| Set On Stun |

How did we get to Guitar Hero 5 without having an entire version of the the game dedicated to the ultimate guitar rock band, Van Halen? Well say no more, Guitar Hero:Van Halen is coming out this December but here’s the best part — anyone who has a copy of  of the recent release, Guitar Hero 5 can go online enter a code  and get the game  …. wait for it … entirely for free! That’s right the full game, not a demo or a few songs. Granted it’s not in a fancy box and all that but it’s a free game.

All you have to do is go here  http://hub.guitarhero.com/vanhalengameoffer/index.php

How can this be you say?

Well Guitar Hero V came out last month and in purchasing that you essentially got your ticket  to get your copy of a game that’s not dropping until right before Christmas.  What’s the catch? There is none. This genius deliverable from Activision is a win/win either way. If you own the game then you get one for free. If you don’t then buy GH5 and get GHVH for free.

Think about this way, if you’re a publisher, like Activision, that releases a bunch of Guitar Hero deliverables a year it makes sense to offer the Van Halen version in this fashion. We’ve mentioned this strategy before — offering one game by buying another. Only in this case you don’t get a demo, beta test or DLC. You get the whole game.  GHVH serves up 40 songs that are mostly Van Halen (about 25 ). The rest, picked by Eddie’s son, Wolfgang, are more contemporary pieces you can play as well. And of course there are the solos. Good luck with those. The bottom line — it’s free. So you get your 85 songs in the regular Guitar Hero 5 and add the Van Halen version and what you have is a whole lot of songs. And there’s no reason there won’t be more DLC to come.

I dare you to solo this on hard -- c'mon I dare you

This is clever videogame marketing the way it should be. Keep you core fans happy  by offering this incentive and for those who don’t own GH5 and want the Van Halen version early, boost sales of a title that’s only a month old. Hats off to you Activision.

Before you get too crazy this deal won’t last forever. Come Halloween the offer is gone.

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