Guitar Hero IV: World Tour

[Overflow]

I don't know about you guys, but from what little I've heard, it sounds amazing. Being able to create your own songs? Wow, just wow.

This looks WAY better than rock band. I've played rock band, and I own Guitar Hero III and I prefer GHIII because of the higher difficulty, and just overall better built guitar. The rock band ones seem a little, unresponsive? Plus I still can't figure out how to do hammer ons in rock band.

So the drum kit also looks great, 2 raised cymbals and three drum pads. Any word yet on a microphone?

Discuss, post pics, links or anything relevant.

[Bahamut]

No vocals on created tracks is fail though. And Activision hasn't been very supportive on the DLC front, much less in providing a variety. This is a wait and see IMO.

[Overflow]

No vocals on created tracks is fail though. And Activision hasn't been very supportive on the DLC front, much less in providing a variety. This is a wait and see IMO.

So vocals are in, though. cool.

But imagine how hard it would be to get vocal recording done right. First, you'd have to sing on tune all the way through, then the game would need to figure out what pitches you're singing and translate them into more general pitches. That doesn't sound easy, and if you can upload your songs online (You can, can't you?) just imagine what could go wrong.

[RedTigrr]

Well I know there are a bunch of tracks from here I'd love to play on GH and/or Rock Band. One of them being Final Fantasy VI 'Cyanide'.

[DjSammyG]

No vocals on created tracks is fail though. And Activision hasn't been very supportive on the DLC front, much less in providing a variety. This is a wait and see IMO.

not really. I'd rather not have vocals on the created tracks, copyright issues notwithstanding. Plus, DLC isn't going to be the main selling point of this title. It'll be the tracks included in the game proper, the gameplay mechanics, and online play. On these fronts, Activision has succeeded in every iteration of the game.

[Scufo]

It'll probably be good as long as it sticks to the tried-and-true formula, but they're gonna have to show me more than what I've seen so far to get me to pay ~$175 for a Rock Band clone. The way I see it, you can't beat Harmonix at their own game.

[DjSammyG]

It'll probably be good as long as it sticks to the tried-and-true formula, but they're gonna have to show me more than what I've seen so far to get me to pay ~$175 for Rock Band clone. The way I see it, you can't beat Harmonix at their own game.

Problem with that argument is that ionno, I feel like Harmonix was trying to beat Activision at their own game with Rock Band. With the music creator and all the added functionality Activision is adding, I think they're making the game different enough from Rock Band to create a different market. Plus, I don't know about you, but I HATE the Rock Band guitars.

[Bahamut]

not really. I'd rather not have vocals on the created tracks, copyright issues notwithstanding. Plus, DLC isn't going to be the main selling point of this title. It'll be the tracks included in the game proper, the gameplay mechanics, and online play. On these fronts, Activision has succeeded in every iteration of the game.

DLC is a big draw for such an expensive title - it helped Rock Band immensely as well. I've seen or heard so many complaints about lack of DLC support in GH3 or Rock Band for Wii that people refused to buy them, or forswore buying any more GH series games. In addition, I don't know about you, but I don't have room for a new drum kit in my apartment with each iteration, or have the money to plunk down over $350 on two games every year.

In addition, Activision is always going to be a step behind Harmonix, since they don't care to invest in innovation unless someone else does it first - it's your traditional big corporation. Unless they can prove that they can one up the experience by that much, reasons for justifying spending so much on GH 4 won't be there, and there's nothing to suggest that it will so far.

[Overflow]

I HATE the Rock Band guitars.

YES. I can't stand them either.

[sephfire]

Problem with that argument is that ionno, I feel like Harmonix was trying to beat Activision at their own game with Rock Band.

I don't follow what you mean here.

A small part of me is a bit irritated at Activision/Neversoft for taking this "full band" direction with Guitar Hero. It seems like Harmonix already handed them a winning formula with the Guitar Hero franchise, guaranteed to sell big. It seems the least they could do is not muscle in on Harmonix's new audience. The "Me Too" vibe rubs me the wrong way, but I guess business is business.

Regardless, Harmonix has already proven to me that they know how to do music games right. I'm sure Activision will turn out in a good product in World Tour, but it's going to take something amazing to pull me away from Rock Band.

Now, if Activision would just embrace universal compatibility with their controllers, I might have to change my tune. Doesn't look like I'm going to get my wish for this game though. It's a shame, too. Their drum controller looks pretty decent so far.

[DjSammyG]

DLC is a big draw for such an expensive title - it helped Rock Band immensely as well. I've seen or heard so many complaints about lack of DLC support in GH3 or Rock Band for Wii that people refused to buy them, or forswore buying any more GH series games. In addition, I don't know about you, but I don't have room for a new drum kit in my apartment with each iteration, or have the money to plunk down over $350 on two games every year.

In addition, Activision is always going to be a step behind Harmonix, since they don't care to invest in innovation unless someone else does it first - it's your traditional big corporation. Unless they can prove that they can one up the experience by that much, reasons for justifying spending so much on GH 4 won't be there, and there's nothing to suggest that it will so far.

This coming from the company that funded Guitar Hero in the first place? The big innovator and financier behind the GH series WAS Activision. Harmonix didn't really innovate past GH, they just took an existing concept and raised it to the next level. Most big companies are the only ones that CAN innovate, and when companies like Activision are willing to take a risk and team up with smaller companies like Harmonix. Most small companies end up making titles like Carnival Games or other knockoffs. Here, activision is taking Rock Band a step beyond Harmonix's ideas with the updated guitar and drum controllers, not to mention the music creator.

As a consumer who doesn't own rock band, I feel as though if this game were released at a time such that it would compete with rock band, it would sell more copies because it adds functionality and innovation to the core experience. For me, it's a no brainer. The question is whether it's worth it for the people who own Rock Band already.

[Bahamut]

This coming from the company that funded Guitar Hero in the first place? The big innovator and financier behind the GH series WAS activision. Harmonix didn't really innovate, they just took an existing concept and raised it to the next level. Most big companies are the only ones that CAN innovate. Most small companies end up making titles like Carnival Games or other knockoffs. Here, activision is taking Rock Band a step beyond Harmonix's ideas with the updated guitar and drum controllers, not to mention the music creator.

As a consumer who doesn't own rock band, I feel as though if this game were released at a time such that it would compete with rock band, it would sell more copies because it adds functionality and innovation to the core experience. For me, it's a no brainer. The question is whether it's worth it for the people who own Rock Band already.

Hahahaha what? Harmonix is the one who developed the original GH 1 & 2 games - Activision just published their games before, and when Harmonix ended working with Activision, Activision just took what they did and repeated much of the same, with the exception of online playing and adding boss battles.

Perhaps you misunderstood the corporate reference - most big corporations in any business are loathe to innovate in their business, especially in the entertainment sector. It represents undue risk to them, since they tend to already have a stable business model. In the case of Activision, it's sequel pumping like no other.

[FlagshipAmadeus]

Well I like the Rock Band guitar better

[Nekofrog]

Guitar Hero guitar > Rock Band guitar (my RB guitar broke fast, no GH guitars have broken on me).

Rock Band > Guitar Hero

[sephfire]

This coming from the company that funded Guitar Hero in the first place? The big innovator and financier behind the GH series WAS Activision.

Harmonix was always the creative force behind Guitar Hero. They developed the game. Activision was the publisher in association with RedOctane. Harmonix has been making rhythm games for almost ten years (see FreQuency). Activision may have been taking a risk in publishing the first game in the series, but don't mistake that for innovation.

Technically, Activision is still just the publisher, with Neversoft heading development, but whatever.

Harmonix didn't really innovate past GH, they just took an existing concept and raised it to the next level.

I'll give you that, but that is often the way with sequels. I'd say that Guitar Hero 2 refined the formula, improving the hammer-on/pull-off mechanic among other things.

Here, activision is taking Rock Band a step beyond Harmonix's ideas with the updated guitar and drum controllers, not to mention the music creator.

I wouldn't say Activision is set to surpass Harmonix's ideas. Other than a few added details, World Tour looks like little more than a blatant attempt to turn Guitar Hero into Rock Band with a few extra bells and whistles. The controllers look nice and the music editor function piques my interest (we'll see how well it turns out in practice), but I wouldn't call either one of those especially "innovative."

One of the things I'm curious about is how World Tour will handle DLC. Harmonix has released at least three new tracks every week since launch day, sometimes a full album's worth (just today, Harmonix released a Pixies album and three Weezer songs). Their DLC practices have turned Rock Band into more of a platform than a game. You don't own Rock Band, so I don't fault you for not knowing all of the game's strengths, but don't assume that World Tour will surpass everything Harmonix has accomplished with Rock Band.

As a consumer who doesn't own rock band, I feel as though if this game were released at a time such that it would compete with rock band, it would sell more copies because it adds functionality and innovation to the core experience. For me, it's a no brainer. The question is whether it's worth it for the people who own Rock Band already.

I expect World Tour probably will sell more copies than Rock Band based on the strength of the brand alone. Rock Band just doesn't have that kind of popularity yet. I still don't see any "innovation" on Activision's part, but I'm interested to see how well their product turns out.

[JCvgluvr]

I lost a lot of respect for the GH developers when they went down the "steal the winning formula and tweak it" road. Are they so greedy for consumers money that they must invade Rock Band's territory as well?

Where am I going to get my guitar-centric song fix now? Tell me that. Now, every song that's included in GH:WT is going to be as balanced towards the 4 instruments as possible, just like Rock Band.

And unless you're a hard-core song writer or have moderate experience in that area, the song creator is useless. Would it have been so much more difficult to design a system that converts the songs from your cd/mp3 player/whatever into playable game tracks?! Give me a break.

In short, screw you Activision. Nothing, short of a spectacular setlist will convince me to buy your shameless copy of Rock Band.

[Malaki-LEGEND.sys]

Yeah, I was kind of looking at Guitar Hero to be a much more guitarcentric series as well. You're not gonna get an awesome guitar fix playing Don't Fear The Reaper on Rock Band as you would playing Sweet Child Of Mine on Guitar Hero II. Also the Rock Band guitar really does suck pretty badly, so I'm glad I still have both my GH2 explorers handy.

That being said, you don't play Rock Band for the guitar experience. You play Rock Band for the BAND experience(i.e. play with friends) and in that department it is massive win. Serious fun can be had with 4 people whether online or off with that game, and the DLC just makes it better.

I wasn't that impressed with GH3 though, so I doubt I'd be happy with GH4 if Activision is just gonna try their hand at a Rock Band clone. I'll stick with GH and GH2. If they really wanna make me happy, they should port Rock The 80's to the 360.

[Bleck]

1. GH4 better be toned the fuck down, difficulty wise.

2. If it doesn't have Stairway To Heaven - hell to pay.

[Inimitable]

1. GH4 better be toned the fuck down, difficulty wise.

They already build that into the game for you! It's called "playing on Hard." This way you don't even have to hope to ruin it for the rest of us who spend too much time playing the game!

[DjSammyG]

1. GH4 better be toned the fuck down, difficulty wise.

2. If it doesn't have Stairway To Heaven - hell to pay.

They said they were gonna have a beginner mode, even easier than easy mode. That said, they probably will ramp UP the difficulty for the other modes a bot because of this.

[EdgeCrusher]

I refuse to pay 189.99 for shit I already have. Who cares if the guitar has a touch pad? And the guitar hero history of DLC can suck my nuts. Guitar Hero 3 is dead to me. It and its 2 second hammer on pull off time frame window for notes. Rock Band was the best investment I ever made, followed by like, guitar hero 2. 3 was a throw away game in terms of shitty songs, and nothing to add to it. Ill rather wait for Rock Band 2 to come out and the DLC for the first one, that way at least I can enjoy some songs.

[Necrotic]

I refuse to pay 189.99 for shit I already have. Who cares if the guitar has a touch pad? And the guitar hero history of DLC can suck my nuts. Guitar Hero 3 is dead to me. It and its 2 second hammer on pull off time frame window for notes. Rock Band was the best investment I ever made, followed by like, guitar hero 2. 3 was a throw away game in terms of shitty songs, and nothing to add to it. Ill rather wait for Rock Band 2 to come out and the DLC for the first one, that way at least I can enjoy some songs.

Yeah, I'm getting pretty sick of paying for new instruments just to get access to a couple new features. I've seriously got like 6 guitar hero and rock band guitars kicking around in my house. That's enough, seriously. When I found out I would have to buy another drum kit, another set of guitars, and another microphone just to get the most out of World Tour I seriously just wanted to put my hands in the air and say "Fuck it, I'm done."

Guitar Hero 3 had an awkward sense of timing between single notes and hammerons because of that window. The fact that the hammer on window was retardedly big also made it too damn easy.

Rock Band's been a treat in that it's done an awesome job of catering to everyone's taste through DLC. Me, my brother, and one of my friends love metal, and there's downloadable packs that cater to our tastes. Being able to play At The Gates and Evile is awesome for us, and downloads just keep coming out consistently.

[Bleck]

They already build that into the game for you! It's called "playing on Hard." This way you don't even have to hope to ruin it for the rest of us who spend too much time playing the game!

Oops sorry god forbid I want to play the song how it sounds, on expert, without practicing for hundreds of hours!

The best example of artificial difficulty is in Monsters, during the chorus. There is not that much variation in the strumming - hitting one power chord in the song should not mean having to alternate between RYO and RYB or what the fuck ever real fast for no god damn reason.

[sephfire]

Guitar Hero 3 really did add notes where it didn't need to. It wasn't a big problem, but it made some songs much less fun to play. Hopefully they'll find a middle ground with their next attempt.

[Overflow]

Guitar Hero 3 had an awkward sense of timing between single notes and hammerons because of that window. The fact that the hammer on window was retardedly big also made it too damn easy.

What's the problem with the hammer ons? GHIII was the first one I played, and I got used to the hammer ons in it, now you're telling me they were off? I thought the hammer ons in Rock band were weird, not the other way around.