Gwen Stefani Ain't No Hollaback Boy; Sues Band Hero for Making Her a Man
Listen, if Gwen Stefani wanted to croon like a dude about about doing it with hookers, don't you think she would have done it by now?
Unfortunately, the makers of the newly released Band Hero didn't take the hint and allowed for the avatar of No Doubt's frontwoman to be manipulated into doing just that. Which means only one thing: lawsuit time!
The rock band has filed suit against the video game purveyor Activision, alleging fraudulent inducement and breach of contract, claiming that while Stefani, Tony Kanal, Tom Dumont and Adrian Young all signed off on allowing their likenesses to be used, it came with the stipulation that the company could only employ the use of three of their songs, "Don't Speak," "Excuse Me Mr." and "Just a Girl."
Apparently the technical brainboxes at Activison didn't take the hint from that last song title.
The gamemakers allow players to manipulate Stefani and crew so they can perform more than 60 songs—and here's the sticking point—of other artists, turning the No Doubters, per the lawsuit, into little more than "a virtual karaoke circus act."
The song No Doubt seem to have taken the most issue with is the Rolling Stones' "Honky Tonk Woman," claiming that manipulation "results in an unauthorized performance by the Gwen Stefani avatar in a male voice boasting about having sex with prostitutes."
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Nirvana Guys: Lock Up Kurt Cobain!
Guitar Hero is awesome, as you all know, especially when you can get avatar Kurt Cobain to writhe to the beat of "You Give Love a Bad Name."
Or not.
Former Nirvana mates Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic are "dismayed and very disappointed" that there is a way to unlock the Cobain character so that it can be used to perform other bands' tunes in Guitar Hero 5.
Playing guitar right-handed, no less!
"The name and likeness of Kurt Cobain are the sole property of his estate— we have no control whatsoever in that area," the guys said in a joint statement Thursday.
"While we were aware of Kurt's image being used with two Nirvana songs, we didn't know players have the ability to unlock the character. This feature allows the character to be used with any kind of song the player wants. We urge Activision to do the right thing in 're-locking' Kurt's character so that this won't continue in the future.
"It's hard to watch an image of Kurt pantomiming other artists' music alongside cartoon characters," Grohl and Novoselic continued. "Kurt Cobain wrote songs that hold a lot of meaning to people all over the world. We feel he deserves better."
Better than Bush? Megadeath? Public Enemy?!
The Beatles: Revolution 9-9-09
Meet the Beatles, again.
The lads from Liverpool—John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr—are going all out to court a new audience, releasing spruced up versions of all the quartet's albums as well as letting fans sit in on some of the best gigs ever.
Tuesday, Sept. 9, marks the release of the Fab Four catalog in remastered stereo and mono versions, as well as the launch of The Beatles Rock Band.
Taylor Swift Wants Your Joystick
That's right, couch potatoes. Hyper-talented hottie Taylor Swift is ready to perform in your living room. At least virtually.
She's going to front Band Hero, the latest effort from the Guitar Hero-purveying folks at Activision. Come November, you can play along as the CGI Swift sings such hits as "Love Story" and "You Belong With Me." Other artists featured in Band Hero include the Jackson 5, No Doubt, Lily Allen and The All-American Rejects.
Says Swift, "It's so cool."
________
Megan Fox may get animated when she says crazy things, but these Stars Get Animated for real.
Wow, Indeed! Raimi Readying Warcraft for Big Screen
Goodbye, nasty Evil Dead demons. Hello, orcs, trolls, elves, dwarves, knights, gnomes, raiders, conjurers and warlocks—and just in time for Comic-Con.
Sam Raimi, the innovative director behind the Evil Dead and Spider-Man trilogies, has signed on to helm a big-screen version of World of Warcraft, heralded by the Guinness Book of Records as the most popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) of all time.
Gamers rejoice!
Fanpage Funfest: He Said What?! She Did That?!
Just because it's the weekend and you're not working doesn't mean you shouldn't be using your noggin, especially if you're not among the people paging their way through New Moon or the latest Lauren Conrad masterpiece.
Worry not! Instead of just telling you which stars made news this week in a handy-dandy list, we thought we'd make it interesting.
We give you a clever clue. You guess. You click and land on the fanpage of the correct answer. We all take bows for being such geniuses.
Here we go...
Weekend Showdown: JoBros vs. The Tiz vs. The Tap
Music dominates the new releases this week with Jonas Brothers, Ashley Tisdale and Spinal Tap all dropping albums on Tuesday.
Obviously, these audiences vary greatly.
Still, the one thing these artists have in common is that their new CD is a wildly anticipated follow-up to a previous hit.
Tweens worldwide will no doubt be rushing out to grab new albums by Jonas Brothers and Ashley Tisdale. Both Disney babies have grown a bit since their previous discs, but expect more of same: young love and relationship drama.
JoBros' Lines, Vines and Trying Times boasts some new instruments and in their words, more metaphors, fewer real-life references—plus a cutesy duet between rumored rekindled couple, Nick Jonas and Miley Cyrus.
The Tiz's Guilty Pleasure is definitely just that, great, dance-worthy pop music. Since 2007s Headstrong, Tisdale has experienced a breakup and had undergone a more mature makeover, so expect what she calls an "edgier, rock sound." Gone are the days of the bubbly, blonde High School Musical star.
It’s All Fun n' Games ‘Til Somebody Loses a Shoe
Ah, the holiday season! A time of family togetherness. A time to share good times with great friends. And a time to reflect and be grateful for all that we have. But once that crap gets old, it’s a really good time to play hours upon hours of video games!
If Santa didn't drop a pricey console down your chimney, don’t worry about it!
Here are a few free celebrity gaming favourites around the E! Online office (we’re working really hard, though! We swear!):
Who: George W. Bush
What: Sock and Awe
The Mission: Reams of shoe-tossing games have sprung up since the infamous incident now known as “Shoegate”, but Sock and Awe remains our favourite. It’s incredibly satisfying because, unlike the actual incident, these shoes actually make contact with Dubya’s smug face (say what you will about the man’s nightmarish foreign policies; his reflexes are first-rate)! Play it now and make the outgoing president of the United States of America look like quite the heel, as it were.
Are You Smarter Than a Gossip Columnist?
Gosh, yet more Mansion meshuga is going down this week! But what we want to know is, have you been paying attention enough in Bunny Class to decipher which of the following headlines about Holly, Kendra and Bridget is true...or not?
You game? Thought so. Here goes:
Ready to learn the Awful Truth? Check it out...
Are You Smarter Than a Gossip Columnist?
Take the dirt test again! One of these stories is real; the others ain't exactly. Was too fun last time, when you all figured out which gab was fake, which wasn't and which is so still to be determined, à la David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson (and whatever is going on with them).
Make your guess and head into the jump for the whole, awful story.
Think it's so obvious, huh? Keep reading for the answers:
Rock Band Meets the Beatles
All you need is love...and a video game console.
After months of negotiations, The Beatles finally have decided to go digital, licensing their songs to a Rock Band-like strum-along game from MTV Games.
"I like people having the opportunity to get to know the music from the inside out," said Paul McCartney, calling the concept a "fun idea." "It's cool," added Yoko Ono.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but suffice it to say, buying the Beatles' love—or their songs—is not an inexpensive endeavor.
The Fun Index! Tackles Darth Vader and a Monkey
What do we see when we see Darth Vader? Fun.
That's why the latest Star Wars-themed video game The Force Unleashed scored high on our newest feature, the Fun Index! What's that, you ask? It's E! Online's fast list formulated to cut through the tedious unfun and deliver only the good stuff. Plus, it's ranked so you know it's got to be good.
Check out our latest picks and then offer your own favorites in the comments.


