So details have started to emerge about the next installment of the Guitar Hero franchise and to be perfectly honest I have mixed feelings.

On the plus side the developers are rumoured to be introducing user created content to the game. A great idea to extend the gameplay beyond the tracks that come supplied with the game and via DLC. Also the ability to create your own Rocker is on its way, this will bring a nice personal touch to the game.

On the unsure side they have decided to go the Rock Band route and add Drums and Vocals to the mix. This is what worries me. I own and love both Guitar Hero and Rock Band but despite their similarities they are both extremely different games to play. Rock Band is a much more forgiving and social game to play. Its great to get a group of people round for a Rock Band session because no-one ever complains that they can't join in. It has a nice gentle learning curve so even people new to the game can Rock out and have fun. Guitar Hero on the other hand has built itself a legion of dedicated players who truly relish the harder difficulties the game presents. My worry is that by losing its Guitar focus it may lose that edge which appealed to the more "Hard-Core" rockers out there.

Maybe it's just me worrying needlessly. Only time will tell if I'm right to have concerns or not. All I know is my house isn't big enough for both sets of drums. haha.

I wonder if they'll return to the relative ease there was in the previous Harmonix instalments (a thing I've only heard about)... What user created content would there be?

Does Rock Band take up a huge amount of space? I hope this game won't be overpriced like that was

Right... drums and vocals? Count me out. If the game can still exist entirely as a guitar game, and the other instruments are optional, thus justifying the title "GUITAR hero", i'll buy it. If they insist drums and vocals are an integral part of the experience, i'll politely give them the finger and walk out.

Contrary to the popular jokes, I don't play Guitar Hero because I want the authentic band experience, and it's pretty obvious they plan on seeing how well Rock band sells over here then attempting the same ludicrous price plan.

quote:

Originally posted by Ninja_Raiden:
Does Rock Band take up a huge amount of space? I hope this game won't be overpriced like that was

In all fairness my Rock Band drums don't take up too much space at all. Plus they are easy enough to take down and put out of the way. Still I don't think owning 2 sets of drums is going to leave me much space.

I'm glad to see other people share my concerns over the lack of focus Guitar Hero IV may have. I truly hope my concerns are unfounded and that it doesn't go too far down the casual route (he says as he sits typing this wearing his Guitar Hero T-Shirt).

Came across this lil snippet about GH4 on the British Gaming Blog..

quote:

Guitar Hero IV wants some of Rock Star’s stage and is adding drums, bass and vocals to its instrument line-up, with creation tools for each musician.

But while that alone would make a carbon copy of Harmonix’s smash hit, Rock Band, Neversoft has a few more tricks up their sleeve. The game will allow you to record guitar and drum songs to the system, add album art, name it and upload it to “GH Tunes” for others to enjoy.

There will be no vocals in this mode (due to storage and legal issues), and the system will be slightly nerfed on Wii and PS2 versions. However, it’s a strong feature and will no doubt be a one stop repository for every version of the Super Mario Bros. theme in the world.

Neversoft has also announced a new guitar from Red Octane, and the following four bands: Van Halen, The Eagles, Linkin Park and Sublime. Also, every song on the line-up will be master tracks.

So it doesnt seem to sound allllll bad.
But still, if i have to buy extra bits for it at £40 a go.. i am going to moan and moan...

Rock Band or Guitar Hero IV, I wouldn't mind having a go at either. If I had the pockets, I'd get both!

Nothing better than nice fun atmosphere with your friends and rocking out!

Wishful thinking but it'd be awesome if a local pub had a space set up for these things.

i heard that there were to be no mic for it. something to do with drums, lead guitar and bass guitar to create the songs. songs without vocals. if it is that then i think we can be safe, cant remember where i saw it tho. if i find i will post the link for it.

They have just released a new trailer for this entitled Guitar Hero: World Tour (search for it on YouTube). The drums look pretty sweet, sweet enough for me to cave into pressure and buy them to sit proudly next to my Rock Band drums haha.

Also of note the trailer features Lenny Kravitz Are You Gonna Go My Way - pure genius its about time this was in a Guitar Hero game.

I read tonight that speculative pricing for the complete GH 4 package could retail for $10 more than the Rock Band package, that is $190, don't know any UK pricing yet. Also, and this is a killer, it is rumoured that the Rock Band drums will not be compatible with GH 4! Some more details here.

Guitar Hero Vs Rock Band Battle of the Bands uber game where every peripheral magically becomes compatible so I don't empty my wallet FTW!

I think adding drumming and singing to Guitar Hero is just like adding more options to an already great game, which is a good thing really. I just don't want the addition of drums and microphones to affect the kind of songs you can play on the guitar.
Thunderhorse on GH2 is a fantastic song to play, but, if they're only going to have songs with a decent singing(/everything else) input too then it narrows down what we can play.

Unless of course, the amount of each instruments input in the songs has no baring on what they choose.

Details of the new Guitar are coming in, which now includes a touchy, slidey panel on the neck. Good news is that the good old wireless Gibson from GHIII is still compatible so that will help save some pennies (hopefully).

Now if only the developers of GH and RB could put aside their differences and make the wireless Gibson playable on the PS3 version of RB as the Fender is starting to frustrate me.