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80 Comments

Pre-Order Guitar Hero 5, Get Van Halen For Free

You're going to want to JUMP on this offer!


OPERATORS ARE STANDING BY!
OPERATORS ARE STANDING BY!
Man, the competition between Guitar Hero and Rock Band is getting pretty cutthroat. Activision announced today that if you pre-order Guitar Hero 5, or if you pick up a specially marked copy of Guitar Hero 5 during the month of September, not only will you get a copy of Guitar Hero: Van Halen for free, you'll get it "long before it takes the stage in stores." That's pretty vague, though with a current US release date of December 22, you could potentially be playing "Running With the Devil" and hurting yourself trying to do kick-splits in your living room a solid month or two before its street date, at the incredibly attractive price of free.

There's a certain As-Seen-On-TV, too-good-to-be-true vibe to this whole offer, like I'm being conned here, though that might just be my recent overexposure to QVC. Either way, I'm having a hard time getting a read on Activision's motivation here. Is this just a sign of the publisher's willingness to lose a potential sale to really reinforce loyalty to the Guitar Hero platform, or is the publisher uncertain about the sales potential for a Van Halen game? I know both the Aerosmith and Metallica games sold reasonably well, though the luster on the Van Halen legacy has, sadly, been tarnished by the past decade of weird in-fighting and constant personnel changes. With Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony both excluded entirely from Guitar Hero: Van Halen, it's apparent that has bled into the game as well. But hey, that's their problem--all you need to know is FREE GAME! FREE GAME!

Here's the fine print of the full press release.
 

Guitar Hero® is offering fans across the US an unheard of limited time bonus offer.  With every purchase of specially marked copies of Guitar Hero® 5 during the month of September, living room legends will be able to rock out with an advance copy of the unreleased Guitar Hero® Van Halen® (up to a $60 MSRP value), long before it takes the stage in stores.
 
Rock out to over 130 on-disc tracks in two games on September 1 by pre-ordering Guitar Hero 5 now at your local retailer or at http://gh5.guitarhero.com/preorder.php and picking up your copy in September, or by buying specially marked copies of the game at any retailer anytime during the month of September, and take advantage of this limited time offer.
 
Please visit www.guitarhero.com/vanhalengameoffer for full offer and redemption details.

80 Comments

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FightMeNerd

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Edited By FightMeNerd
@DragoonKain1687 said:
" Wow, still not going to buy GH 5 though "
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dethfish

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Edited By dethfish

I might have to pre-order GH5 now. It comes with a free game, there can't be a better deal than that.
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spiceninja

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Edited By spiceninja

That is an amazing deal but it makes me wonder if they're doing this because Van Halen is a bare bones game that isn't worth the $60.

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AngryKraut

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Edited By AngryKraut

No thanks

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CL60

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Edited By CL60

Holy snappin'

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Ravage

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Edited By Ravage

SOLD!
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akumasan

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Edited By akumasan

I wonder what the odds of getting this offer in the UK is? I'm betting slim to none.

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RHCPfan24

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Edited By RHCPfan24

Oh shit, this is now a pretty good deal. Shit. Why am I considering it? DAMN YOU ACTIVISION!!! I WILL STILL TRY TO RESIST.

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chewii101

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Edited By chewii101

Desperate times call for desperate measures I guess.

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Heartagram

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Edited By Heartagram

I already wanted GH5 from the set list and the promise of a more guitar focused game this sold me even more

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TheGreatGuero

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Edited By TheGreatGuero

Good deal, but I think I'm over it. I do really love Van Halen though, and have considered getting that game, but eh... I don't know, dude. I do plan on buying The Beatles Rock Band... Hmm... yeah, I'm kind of stumped here.

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Afroman269

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Edited By Afroman269

Pass

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birchman

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Edited By birchman

Two bad games in one, wowie!

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Kajaah117

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Edited By Kajaah117
@DragoonKain1687 said:
" Wow, still not going to buy GH 5 though "
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RoyaleWifCheese

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Edited By RoyaleWifCheese

No, thank you. I will stick with Beatles.

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NMC2008

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Edited By NMC2008

Beatles RB will tank, I pre-ordered this as soon as this deal popped up.
I find it funny that people think there are a huge amount of Beatles fans that also play video games, let alone a rhythm game, crazy.

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ahoodedfigure

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Edited By ahoodedfigure

The puns!  I'm mellllting.

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ConciseCabbage

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Edited By ConciseCabbage
@DragoonKain1687 said:
" Wow, still not going to buy GH 5 though "
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Anilones

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Edited By Anilones

Activision must be **** scared about TB:RB to make this promotion.

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AgentofChaos

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Edited By AgentofChaos

Damn you and your filthy puns!

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FunExplosions

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Edited By FunExplosions

I'm boycotting this complete shit and sell-out series of games. Bought Guitar Hero II, had some fun, won't play Guitar Hero again. Anyway, I hate the fucking bands they're choosing for the exclusive games. Aerosmith? Metallica? Van Halen? They sure love that money.
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church069

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Edited By church069

While the deal is tempting, I'm still going with the Beatles: Rock Band for my music game this year.
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rinkalicous

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Edited By rinkalicous

What with the vast amount of DLC for both Rock Band and Guitar Hero, my guess is they just want you locked in (dammit, QVC lingo is bleeding into my everyday sentences) with GH DLC so people won't want to defect to Rock Band.

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dj

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Edited By dj

Too bad I'm basically done with rhythm games at this point. Sounds like a pretty good deal to me. 

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toowalrus

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Edited By toowalrus

I may do this just for Van Halen... I know, surprising, eh?

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BlackIrish05

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Edited By BlackIrish05
@DragoonKain1687 said:
" Wow, still not going to buy GH 5 though "
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PLWolf

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Edited By PLWolf

I'm on board, just ordered GH5. I like this deal a whole lot.
 
So I'll have this, Van Halen, and The Beatles: Rock Band. Lots of music gaming for me the rest of this year. Can't wait.

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DragoonKain1687

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Edited By DragoonKain1687

Wow, still not going to buy GH 5 though

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Ryan

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Edited By Ryan  Staff

OPERATORS ARE STANDING BY!
OPERATORS ARE STANDING BY!
Man, the competition between Guitar Hero and Rock Band is getting pretty cutthroat. Activision announced today that if you pre-order Guitar Hero 5, or if you pick up a specially marked copy of Guitar Hero 5 during the month of September, not only will you get a copy of Guitar Hero: Van Halen for free, you'll get it "long before it takes the stage in stores." That's pretty vague, though with a current US release date of December 22, you could potentially be playing "Running With the Devil" and hurting yourself trying to do kick-splits in your living room a solid month or two before its street date, at the incredibly attractive price of free.

There's a certain As-Seen-On-TV, too-good-to-be-true vibe to this whole offer, like I'm being conned here, though that might just be my recent overexposure to QVC. Either way, I'm having a hard time getting a read on Activision's motivation here. Is this just a sign of the publisher's willingness to lose a potential sale to really reinforce loyalty to the Guitar Hero platform, or is the publisher uncertain about the sales potential for a Van Halen game? I know both the Aerosmith and Metallica games sold reasonably well, though the luster on the Van Halen legacy has, sadly, been tarnished by the past decade of weird in-fighting and constant personnel changes. With Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony both excluded entirely from Guitar Hero: Van Halen, it's apparent that has bled into the game as well. But hey, that's their problem--all you need to know is FREE GAME! FREE GAME!

Here's the fine print of the full press release.
 

Guitar Hero® is offering fans across the US an unheard of limited time bonus offer.  With every purchase of specially marked copies of Guitar Hero® 5 during the month of September, living room legends will be able to rock out with an advance copy of the unreleased Guitar Hero® Van Halen® (up to a $60 MSRP value), long before it takes the stage in stores.
 
Rock out to over 130 on-disc tracks in two games on September 1 by pre-ordering Guitar Hero 5 now at your local retailer or at http://gh5.guitarhero.com/preorder.php and picking up your copy in September, or by buying specially marked copies of the game at any retailer anytime during the month of September, and take advantage of this limited time offer.
 
Please visit www.guitarhero.com/vanhalengameoffer for full offer and redemption details.