The June edition of Game Informer features a lengthy preview of Guitar Hero 4, and one thing is immediately clear: Activision is desperate to out-Rock Band Rock Band. This is most obvious in Guitar Hero 4's adoption of other instruments; as recent rumors suggested, the next installment of Activision's faux-guitar extravaganza will include drums, bass, and vocals.
As well as this expanded line-up, you'll be able to create your own tracks (though this doesn't extend to vocals, reportedly due to storage and copyright issues) and design album art. The game will let you upload five of your tracks to 'GH Tunes' (and ten when you achieve certain grades), and it will be possible to share songs in the Wii version. If you're horribly uncreative like us, you'll be able to strum your axe to one of the game's licensed songs, all of which are master tracks, and include the likes of Van Halen, The Eagles, Sublime and angst-mongers Linkin Park.
Some big changes, then, but there is a hint dropped by Game Informer that sharing songs in the Wii version of Guitar Hero 4 is "unlikely to be as robust as the PS3 and 360 versions." The magazine doesn't expand on this comment, but it's enough to set alarm bells off in our heads, especially after the gimped Rock Band fiasco.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-12-2008 @ 10:41PM
Jake said...
Kind of an interesting and scary thought at the same time. Bring on Guitar, Drums, Bass, and Mike Hero 4.
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5-12-2008 @ 11:10PM
Gewurztraminer says: R.O.B. is the last Cylon! said...
My days as a frugal gamer are over.
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5-12-2008 @ 11:16PM
Calvin said...
Good, looks like Harmonix won't be getting my money, Activision will.
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5-12-2008 @ 11:19PM
AndrewNeo said...
"angst-mongers Linkin Park"?
In The End and Crawling was three (four if you want to get technical) albums ago, get over it, Internet.
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5-13-2008 @ 12:47AM
iofthestorm said...
Seriously... What I've Done is amazing and totally not angsty.
5-13-2008 @ 6:32AM
seetrapp said...
You guys sound angsty.
5-13-2008 @ 8:32AM
Jumbo said...
Look, I like mediocre pop-rock as much as the next guy... I'm even going to the Linkin Parks concert in July.
But they are angsty pop rock. They always have been.
Even their new album.
5-13-2008 @ 9:05AM
Dustin said...
I can wipe my ass with their new album.
5-12-2008 @ 11:27PM
Matt B said...
And of course the drums and vocals won't be compatible with Rock Band. Ugh. I don't think either company will be getting my money until they work on instrument compatibility.
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5-12-2008 @ 11:31PM
Orion said...
I liked how Guitar Hero was... well.. GUITAR Hero. I got Guitar Hero not just because it wasn't as gimped, but because it was also cheaper. Also, I play the nintendo predominately by myself. What am I going to do with 4 instruments. That, and I don't have the space! I think Guitar Hero had a niche.. a game that didn't require as much money as Rock Star, and focused on a single instrument making the experience better.
Seems like this will be Rock Star, but just with a better song list. Glad I got Guitar Hero III.. seems like besides Aerosmith, that will be the last true Guitar Hero game. Shame.
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5-12-2008 @ 11:32PM
clif said...
This is great and all but in the end people are going to have a ton of drums, guitars, mics. It would be nice if the instruments were compatible. Thats the biggest problem about this.
I will galdly buy the software if things worked. Both companies are creating a culsterf*** of a issue here. I think I'll just stick to Rock Band 2 on the ps 3. But I'll still get Guitar Hero 4 because it's sounds like a true squeal compared to GH:Aerosmith which is alright but it should've been a dlc expansion pack.
But on the whole for the games to be fully enjoyed it's better to own a 360 or ps3. I love my wii but wiiware, no more heroes, smash, etc. etc. there's enough games on the wii that buying guitar hero 4 and rock band is a mistake.
I wish there was a way to boycott the wii version of both gh and rock band until the companies can mimic the features of the ps 3 or 360. Espically since the games are pretty much the same.
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5-13-2008 @ 12:51AM
iofthestorm said...
Especially since a music sim doesn't have to be the most graphically demanding game ever... I suppose Wii need a hard drive or USB mass storage support. Nintendo should have one in 6-8 months hopefully, homebrewers already have a semi-working USB driver, and WiiWare is going to fill up Wiis ridiculously fast. Actually, N64 games also fill it up pretty fast too. I've only got about 500 blocks left from 3 N64 games and LostWinds.
So yeah, USB support please??? Then maybe these games will get more feature parity. And can we nix friend codes? I don't mind them, but the online system is really held back without any sort of nickname system. In Brawl, it's not worth playing random people because you might as well be playing CPUs, since you can't even tell the difference.
5-12-2008 @ 11:38PM
Mattmatt said...
Great, I've been waiting for this ever since the Rock Band Wii version turned out to be an extremely gimped version.
Lets hope they won't downgrade this "Band Hero" for wii as Harmonix did Rock Band.
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5-12-2008 @ 11:47PM
Vaati said...
Where's this track listing at now?
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5-13-2008 @ 2:35AM
Hafk said...
There is confirmed
Van Halen
Linkin Park
Sublime
The Eagles
And about a month ago, Joe Satriani said Satch Boogie and Surfing with the Alien were comming to the next installments of Guitar Hero and Rock Band. Since Rock Band doesn't do instrumentals and doesn't look like it's getting another installement this year, and GH does on both fronts, signs seem to point more to GH.
I wanna play Satch Boogie so bad!
5-13-2008 @ 6:10AM
shadowchaoscontrol said...
i just hope "robust" means graphics, i love making songs on FoF, and i always wanted a smoke-grey xplorer with black pick guard
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5-13-2008 @ 7:32AM
jasenj1 said...
"- A new guitar designed by Red Octane that includes a new input mechanic that'll 'impact the way you play GH in the future'."
Anyone want to take odds on whether you'll NEED a new guitar to play GH4? They wouldn't be greedy enough to make it incompatible with the existing guitars, or gimp the game if you don't have this new guitar would they? Would they?
And I agree with the Rock Band incompatibility whining. Stupid, just stupid, of Activision to block Rock Band from being compatible.
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5-13-2008 @ 8:36AM
Jumbo said...
How is that stupid of activision?
It makes really good business sense.
5-13-2008 @ 9:17AM
Matt B said...
Oh God, another guitar? If it is not compatible with the GH3 guitar, I'm certainly not getting it.
5-13-2008 @ 8:08AM
Haohmaru said...
"Angst mongers Linkin Park." Haha. Yeah, but it's nu-metal angst, which is comparable to my one year old nephew's temper tantrums.
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5-13-2008 @ 8:45AM
sn1per said...
oh no, they're not nu-metal anymore, now they want to be U2... erm, i mean, they've eveolved into a rock band!
5-13-2008 @ 10:01AM
TheCoats said...
GODDAMMIT!!!!
I dont want to play rok band I JUST WANT TO PLAY GUITAR!!!!!!!
AHHHHH
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5-13-2008 @ 11:23AM
Nate said...
Sounds pretty good to me. Also, as a huge sublime fan, I can't wait. I've never played any of these games before though, so eh. I think I'll have to borrow the first 2 from my brother's friend to catch up
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5-13-2008 @ 11:57AM
Michael K. said...
"Why don't you just make ten louder, then go to that?"
"...but these go to eleven"
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5-13-2008 @ 12:18PM
mjcs77 said...
Who cares about sharing some crappy homemade tracks? The important question is: Do we have any idea if Activision is going to offer DLC, or are they going to gimp it like Harmonix?
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5-13-2008 @ 5:35PM
CJLopez said...
Band Hero????
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5-13-2008 @ 9:50PM
sniping_dreamer said...
Wait, user-created content?
If people are able to create quality notecharts, then this game looks interesting. Also, please don't tone down the difficulty level. I like watching people play TTFAF or FCing Raining Blood or whatnot.
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