The battle of the bands is about to heat up once again. MTV and Harmonix will soon launch The Beatles: Rock Band while Activision is getting ready to release Guitar Hero 5. Music genre sales are way down in 2009 and the category continues to face challenges but both The Beatles and Guitar Hero 5 are expected to put up pretty solid sales.
Given that The Beatles are one of the biggest names in the history of rock 'n' roll, it's possible that Activision is somewhat concerned about Harmonix's title eating into sales of Guitar Hero 5. So what's Activision doing to further incentivize consumers? The company is actually offering an advance copy of Guitar Hero Van Halen, which doesn't ship until December. We have to admit that this is a very sweet deal, especially if you're a big Van Halen fan.
In order to take advantage of the offer, consumers can pre-order Guitar Hero 5 now at a local retailer or at http://gh5.guitarhero.com/preorder.php. Alternatively, consumers can be on the lookout for specially marked copies of the game at any retailer anytime during the month of September. According to the offer website, consumers need to mail in submissions by October 31, and then have to wait up to 6 weeks to receive the Van Halen game.
