It’s been a while since gamers have strummed out a few notes on their guitar controllers. Activision wanted to keep its loyal fans of Guitar Hero happy, which is why they’ve just announced a brand new take on the series. With a new graphical presentation, a huge variety of musical genres to play to and a new music video service, Guitar Hero Live looks like the series revamp fans will respond greatly to.
Here’s everything you need to know about the return of Guitar Hero.
1. Gamers Will Play in Front of a Live Audience
Guitar Hero Live is doing away with the over-the-top, animated avatars from past games in the series. Players will now take the stage in front of a raving audience that reacts to how well or how badly they’re playing. The band backing you up also shows their appreciation or discomfort with your guitar playing. Your role as the band’s lead guitarist will test your note reading skills and stage fright to the fullest.
Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing, gave a few comments on what it took to bring this beloved series back:
Guitar Hero is a franchise that so many people love. Figuring out how to bring it back with true breakthrough innovation has been years in the making, and a labor of love. Guitar Hero Live lets people rock real crowds with real reactions. Our goal was literally to give people stage fright. And with GHTV, we have created the world’s first playable music video network. All of it is playable on consoles, or mobile devices. Guitar Hero is back and better than ever.
The newly designed guitar comes with a modern design. It now arrives with two rows of three buttons that are no longer color coded. This was done in order to make all players of any skill level have a much easier time dealing with the onscreen notes.
2. GHTV Will Allow Fans to Play During Music Videos
During the April 14th Best Buy Theater event for the game’s reveal, Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy and Gerard Way from My Chemical Romance were both on hand to demo the game. One of the newest features shown to fans was GHTV, a new service that lets players play during popular music videos. This 24-hour mode lets players choose music videos to play from a collection of channels.
GHTV allows local, 2-player competition as both players compete to get the highest score on any given song. Players can choose any song from an on-demand listing or play within a music video channel that’s in the middle of streaming a song.
3. A Mix of Several Musical Genres Will Be Featured
This sequel will not only feature rock, but it will also bring along songs from the genres of EDM, hip-hop, country and more. Bruce Resnikoff, President of Universal Music Enterprises, made sure to offer his support for Guitar Hero Live and his music publishing company’s commitment to offering great musical content:
We are pleased to support the launch of Guitar Hero Live, building on one of the most successful music video-game franchises of all time, and providing our artists with a fun and interactive experience for their fans.
Check out the list below to see the announced artists who will have their tunes available for play (more musical acts will be announced over time):
– The Black Keys
– Fall Out Boy
– My Chemical Romance
– Gary Clark, Jr.
– Green Day
– Ed Sheeran
– The War on Drugs
– The Killers
– Skrillex
– The Rolling Stones
– The Lumineers
– Carrie Underwood
– Pierce the Veil
– Blitz Kids
4. Guitar Hero Live Will Be Available Across Several Platforms
This latest iteration of Guitar Hero is launching across a huge variety of platforms this Fall 2015 – Xbox One, PS4, Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U and iOS/Android mobile devices. Fans can actually plug up their mobile device feed of the game up to their television and play the game without a console on deck.
5. Fans Can Try the Game Out for Themselves in New York and California
Activision is actually letting fans get their hands on the game early with demo stations. Two of them are currently set up New York, while an additional one is set up in California. For the three days of April listed below, make sure you head to these locations to enjoy the Guitar Hero Live experience:
– April 14, 2015: Best Buy Theatre, New York City, 6pm – 9pm
– April 18, 2015: Best Buy Store, Union Square, New York City, 1pm – 5pm
– April 18, 2015: Best Buy Store, Torrance, CA, 1pm – 5pm
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‘Guitar Hero Live’: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know