Ashwin Hary
Edward 1
Guitar Hero World Tour to be Released in Competition with Rock Band
June 22nd 2008 15:55
As I slightly touched on in "Get Your Last Glimpse of GH3 Before Guitar Hero 4 is Released," it's true a new Guitar Hero is supposed to be released in October of this year (2008). This is pretty surprising since they just released Guitar Hero 3 last October, but they do need something to compete with Rock Band, so the release isn't that surprising.
Last year, Guitar Hero 3 was released in October, and a few short months later, in December Rock Band was released, so you know Activision had to come up with something quick to compete with the high sales and popularity that Rock Band produced.
THE INSTRUMENTS
The Guitar
The new Guitar Hero has to introduce a cool, new guitar contoller. This one has more features such as the touch pad located on the neck. The touch sensitve strip allows you to alter the notes during sustains by sliding up and down the strip. It can also be used for tapping to play notes.
The back select button is made to look like the bridge of the guitar, and it's now easier to activate star power. The D-Pad now looks more like a knob. The overall body of the guitar is larger and more realistic.
The guitar is wireless and sleek, with an accelermeter and a custom faceplates.
The Drums
The drums are probably the biggest change, when comparing World Tour with Rock Band. Instead of 4 drum pads and a bass drum, you have 3 centered drum pads and 2 cymbals, which simulate 2 toms, 1 snare, 2 cymbals, and a bass drum. The cymbals are raised above the drum pads and are positioned on hinged swivels so that you can position them as you want. Each drum pad is 8 inches in diameter, so that you are more likely to hit them. Plus the whole set is wireless.
To activate star power, all you have to do is hit both cymbals at the same time... Pretty simple. Huh?
Another big difference between the two drum sets, is that the World Tour drum set is much quieter.
The Microphone
The microphone is pretty standard. It's wireless addition without any buttons. In order to get to the menus, you'll have to use the controller. In order to activate star power with the microphone, you don't have to wait for special sections; all you have to do is tap it or make a quick similar sound at any time in order to activate star power.
CUSTOMIZATION
World Tour brings back all of the characters from Guitar Hero 3 and a few from Guitar Hero 2, but what's the point in playing someone else when you can be a rockstar yourself. You can customize a character and watch yourself rock out on the screen.
The character customization lets you choose the sex of the character, the genre (goth, punk, rock, etc), age, body shape, and body build. You can get as detailed as the size of the jaw, chin, ears, mouth, and eyes. You can even adjust the shape of the eyebrows. Add makeup and choose your hairstyle and color. There are tons of options when you create your own character. This feature will definitely be a hit.
You can apply tattoos by piecing together shapes and icons so that you can make your own tattoo design. You can even take decals and customize your instruments.
THE GAME
So far the track list includes Linkin Park, Van Halen, Sublime - "Santeria", Billy Idol - "Rebel Yell", and the Foo Fighters - "Everlong," but Activision understands that a good track list is necessary for solid gameplay.
You will encounter boss battles as well as career mode and quick play action.
The tour mode is similar to Rock Band. You can tour various locations and play setlists.
MUSIC CREATOR
Another cool feature with Guitar Hero World Tour is the music creator. Although the game will include over 85 songs, Activision wanted to add something special and new to the game. You can create your own songs by laying out note track. All you have to do is play, and the game does the rest for you. But, if you want, you can get technical and go into the editor and play around manually.
Where the music creator is a sweet addition for the instruments- drums and guitar- you cannot create your own song with the vocals.
Even if you're just a beginner, you can quickly and easily create your own music and songs by using the wizard tool. You can select a premade base line and a drum loop, adjust the tempo, and the basics are there; all you have to do is customize the song. If you have problems with rhythm, you can lock your notes to the beat.
When you're finished creating your song, you can publish it to the GH tunes. At that point you can pick which tracks will be played by the different instruments, assign your own cover art customizing it with the decal editor, select a genre, and more. At that point, anyone can download and play your customized song. After they play the song for the first time, they'll be asked to rate it; at that point the ratings are sent to the servers and Activision will track which songs are the highest rated, the fastest chart movers, and the ones played the most.
You can save up to 100 songs that you've created yourself, and you can download up to 200 songs.
COST
If you're trying to figure out the costs, well they're not too high....
The guitar and the game
PS3 and Xbox 360: $99.99 and $59.99
PS2: $49.99 (game only)
The full bundle to include the guitar, drums, microphone, and the game
PS3, Xbox 360, Wii: $189.99
PS2: $179.99
Last year, Guitar Hero 3 was released in October, and a few short months later, in December Rock Band was released, so you know Activision had to come up with something quick to compete with the high sales and popularity that Rock Band produced.
THE INSTRUMENTS
The Guitar
The new Guitar Hero has to introduce a cool, new guitar contoller. This one has more features such as the touch pad located on the neck. The touch sensitve strip allows you to alter the notes during sustains by sliding up and down the strip. It can also be used for tapping to play notes.
The back select button is made to look like the bridge of the guitar, and it's now easier to activate star power. The D-Pad now looks more like a knob. The overall body of the guitar is larger and more realistic.
The guitar is wireless and sleek, with an accelermeter and a custom faceplates.
The Drums
The drums are probably the biggest change, when comparing World Tour with Rock Band. Instead of 4 drum pads and a bass drum, you have 3 centered drum pads and 2 cymbals, which simulate 2 toms, 1 snare, 2 cymbals, and a bass drum. The cymbals are raised above the drum pads and are positioned on hinged swivels so that you can position them as you want. Each drum pad is 8 inches in diameter, so that you are more likely to hit them. Plus the whole set is wireless.
To activate star power, all you have to do is hit both cymbals at the same time... Pretty simple. Huh?
Another big difference between the two drum sets, is that the World Tour drum set is much quieter.
The microphone is pretty standard. It's wireless addition without any buttons. In order to get to the menus, you'll have to use the controller. In order to activate star power with the microphone, you don't have to wait for special sections; all you have to do is tap it or make a quick similar sound at any time in order to activate star power.
CUSTOMIZATION
World Tour brings back all of the characters from Guitar Hero 3 and a few from Guitar Hero 2, but what's the point in playing someone else when you can be a rockstar yourself. You can customize a character and watch yourself rock out on the screen.
The character customization lets you choose the sex of the character, the genre (goth, punk, rock, etc), age, body shape, and body build. You can get as detailed as the size of the jaw, chin, ears, mouth, and eyes. You can even adjust the shape of the eyebrows. Add makeup and choose your hairstyle and color. There are tons of options when you create your own character. This feature will definitely be a hit.
You can apply tattoos by piecing together shapes and icons so that you can make your own tattoo design. You can even take decals and customize your instruments.
THE GAME
So far the track list includes Linkin Park, Van Halen, Sublime - "Santeria", Billy Idol - "Rebel Yell", and the Foo Fighters - "Everlong," but Activision understands that a good track list is necessary for solid gameplay.
You will encounter boss battles as well as career mode and quick play action.
The tour mode is similar to Rock Band. You can tour various locations and play setlists.
MUSIC CREATOR
Another cool feature with Guitar Hero World Tour is the music creator. Although the game will include over 85 songs, Activision wanted to add something special and new to the game. You can create your own songs by laying out note track. All you have to do is play, and the game does the rest for you. But, if you want, you can get technical and go into the editor and play around manually.
Where the music creator is a sweet addition for the instruments- drums and guitar- you cannot create your own song with the vocals.
Even if you're just a beginner, you can quickly and easily create your own music and songs by using the wizard tool. You can select a premade base line and a drum loop, adjust the tempo, and the basics are there; all you have to do is customize the song. If you have problems with rhythm, you can lock your notes to the beat.
When you're finished creating your song, you can publish it to the GH tunes. At that point you can pick which tracks will be played by the different instruments, assign your own cover art customizing it with the decal editor, select a genre, and more. At that point, anyone can download and play your customized song. After they play the song for the first time, they'll be asked to rate it; at that point the ratings are sent to the servers and Activision will track which songs are the highest rated, the fastest chart movers, and the ones played the most.
You can save up to 100 songs that you've created yourself, and you can download up to 200 songs.
COST
If you're trying to figure out the costs, well they're not too high....
The guitar and the game
PS3 and Xbox 360: $99.99 and $59.99
PS2: $49.99 (game only)
The full bundle to include the guitar, drums, microphone, and the game
PS3, Xbox 360, Wii: $189.99
PS2: $179.99
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It's so different than sitting in your living room and watching however many cars race in a circle trying to win. All the drivers and cars blend together, and it can be hard to tell who's who and what's what, but when you're in the driver's seat, and you're the one in control, you get a whole new respect for racing. Granted, of course you're not in danger in your house racing in comparison to on the track, but you get the idea. 
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