Guitar Hero III: Legends of RAWK! Dated

Activision has put a date on the release of its upcoming rawk-based rhythm game, Guitar Hero III.

November 23rd, just in time for the Greedmas rush, is when gamers will be able to make their fingers bleed as they plug in their Gibson Les Paul peripheral. Well, they will if they own a 360, PS3, PS2 or Wii, anyway. Well, it will be a Kramer Pacer for PS2 owners... but we stand by the November 23rd bit.

Kramer Pacer? Probably one of the most hideous guitars ever made... Activision must hate PS2 owners.

The announcement tells us of GHIII, "it is the game which will redefine music-based videogames." Frankly, SPOnG's not too sure about that. Wasn't it the first game in the series that did that, if we're going to be altogether honest? Isn't it more likely that EA's Rock Band - which will introduce bass, drums and vocals into the mix for online jam sessions - will do more for the genre, while GHIII simply shuffles it forwards a wee bit?

SPOnG would, of course, be lying if we said we weren't looking forward to the Activision/RedOctane release. We're especially looking forward to the GHIII-sponsored Sex Pistols reunion gigs in London next month, where we will be doggedly stalking Johnny Rotten (John Lydon - actually, Ed.)and Steve Jones for an interview...

Zach Fountain, general manager at RedOctane Europe, seems pretty chuffed. “This is the biggest Guitar Hero release yet”, he uttered. “Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock is the first time the franchise has released simultaneously across multiple formats, so we’re delighted to be able to confirm a single street date for all home consoles. The game introduces a host of innovations on each format – no matter what your console of choice, November 23rd will be the day your world gets well and truly rocked.”

Now, just give it the correct name and loss the Kramer, and we're all happy: Guitar Hero III: Legends of Raaaaaaaaaaaawk!... obviously.

You can find out more about Guitar Hero III on SPOnG's dedicated game page.