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Logitech and Activision developing premium instruments for Guitar Hero
Activision and Logitech have announced a partnership through which Logitech will create "premium" instrument controllers for Guitar Hero: World Tour. It's not exactly clear from the press release, but we believe this means that Logitech will sell nicer, more expensive versions of the stock Guitar Hero instruments, not that they're producing the ones that come with the game. The new instruments will be fully compatible with World Tour, which basically means that the drums will have the appropriate number of pads and the guitar will have an insane touch pad on the neck.It's not too much of a surprise, after Rock Band got its set of expensive drums, for Guitar Hero to follow suit with "premium" instruments. For extra instruments, this may not turn out to be a bad thing, since Logitech generally makes high quality peripherals. It seems like an uncomfortable position for RedOctane. They started out making music-game peripherals, including those for Guitar Hero, and moved into publishing. Now Activision owns them and publishes Guitar Hero, and Logitech is making instruments.
The Beatles revival in progress
The biggest and most famous band there ever was -- The Beatles. They have been notably absent in every release from the biggest rhythm games in the world -- Rock Band and Guitar Hero. Hopefully the creators have gotten all that metal nonsense out of their system, because The Beatles might just be on the way to a plastic guitar near you.People have talked about talking about it, but according to the Financial Times, actual representatives for The Beatles have been sitting down with Activision and MTV Games to make some progress. It's entirely possible that the Fab Four might make it to both games, but we'll be getting whichever one features this nifty number. Automatic screamage factor of twelve.%Gallery-23491%[Via MCV]
Guitar Hero World Tour can save DLC to an SD card
Vicarious Visions' Karthik Bala has once again confirmed paid downloadable content in the Wii version of Guitar Hero World Tour, though current Wii guitar games have left us doubtful of any feature. Furthermore, you'll be able to save your songs to a "Rock Archive" on an SD card, and even play songs from the card without copying them over first. But ... but isn't that completely impossible?Bala also confirmed that despite the new guitar's wacky gimmickry, your old Guitar Hero III (or Guitar Hero: Aerosmith) guitar will work just fine, and that "any USB microphone should work." With all these features, Vicarious Visions is going to have to be really creative if they want to disappoint us.%Gallery-23491%
Joystiq rocks out with Guitar Hero: World Tour
Joystiq recently got to check out everyone's new favorite Wii game, Guitar Hero: World Tour. While they didn't actually get to play the game (they were forced to watch RedOctane jam, for some reason), they did get some juicy details for those of you looking for more on the game. So, head on over and check out their write-up.%Gallery-23491%
Joystiq eyes and ears-on: Guitar Hero: World Tour
Activision invited us out to the House of Blues last week, which was a fitting place to give us a first look at Guitar Hero: World Tour in action. Though we didn't get to play it, we did watch the folks from RedOctane take a spin through all the new features. Suffice it to say, this isn't simply Guitar Hero: Rock Band ... which is what we thought it might turn out to be. Read on after the break to find out why you'll soon have a closet filled with enough peripherals to make your own one-man band.%Gallery-25627%
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith won't support GH3 DLC
Here's some news that's sure to strike a sour chord with the legions of Guitar Hero III owners worldwide. We've confirmed with Activision that Guitar Hero: Aerosmith will not allow users to access content for GH3.It will also be impossible for those who've purchased only Guitar Hero: Aerosmith to access and download tracks currently available for GH3. For those with both games: prepare for disc-swapping. The carry-over of DLC into Guitar Hero: Aerosmith seemed like a real no-brainer; hopefully Neversoft will take Guitar Hero fans' previous purchases into account while nailing down Guitar Hero World Tour and Guitar Hero: Metallica's feature sets.
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Joystiq hands-on: Guitar Hero: Aerosmith
click to enlarge var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Hands_on_with_Guitar_Hero_Aerosmith'; It's Guitar Hero III ... now with lots more Aerosmith! Seriously though, at Activision's hands-on debut event for the stepping stone to Guitar Hero World Tour, we couldn't help but feel a strong overwhelming sense of déjà vu.That's probably because, for all intents and purposes, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is GH3 with polygonal likenesses of the legendary rockers, a story mode that follows their rise to fame, lots of their songs, and a few tracks from other bands to sweeten the deal. %Gallery-24025%
Let's all chip in and buy Karthik Bala a copy of Ouendan
Earlier today, we pointed you in the direction of Joystiq's hands-on impressions of Guitar Hero: On Tour, itself on tour as various websites tried the game out for themselves.One of those sites was ShackNews, which also got to speak to Vicarious Visions CEO Karthik Bala. And we had only just started reading when one of Bala's opening statements got our blood boiling: apparently, Guitar Hero: On Tour was developed to "see if it was even possible to do a really good music rhythm game on a handheld."Altogether now: "WHAAAAAT?!"We can only assume that Bala is totally unaware of the vast treasure trove of rhythm-based awesomeness already available on the DS -- never mind what is still to come, or even on other handhelds.
Guitar Hero World Tour drums compatible with drummers
Activision invited some celebrity drummers to be seen playing test the Guitar Hero World Tour drum kit, including The Police's Stewart Copeland, Blink 182's Travis Barker, and The Red Hot Chili Peppers' Chad Smith (who looks exactly like Will Ferrell). The three talk about the more realistic layout of the new drum controller, and, of course, how awesome drumming is. Surprise! They love Guitar Hero, and they love the new drum kit. Anything to lure kids into drumming before they know how their future bandmates will regard them!The video is suspiciously light on footage of the three playing the controller, which leads us to think that maybe they all totally busted it. Barker, who can be seen performing motion capture for the game, mentions that on the expert level the drum charts are virtually identical to the real drum sequences in the original songs, which is actually very cool!
Fill your tour bus with RedOctane's Guitar Hero: On Tour stuff
When they started taking preorders for Guitar Hero: On Tour, RedOctane revealed a second package containing not just the game and controller, but also a case decorated with a flame-enhanced version of the game's logo. That case is now available for preorder independent of the game, at a $16.99 price point. More choice is always better, but this seems like a strange option. Why not buy it and the game together and save yourself seven dollars?You can then put that money into a five-pack of official pick styli! Alternately, if you aren't concerned with savings and would rather eschew the flames case in favor of something classier, you can get an identical case with an embossed black Guitar Hero logo. It's the more subdued way to carry your tiny fake guitar.Read: Pick Stylus 5-packRead: Flames Carrying CaseRead: Emboss Carrying Case
Guitar Hero World Tour has DLC, or it doesn't
Even an official press release can't convince us that the Wii version of Guitar Hero World Tour will support downloadable content -- mostly because the press releases can't keep their stories straight. We've seen two versions of the press release: the first, on Activision's own site, claims that World Tour is the "First Game Ever in the Guitar Hero Franchise to Allow In-Game Downloadable Content on Wii," while the second, found on GamesIndustry.biz, is exactly the same minus the mention of DLC. Was the line excised mid-release? Did it get added later? Will it be in the game? We have no idea. What we do know is that the only reason Activision can tout World Tour's "first-ever Wii Guitar Hero DLC" is because they never followed through on their promise to put it in Guitar Hero III.We've got new screens in our gallery which obviously aren't from the Wii version of the game, but which show off new features like character creation, guitar customization, and the awesome music-recording function that we have no idea if we'll get. Maybe the Wii drum kit will make extra noise when you hit it.%Gallery-23491%
Guitar Hero: World Tour trailer promises 'most realistic drums,' other stuff
Well, not as realistic as, you know, actual drums, but apparently the next Guitar Hero will be setting some sort of benchmark in the battle of the fake bands. Judging by the above debut trailer for "Guitar Hero World Tour," the new peripherals are convincing enough to lure hundreds of people into a poorly lit grotto and subject them to a cacophony of plastic instrument flailing. It's out this Fall.
Wacky pick stylus reborn for Guitar Hero: On Tour
We had a pretty good idea of what BD&A's Guitar Hero stylus accessory would look like, but we figured there was always the possibility of a surprise until we could see a picture of the thing. A picture has just been added to the Gamestop listing, and there is no surprise to be found.The DS Lite Guitar Hero Stylus is exactly the same idea as the Jammin' Guitar Pick stylus that Naki released to go with Jam Sessions. It's a stylus attached to a guitar pick. You hold the pick and use the stylus end on the screen, which sounds, at least, a little more guitar-like than just playing the DS with a little stick. The major differences between the two products? The Guitar Hero set has the Guitar Hero logo on the picks, and doesn't come with as many.
Analyst: Guitar Hero: On Tour will play to huge crowds
While the media reactions to Guitar Hero: On Tour seem to range from dismissive to skeptical to vaguely intrigued, analyst Todd Greenwald believes that the game will arrive at retail as less of an oddity and more of ... a Guitar Hero game. Which means big-time sales."We think this title, never having been released on any handheld platform, has the potential to sell several million units at launch, at a $49.99 price point." (Note about the novelty of the release: there is Guitar Hero III Mobile, but that doesn't count.)He also said that large retailers like Best Buy, Target and Wal-Mart will feature the handheld title prominently in their stores, contributing to the sales. That makes the most sense to us: a Guitar Hero game in a smaller box must be a very attractive item for retailers.%Gallery-19362%
Free headphones with Guitar Hero On Tour at Gamestop
Headphones are an absolute must for handheld music games, unless you're a) alone or b) a jerk. You're almost required to have the sound on, unlike other portable games, and it would be quite rude to subject the other bus passengers (or other neighbors) to your racket. Guitar Hero: On Tour also puts your neighbors in danger of a serious jostling should your fake solos get too energetic, but there's not really an accessory that could help with that, aside from elbow pads.GameStop has taken the extremely sensible step of bundling a pair of On Tour-branded headphones with copies of the game. If you're going to be buying the thing anyway, might as well get extra free stuff with it!In other On Tour accessories news, the "Ruby Red" accessory pack is now pictured on GameStop's website.
On Tour devs on the challenges of cramming Guitar Hero into the DS
Vicarious Visions, developer of Guitar Hero: On Tour, talked to MTV Multiplayer's Steven Totilo about the process of creating, Frankenstein-style, the bizarre DS version of a game that usually relies on a giant peripheral. They broke their discussion of its development into a list of six challenges, and then addressed each challenge specifically. The most obvious challenge: the DS isn't shaped like a guitar, and it's doubtful that any useful peripheral could make it be. According to Vicarious Visions' Karthik Bala, the company never considered adding a full Guitar Hero fretboard, due to a desire to remain compact.Another challenge, and one that we find particularly interesting, was convincing Nintendo to allow Vicarious Visions to add buttons to the DS. Rather than providing a different interface for the existing buttons (like other Guitar Hero controllers), the Guitar Grip actually adds new buttons to the system that aren't mapped to anything else. And Nintendo had to get involved to make sure the peripheral was up to their standards.%Gallery-19362%
Guitar Hero DS accessories on the way
Someone is willing to gamble a significant amount of money on the idea of a shrunk-down Guitar Hero on the DS. BD&A, who make officially-licensed Nintendo hardware cases and accessories, will produce accessories for Guitar Hero: On Tour, meaning that they think the product is non-wacky enough (or lovably wacky enough) to sell -- and sell other stuff.Two listings at Gamestop hint pretty strongly at their initial products: a $10 DS Lite Guitar Hero Stylus and a $20 DS Lite Guitar Hero Ruby Red Kit, which comprises "a glitter case, 2 system wraps, and a cleaning cloth." We assume they mean a DS Lite/Guitar Grip case that is glittery, and not a case for your glitter. They're saving that for Guitar Hero: Rip Taylor Edition.
A short-term deal on a short-term Guitar Hero: On Tour order
If, in the great Guitar Hero: On Tour debate, you fall on the side of "looks pretty good, I might get it, maybe," then you may be interested in this timed deal from Gamestop. Their "stopwatch deal" for today offers free overnight shipping on orders for the game (with included Guitar Grip peripheral, of course). You could be rocking out basically the same day it shows up in stores (June 23rd), without having to actually enter a Gamestop.You only have until noon EST tomorrow to get on this deal, so if you're still on the fence about the ridiculous peripheral, now's the time to start soul-searching.
Guitar Hero: Poll star
You've heard our arguments for and against Guitar Hero: On Tour's viability as a worthy portable successor to the series' console games -- now we want to hear what your expectations for the game are!%Poll-12304% placeholdertext More Like Guitar Zero Back
Guitar Hero: On Tour controller harmonious with DS Phats
Whenever a new DS peripheral is announced, there's a brief moment of terror for DS Phat stalwarts, as they consider the possibility of being forced into an upgrade out of desire to play Arkanoid (for example -- but that one actually does work with Phats). Thankfully, Activision and RedOctane have not forgotten that some people like big DSes and cannot lie. The Guitar Grip made for Guitar Hero: On Tour will work with both flavors of DS, according to RedOctane's preorder page.More interesting news related to, uh, your decision about whether or not to buy this: RedOctane is bundling Guitar Hero logo keychains with preordered copies of On Tour, and also selling a $60 bundle with a case made to hold the DS and Guitar Grip.[Via Joystiq]
