macross

Message

Add Friend

New State of the Art Wireless Instruments Innovative Music Studio Lets Players Compose, Record, Edit and Share Music - Biggest Selection of On-Disc Music with All Master Tracks Robust New Eight - Player “Battle of the Bands” Mode - First Game Ever in the Guitar Hero Franchise to Allow In-Game Downloadable Content on Wii

When the house lights go down this fall, a new generation of axe shredders, drummers and fearless frontmen will come together and rock with Activision, Inc.’s (Nasdaq: ATVI) Guitar Hero® World Tour. The latest installment from the #1 best-selling video game franchise of 2007, Guitar Hero World Tour will transform music gaming by marrying Guitar Hero’s® exhilarating guitar gameplay, with a cooperative band experience that combines the most advanced wireless instruments with revolutionary new online and offline gameplay modes. The game will feature a slick newly redesigned guitar, a genuine electronic drum kit and a microphone, as well as an innovative Music Studio music creator that lets players compose, record, edit and share their own rock and roll anthems, along with online Band Career and 8-player “Battle of the Bands.”

Delivering the largest on-disc set list in a music-rhythm game to-date, Guitar Hero World Tour is comprised entirely of master recordings from some of the greatest classic and modern rock bands of all-time including Van Halen, Linkin Park, The Eagles, Sublime and many more. Additionally, the game will offer significantly more localized downloadable music than ever before on all of the next-generation consoles. Budding rock stars will also be given creative license to fully customize everything from their characters’ appearance and instruments to their band’s logo and album covers.

In addition to a newly designed more responsive guitar controller and microphone, Guitar Hero World Tour will deliver the most realistic drum experience ever in a video game with an authentic electronic drum kit. Featuring three drum pads, two raised cymbals and a bass kick pedal, the drum controller combines larger and quieter, velocity-sensitive drum heads with soft rubber construction to deliver authentic bounce back and is easy to set up, move, break down and store.

“Guitar Hero has set the standard for music-based gaming and with Guitar Hero World Tour and the game’s groundbreaking Music Studio, we are once again delivering unprecedented innovation that has the potential to revolutionize consumer generated music, much in the same way that video sharing hubs have driven user generated video,” said Dusty Welch, Head of Publishing for RedOctane. “With the introduction of our advanced high-quality new wireless instruments, in-depth customization options and advanced online functionality, the game enables music fans and gamers globally to share in the most social and expressive music experience ever.”

Guitar Hero World Tour delivers more ways to play than ever before. Virtual musicians can live out their rock and roll fantasies by playing either a single instrument, or any combination of instruments, in addition to the full band experience. In addition to all of the online gameplay modes from Guitar Hero® III: Legends of Rock, Guitar Hero World Tour introduces Battle of the Bands mode which allows eight players to join online and challenge each other band-to-band to determine who is the best of the best. In the Band modes, up to four players can jam together, online or off, as they progress through the game, and in single-player Career Mode, players can jam on any of the instruments in branching venue progression enabling them to rock out in the order of their choice.

The game’s innovative new Music Studio lets players express their musical creativity by giving them access to a full compliment of tools to create digital music from scratch, utilizing all of the instruments, and then play their compositions in the game. Music creators will also be able to share their recordings with their friends online through GHTunes™ where other gamers can download their unique compositions and play them.

Guitar Hero World Tour is being developed by Neversoft Entertainment for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system. The Wii™ version is being developed by Vicarious Visions. The PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system version is being developed by Budcat. The game is not yet rated by the ESRB.

 -----

Reposting from Macross's closed thread

EDIT: URL:

http://www.vgchartz.com/forum/thread.php?id=27466&start=0 

My response:

WOOOOOOOT.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again:

I was wrong about the Activision/Harmonix split. Since that day, it hasn't been Activision that has tried to screw over their customers over and over again. Maybe someday I will go back to a Harmonix game, but unless they start caring more about their customer's experience (*cough* DLC, world tour, using GH3 controllers on the wii version, online battle mode; I don't even care about customizable characters being removed because that is a legitimate technical issue) I don't see any reason to.

Seriously, Harmonix. I used to love you guys. You introduced me to Freezepop, for f*ck's sake. Any company that employs the duke has to be a tiny bit awesome. But if you don't start taking the desires of your customers into account, and put some g*ddamn work into your products instead of outsourcing a half-assed PS2 port to what will likely be the most successful console this generation, you are going to lose ALL of the goodwill you've built up through the years by associating your name with shoddy products to the majority of incoming customers. If you don't start to put some effort into the Wii, and I mean *real* effort, the kind that would find a way to make a top-notch game with the added bells and whistles, YOU ARE GOING TO BE LEFT BEHIND.

Customers don't want to hear "oh, it's too hard" or "oh, we're just gonna port over the PS2 version because it's easier".

Customers want to hear "We are doing everything in our power to make this work for you. We are working with Nintendo to get you this DLC. We're working to make online battling work. We're giving you as many features as we can get the system to give us."

That's what Activision is doing, not Harmonix. And it pains me that I may get through this generation without buying a Harmonix game; late into last generation (as in, after the Wii got me back into gaming) I bought a PS2 for Guitar Hero(es), Frequency, and Amplitude. But if you guys don't start treating ALL your products as though they reflect on you -- because believe me, they do reflect on you -- well, then you are going to lose your legitimacy in the face of millions of Wii players who may not have experienced you on PS2.

Your brand is worth more than that, Harmonix. Don't ruin it in the eyes of the new segment of the market. There's a lot of money to be made there, but in the face of stiff competition from Activision you will have to work for it. It won't be handed to you on a silver platter. If you put as much effort and love into the Wii version of RB as there obviously is in the PS3/360 versions, you'll be fine.

BUT.

If you release it without GH3 guitar compatibility, without DLC, without online versus, without world tour, etc. and think that is treating your customers well;

If you think that 5 extra songs that would otherwise be downloadable is enough to make up for the lack of those features, or really anything other than a 'sorry for the delay';

If you think that, in the face of competition, you can afford to half-ass your Wii support;

If any of those statements apply to you, Harmonix, then I really hope that you enjoy your future mediocrity. If they apply, then your EAization has already begun, and I can only pray that you find a way to stop it before it is too late.

Interesting opinion!

alpha_dk, good show! I couldn't have said it better myself.

Personally, I really really wanted Rock Band to win, because I loved the idea, and I wanted to support Harmonix over Neversoft, but 3 things turned me off and made me get Guitar Hero 3:

1) EA's involvement (made me puke).

2) MTV's involvement (which made choke on my puke, stab myself, and puke into the wounds).

3) Not being on the best-selling console, which is the only one I have.

Now that they have fixed point #3, the most important point, they've gimped the game beyond repair, and the new GH has fixed all their problems. Booyah.

I really wanted Rock Band just for the David Bowie song pack. In fact, I bought that song pack for a friend's roommate who I might not ever see again, just so I can sing the songs once each. I need some fucking Bowie!

Now all I really want to be happy is a Wii-make of the PS2 version of Rock the 80's. I need me some Flock of Seagulls, dammit!

I wonder what made them change their stance?

 the amazing sales of GH3

 Since the beginning, Activision has said they're working with Nintendo on a way to handle DLC.  This just means they've figured out a way to do it, probably with Nintendo's help.  It's not so much of a changing of stance as it is a 'We figured it out'.

 It was from Harmonix and whoever they outsourced Rock Band to that we heard 'It's not possible.'

Harmonix full of BS confirmed.

So, how is the DLC stored? The flash memory in the Wii would be consumed faster than ever!

More of a reason for Nintendo to release their secret memory solution!!!