We already have Guitar Hero World Tour and Rock Band for the complete virtual band experience, but Konami's trying to hop on the bandwagon with a crappy-looking knockoff that has no master tracks. Their E3 presentation did absolutely nothing to convince people of the game's merit (Watch to the end):
On a positive note, it was very smart of Activision to make the Rock Band instruments compatible with World Tour. Now I can pick up both.
Showing posts with label guitar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label guitar. Show all posts
Monday, July 21, 2008
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Hey Activision, Stop Playing Copycat
To recap things: The company Harmonix developed Guitar Hero 1 and 2. Activision published them. MTV bought Harmonix away from Activision. Now Neversoft and Vicarious Visions develop Guitar Hero. Through EA, Harmonix made Rock Band, an expansion on the GH formula that added drums, bass and vocal playstyles.
Guitar Hero 4, or rather Guitar Hero: World Tour was recently announced, with the press release stating, "For the first time, guitar players can also play bass, play drums and sing vocals!"
Um.
It also seems that the controllers for each game may be incompatible with the other. In other word, you'd have to pay almost $400 if you wanted to play two songlist's worth of what is essentially the same game.
I have no plans to get World Tour but do plan to get Rock Band and its announced sequel. The only positive announcement has been Activision announcing the "Create-A-Song" feature for World Tour, giving players a music-making application and letting them upload their creations online for all to play. If Activision wants Guitar Hero to stay a viable property, they need to do more like this, and add unique and creative features that Rock Band didn't beat to the punch.
Guitar Hero 4, or rather Guitar Hero: World Tour was recently announced, with the press release stating, "For the first time, guitar players can also play bass, play drums and sing vocals!"
Um.
It also seems that the controllers for each game may be incompatible with the other. In other word, you'd have to pay almost $400 if you wanted to play two songlist's worth of what is essentially the same game.
I have no plans to get World Tour but do plan to get Rock Band and its announced sequel. The only positive announcement has been Activision announcing the "Create-A-Song" feature for World Tour, giving players a music-making application and letting them upload their creations online for all to play. If Activision wants Guitar Hero to stay a viable property, they need to do more like this, and add unique and creative features that Rock Band didn't beat to the punch.
Saturday, March 01, 2008
User-made content: The next step in rhythm games?
Let's do a review.
Stepmania is a still-thriving Dance Dance Revolution PC clone, with the ability for users to take their own MP3s and make custom levels based around them. Osu! does the same with the Ouendan/Elite Beat Agents playstyle, and Frets on Fire with Guitar Hero.
On the professional side, Phase, from Harmonix (the same people who brought us Guitar Hero and Rock Band) automatically analyzes your songs to make a game that is essentially a simplified version of their premier series for your iPod. Beats does the same for the PSP. As does Audiosurf for the PC.
Combine this with dozens of amateur Flash games, and it becomes obvious that music games supplied by the input of the masses is getting big. And the next big step may come with Rock Band, as a Harmonix rep has mentioned that they are interested in a similar system being released for the game at some point.
In other words, get those MP3s, check these programs out, and have fun making your own levels.
Stepmania is a still-thriving Dance Dance Revolution PC clone, with the ability for users to take their own MP3s and make custom levels based around them. Osu! does the same with the Ouendan/Elite Beat Agents playstyle, and Frets on Fire with Guitar Hero.
On the professional side, Phase, from Harmonix (the same people who brought us Guitar Hero and Rock Band) automatically analyzes your songs to make a game that is essentially a simplified version of their premier series for your iPod. Beats does the same for the PSP. As does Audiosurf for the PC.
Combine this with dozens of amateur Flash games, and it becomes obvious that music games supplied by the input of the masses is getting big. And the next big step may come with Rock Band, as a Harmonix rep has mentioned that they are interested in a similar system being released for the game at some point.
In other words, get those MP3s, check these programs out, and have fun making your own levels.
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