Nintendo Wii Fanboy

Within hours of Rock Band hitting the Wii, Red Octane has begun the ultimate rock battle by releasing full images of instruments for the Wii version of Guitar Hero: World Tour. We've seen a few sneak peeks around the place, but now they are in their full gallery glory for you to enjoy.

Rock Band one-upped the Guitar Hero franchise by adding drums and a microphone, so what's next? Add a burger and beer to the package to simulate the roadie experience? Stuff a few groupies in the box to cheer you on as you rock out in front of the TV? If you consider yourself a rock star with the new World Tour instruments, we don't blame you -- they look pretty hot.


[Via press release]

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.

IGN has an incredibly detailed and lengthy first look at upcoming Guitar Hero: World Tour. First of all, the rumor of touch-sensitive guitars turned out to be true. The new Guitar Hero axe looks really sweet.

Outside of the guitar, there is also a close-up look at the drum kit. As previously noted, it looks more like the real deal, is wireless, makes a lot less noise when playing, and should feel more natural to those real drummers out there who want to get their play on. As nice as it is, though, it comes nowhere near the ambitious gameplay features that will be included in every version of Guitar Hero: World Tour, even the Wii installment.

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.

Look, we'll give credit where it's due, and Activision definitely deserves a "wuddup" for including Wi-Fi-compatibility in Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. But, with all of the things Rock Band is leaving out of the Wii version, we're fearing a rather bad precedent will be set and a lot of the new features presented in this teaser trailer will be absent from the Wii port of the game. Until then, we'll just have to wait and see, we suppose.

Ted Nugent had something of interest to say regarding fans of the Guitar Hero franchise. During a recent radio interview, The Nuge dropped the bomb that he has been working with the folks behind Guitar Hero IV (he doesn't exactly say it's the fourth installment, but we're pretty sure he isn't talking about Guitar Hero Aerosmith) and will be featured in the game. You can hear it all right here (around 12:30 is when he starts talking about it).

He had a lot of things to say about the whole mo-cap process, as well as his inability to actually play the game, despite his ability to set real frets on fire. Our favorite part of the interview? He said he had to do "a variation of Stranglehold." Man, we love that song.

In fact, let's go ahead and embed it past the post break. Rock out with us, won't you?

Well now, it looks like the June 2008 issue of Game Informer has a little surprise up its sleeve. You got it, this is none other than the drum kit that will be utilized in Guitar Hero IV. Looks kind of weird, if you ask us. But, hey, maybe the thing looks goofy, yet has a great feel to it? We'll have to wait and see.

As you can tell, it's different from the Rock Band drum kit in several ways. For one, it would appear the kit only has 3 face drums, with two weird high hat-looking things above the main drums, along with the requisite bass pedal. Will this be an easier drum kit to manage than the one bundled with Rock Band?

Update: Whoops, fixed some oversight on our part. Sorry for the mistake.

[Via Joystiq]

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.

There are rumors abound that Activision will be adding new instrument peripherals and a microphone to Guitar Hero IV, because of statements made by Activision's CEO Bobby Kotick in a recent interview with Conde Nast Portfolio. Should these bode true, though, we think this is a questionable move by the company. Although Rock Band is widely hailed as the better game, it seems lazy for Activision to turn its franchise into exactly (or at least, almost exactly) the same thing.

Let's think of the other negatives. Since Guitar Hero and Rock Band guitars are incompatible with the competing game (thanks to Activision), we can assume that if drums become a part of the GHIV experience, they will be, too. This means that people who want to own both will not only have to deal with a mountain of guitars (supposing they enjoy a good bout of local multiplayer), but also two drum sets cluttering up their homes. Moreover, this blogger has come to think of Guitar Hero as "the poor man's Rock Band," meaning that you don't have to pay an arm and a leg (just an arm) to get it. It's not cheap, but it's cheaper. Should the series turn into Rock Band, however, that will take away its economic edge.

Now, there could be good things about this rumored change. If Activision added some unique instruments (maybe a keyboard?), the game could offer something that Rock Band can't. Should it turn into nothing but a clone, though, we can't say we support that.

Kotick also mentioned that the game will include a feature that utilizes local bands, but what the CEO meant by this has yet to be clarified.

[Via Joystiq]