Guitar Hero was once a huge game for Activision upon its release in 2005, and began a whole fad of music-based games with Rock Band and others. Unfortunately, the music game fad passed, and it forced Activision to cancel Guitar Hero 7 before it was ever released. However, Guitar Hero is making a comeback with Guitar Hero Live, and this is what we know about the release date, news, and updates to the classic music game.
Activation has made it official with the announcement of the newest version of Guitar Hero with Guitar Hero Live. The game will feature GH Live, which will allow the player to go up on stage as star of a show. This will give the player the chance to get the feel of playing in front of a crowd, who will react in real-time to how well or how poorly that you play. The stages vary from a small one with just over a hundred people, to a massive main stage of an outdoor festival in front of hundreds of thousands. This is different than previous iterations, where random videos would play.
Another new feature is the introduction of GHTV, which is "the world's first playable live music video network", a 24-hour mode that lets fans play along to a continually updated collection of official music videos. There will be multiple channels and themed shows, and it is all online so you can play with your friends in the same room against players from all around the world.
For those who are not familiar with Guitar Hero, it was a game that launched ten years ago, and it was played by 40 million players and gained one billion dollars in sales in both North America and Europe. The game involves taking a guitar controller and playing certain "frets" (buttons on the neck of the guitar controller) at the proper time to the tune of popular or classic songs. The game started a whole music-gaming craze of the last decade, and it looks like Activision is ready to bring the magic again to another generation.
In fact, Activision has changed the guitar controller for Guitar Hero so it is two rows of three buttons for the frets. Previous versions had five fret buttons on the neck, but the new design is more like an actual guitar. Beginner players can start out using just three buttons, while more advanced players can create complex chords.
Another exciting feature to add is that Guitar Hero Live is going to leave the console and enter into the mobile realm as both GH Live and GHTV are fully playable on consoles as well as tablets and mobile phones. The company doesn't have much information on that one, but they are definitely making GH Live for the mobile era.
Guitar Hero Live will be available on Fall 2015 for Xbox One, Xbox 360, Sony PS4, Sony PS3, and the Wii U. There is no word of a specific release date or what kind of mobile devices that it will be designed for. It can be pre-ordered at select retailers worldwide.
