Guitar Hero Spreads Itself Around
Big news from the axe wielders over at Activision on Red Octane’s mega popular Guitar Hero Franchise.
During his keynote speech at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference, Activision CEO Robert Kotick revealed that Guitar Hero would appear “on every significant new format”. Kotick spoke of his intentions to create a number of new franchises based on current Activision titles, Guitar Hero being a strong leader. Additionally, Kotick discussed his intentions for annual updates to the title which sounds a lot like new music to us.
Guitar Hero 2 is expected for release on the PS2 November 7th. The promise of the title on new consoles however has us wondering and speculating. How big could this get? Imagine the following:
2 words: Wireless Guitars. The PC not withstanding, the big three consoles take advantage of wireless controllers and the prospect of a wireless guitar and up to 4 players is a lofty one. Likely an engineering nightmare (battery concerns, wireless hardware, heavier control), a wi-fi axe is not too likely, however many GH owners know that the guitar peripheral can easily be adapted to USB and used on Windows PC with a homebrew title called “Freetar Hero”. A similar software update might allow for your current guitar to plug into the USB of either the 360 or the Wii if not only the PS2/3.
Let’s talk updates. Kotick’s mention of annual updates could take two forms, buy a new disc, or much more likely: download download download. Xbox Live is already immensely succesful and the perfect delivery system for new content. Both the Wii and PS3 are expected to have similar online services, making it a natural way to get the newest of new songs out to the public. Imagine if a new band wanted to partner with Activision to get their music out. A toolkit could be created to allow independent developers to create their own GH levels based on new music. It’s a marketing dream. Not only would it extend the life of Guitar Hero, but conceivable it could mirror the kind of succes MySpace generates for new bands by putting their music in front of the public without actually giving away the songs.
On the lighter side, I imagine using the custom avatars, recently announced as part of Nintendo’s Wii, jamming along to the music in place of the GH cast of characters.
All in all, I see some big things on the horizon for Red Octane and Activision with this latest announcement. Chances are though, that they thought of them first.
