the dissolution of its predecessor, The Sparrows.
John Kay (born 12 April 1944 as Joachim Fritz Krauledat in Tilsit, East Prussia) is a German Canadian singer, songwriter and guitarist known as the front man of Steppenwolf.
In the Evacuation of East Prussia in early 1945, in harsh Winter conditions, his mother first had to flee with the baby boy from the advancing Soviet troops. In 1948, the two also fled from Arnstadt in the East German Soviet occupation zone to resettle in Hanover, West Germany (as recounted in his song “Renegade” on the album Steppenwolf Seven). Located in the British occupation zone, teen aged Joachim, suffering from eyesight problems, listened to music broadcast by the British Forces Broadcasting Service before his family moved to Canada in 1958.
In 2004 he was inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame, in recognition of his early years as a Canadian citizen and the beginnings of his musical career in Toronto. Whereas any celebrity that meets criteria can finance their way into the Hollywood Walk of Fame[1], inductees to Canada’s Walk of Fame are only selected via a supervising committee. John Kay was present at the induction ceremony in Toronto, and reiterated his strong affection for Canada.
SO start eating your hat buddy. as his family moved to Canada in 1958., he started the band IN Canada…is in the Canadian walk of fame…otyher then a short move to cali no wher eis there any form of americanism involved. He is also the only original member left…truely making this German-CANADIAN forever. I assume your only american because of your past generations move so on that note your not even a true american as your not native to the land and if your differ then your past statement most also change. :)…
so where are those hats and can your youtube you eating them as proof your weren’t just running of your Fat_*&^ remarks for power-tripping purposes.
1. Your information is from Wikipedia, mine is from the bands official website.
Wiki claims Toronto wheras the bands official Bio claims L.A.
Result: No Contest, don’t trust a user-editable reference source.
2. By your logic, I am Canadian because I live here… My passport begs to differ.
I’m not American either, btw… Born in England, live in Toronto.
3. I shall not eat my hat sir, for I am in the right.
Seriously though, It has more to do with licencing, promotion, Canadian policy & law for a relatively small market when compared to the US…..there’s alot of us up here buying just not enough that GH bean counters feel it necessary to promote this offer to. Its nothing personal, its business
Rupert is correct in his most recent comment. We have to remember that our entire nation has a market base about the same size as the State of California. Secondly, Canadians just don’t spend money on games & luxuries to the same degree as Americans. Finally, Canadian laws require some adaptations to be made by the company.
So, indeed, their decision is largely a business decision.
The only way they will ‘hear’ us is doing what Tyler has suggested…. that is we need to speak with our pocketbooks. But don’t hold your breath for them to change their ways, as we are a small market and not likely worth the effort. It is not realistic to expect huge companies to modify their business plan to meet the needs of a vocal minority. It’s just not realistic in this age of Walmarts, mass-production, & globalization.
Decide to NOT buy is the RIGHT decision.
The people here that have left thier foot print in the msg might not thik that what we buy will reflect the bottom line. But the volume that Canada sales not made would tell them we know how to play the game. instead of the companies board of directors being able to pay out to the stock holders 20 percent profits they might only get 15 percent.
That 5 percent could be a HUGE CHUNK OF CASH that might make them think that we do mean business.
i love the game. i have many differnt versions. different players and equipment. i love how things get better.
If they can send out billions of copies of VH to the people of the states, then can send out a couple million to us Canadians. if the cost of the product is an issue, let us scan and email OUR PURCHASE INF at our end and let then send us a token code to download and burn our own disks.
What the hell’s wrong with all of you? Van Halen is a dying boring dinosaur band! Get with it! Who cares about those old finished deadheads?!! Move on to much more modern stuff. Get hip now you youngsters!
Hey dead-head. Have you not heard of history. Music never dies, only dead heads like you loose all taste in good music lol
Yo orson, I’m a dinosaur and I thank Activision for providing us with Guitar Hero’s that are of bands that have stood the test of time … ie Beatles, Van Halen, Aerosmith, Metallica. Sorry to disappoint you modern pop feeding frenzy, as there will NEVER be a GH:Jonas Brothers, GH:Miley Cyrus, or GH:Disney’s Greatest Hits … they are definately NOT what the GH franchise is all about (thank goodness)
Mr. Saltzman,
Thanks for the article. However, it is regrettable that you do not know the difference between it’s and its.
Wahh… wahh… I want my free stuff… If I don’t get my free stuff, I’m going to stomp my foot and claim unfairness because someone else got free stuff, and I didn’t…
…
Sound a bit like a three year old throwing a tantrum because the kid in the next checkout line got bought chocolate and he didn’t? I thought so.
firstly your Wahh wahh is so immature i’m not sure what your age even is. secondly the VH was to be free.. and Thirdly could you say the same about the past wars america created and needed help finishing…eg afgan…i’m sure you see that point as you should understand power…afterall you are american :p
your statement also shows your have absolutely no understanding of business and how to fix issues that business understand…which is a loss of money and a loss of power…i’m sure you’ve never donated to chairty in your life either….and as for you last statement on the checkout line…it sounds more like you cannot have that item perhaps because of your race, cree or beleives…thanks for your childish thoughts :)
You… uh… realize I was being sarcastic, right?
I just find it funny that if there was no contest, just Guitar Hero 5 with a preview ad that said coming in October Guitar Hero Van Halen would be coming out – there would be no crying from the 3 year olds. Rather every one of them would be praising how great Guitar Hero 5 is – and how they cannot wait to spend more money on the Van Halen expansion when it comes out. However since it’s free to the US – REVOLT and BOYCOTT. So they get it for free down south – who cares. Their gas is cheaper than ours too – and their cars. Guess you better stop buying a lot of things. Just buy the damn game and enjoy it – we hurt them in the long run anyway – Celine Dion loves it down there and if we can keep her out of Canada and stuck in the US I’m pretty sure life will be sweet for us all. Anyone else notice that Michael Anthony got snubbed from the game? I think he should still have been in some of the act – with that big ole Jack Daniels bass (but no Hager please).
It’s not the fact that we don’t want to spend money on either game, it’s the fact that just because we’re in a different country, (not very far away either) we get screwed over while the americans get van halen for free.
Can anyone play a real guitar anymore. Eddy Van Halen is one of the all time great’s. If any of you could ever dream of playing anything remotely close to what he does on a guitar you wouldn’t need to complain about a Canadian or American release. Rock on Dude!!!!!loosers
Bit of a tangent wouldn’t you say (or are you baiting for some kind of war of words)? I play guitar but I still enjoy the games. I can even play some Van Halen but I still enjoy the games (see the pattern – it’s a game and I doubt if anyone here thinks the game is the same as actually being able to play). No one is complaining about a Canadian or American release since there is only one release – the problem was the offer to US citizens only. I can assume your spelling of losers was purposely wrong but in fairness to the man – his name is Eddie not Eddy – one would think that a fan or even someone who wants to speak of his work would know that (and there is no need for the ‘ in greats). Now you might think I’m being a little picky here – but since your comment didn’t really serve much purpose except to crap on people you think have no talent or brains I think it only fair to point out the errors in your statement. I suppose I should get rid of Tiger Woods 09 too – since I’ll never be able to play as well as he can. Crap looks like I’m only going to be able to play games about average Joe and the things he can do =(
even their game shows have the same rules which is why I don’t watch Jeopardy or Wheel of Fortune on C B C personally I don’t think Canadian T V channels should carry any American shows wich have that stpulation Bill
VH is one of the worst bands of all time. Guitar hero is pretty goofy in and of itself. But if that’s your bag, shred that plastic stick. Just leave those freebies to the Americans and don’t purchase the game when it comes out in Canada. Chin Chin little warriors.
After a comment like that, i’d really like to hear what the best band in the world is, in your opinion.