Wow! Look out Rock Band! Here comes Guitar Hero 4!!

[Steelmaker]

I was reading Game Informer magazine yesterday and noticed an exclusive article about GH-4. If I were Harmonix, I would worry. If Neversoft truly pulls off everything they say they will, this is going to be mother of all music games!

First of all, the package will be much like Rock Band, only better! lt will come with a guitar, WIRELESS drums, a bass (yes, a bass), and a microphone.

The drumset looks killer! It will have 3 drum pads and 2 cymbols that are elevated above the pads. They say that the proto type they tried out was way superior to Rock Band's kit. They said the pads are much quieter and have better "bounce" to them, making things like drumrolls much easier and more natural.

They say the character customization is by far the deepest ever seen in a music game. You will be able to morph your characters features ala Oblivion. You will also be able to age your characters. Of course all of the standard stuff will be in there like clothes, hair, makeup, face paint, tattoos, etc. Also, the guitars will be fully customizable. Not just the paint job but the entire body style. The body, neck, headstock, everything!!

Here's my favorite part. No longer will players be limited to playing existing songs. Your band will now be able to enter into the studio and create, mix, and arrange your own material!!! They didn't go into any great detail but they said this will be what sets GH 4 apart from anything else.

Oh, here's another cool feature. You will now be able to have 2 guitarists. A rythm and a lead player! They said the rythm feature was mainly created for younger players who can't yet master the standard way of playing. They said it's a basic strum feature where they will see a fret bar (like the kick bass line on the drums) and strum along in rythm with it. It's very simple and it will help keep younger players involved in the game without being too overwhelmed.

There a whole lot more that I'm not remembering at this time. I recommend picking up the lastest Game Informer and reading the article. It sounds like it's going to be amazing!!

[Bluoholic]

Welcome to... what is it? 2 weeks ago now?

anyway, I'm just interested in a tracklist

[BLu-Balls]

Sounds Expansive Lol!! And Expensive

[Steelmaker]

Oh another thing they mentioned that got me excited was that GH4 will have songs from Dream Theater!!

[masob98]

Originally Posted by Steelmaker

I was reading Game Informer magazine yesterday and noticed an exclusive article about GH-4. If I were Harmonix, I would worry. If Neversoft truly pulls off everything they say they will, this is going to be mother of all music games!

First of all, the package will be much like Rock Band, only better! lt will come with a guitar, WIRELESS drums, a bass (yes, a bass), and a microphone.

The drumset looks killer! It will have 3 drum pads and 2 cymbols that are elevated above the pads. They say that the proto type they tried out was way superior to Rock Band's kit. They said the pads are much quieter and have better "bounce" to them, making things like drumrolls much easier and more natural.

They say the character customization is by far the deepest ever seen in a music game. You will be able to morph your characters features ala Oblivion. You will also be able to age your characters. Of course all of the standard stuff will be in there like clothes, hair, makeup, face paint, tattoos, etc. Also, the guitars will be fully customizable. Not just the paint job but the entire body style. The body, neck, headstock, everything!!

Here's my favorite part. No longer will players be limited to playing existing songs. Your band will now be able to enter into the studio and create, mix, and arrange your own material!!! They didn't go into any great detail but they said this will be what sets GH 4 apart from anything else.

Oh, here's another cool feature. You will now be able to have 2 guitarists. A rythm and a lead player! They said the rythm feature was mainly created for younger players who can't yet master the standard way of playing. They said it's a basic strum feature where they will see a fret bar (like the kick bass line on the drums) and strum along in rythm with it. It's very simple and it will help keep younger players involved in the game without being too overwhelmed.

There a whole lot more that I'm not remembering at this time. I recommend picking up the lastest Game Informer and reading the article. It sounds like it's going to be amazing!!

Do they have any pics of what the drumkit will look like? It does sounds pretty freeking wicked. Man and I just spent $170 on Rockband. Oh well.

[Terjyn]

Do you work for Neversoft or Red Octane?

Have you ever seen a preview of a product in the future that wasn't glowing?

So what makes you think Harmonix should be worried?

I won't buy this just because I'm sick of having so many stupid plastic instruments all over my living space. Compatibility or screw you.

[Steelmaker]

Originally Posted by masob98

Do they have any pics of what the drumkit will look like? It does sounds pretty freeking wicked. Man and I just spent $170 on Rockband. Oh well.

Yes there is a picture of the kit. It looks really cool!

[Steelmaker]

Originally Posted by Terjyn

Do you work for Neversoft or Red Octane?

Have you ever seen a preview of a product in the future that wasn't glowing?

So what makes you think Harmonix should be worried?

I won't buy this just because I'm sick of having so many stupid plastic instruments all over my living space. Compatibility or screw you.

Nope. Don't work for either. Infact, I have never owned a GH game before! I have Rock Band and I have enjoyed it thoroughly. All I'm saying is that GH 4 looks amazing and yes, Harmonix should be concerned over the competition. It looks like GT4 will be doing some truly amazing things.

[foots]

I'll stick with Rock Band, thanks. Not to mention there is no word on DLC... which imho is the best thing about Rock Band.


Oh and I'm not buying another set of instruments. I don't care how "amazing" they are.

[Mxr5150]

Originally Posted by Steelmaker

Oh another thing they mentioned that got me excited was that GH4 will have songs from Dream Theater!!

Originally Posted by foots

I'll stick with Rock Band, thanks. Not to mention there is no word on DLC... which imho is the best thing about Rock Band.


Oh and I'm not buying another set of instruments. I don't care how "amazing" they are.

good call on that. I wish game companies would understand we want to buy their games but not pay more than twice the price of the game to get all the damn accessories.

[Doughoef]

RIP Rockband. The DLC sucks, the instruments break, and the guitar is not as fun as GH4. I saw the drum set and it looks sick.

[Moose1132]

Originally Posted by foots

I'll stick with Rock Band, thanks. Not to mention there is no word on DLC... which imho is the best thing about Rock Band.


Oh and I'm not buying another set of instruments. I don't care how "amazing" they are.

Yeah exactly. All of that stuff about GH4 sounds good and everything, but it doesn't matter if they continue to have awful and sporadic DLC. I mean there have been a few good things here and there, but compared to Rock Band it's terrible. I've had Rock Band since the day it came out and I still play it almost every day because DLC keeps it fresh. There might not be something I want every week, but the consistancy is what makes it so great.

[supersickie]

Whether this is bad for HMX is arguable at this point. However, there's no doubt it's going to be good for the consumer. I'm banking on GH4 being a quality product in hopes that it will push Rock Band to an even greater level.

HMX is already churning out DLC every week; just think what they're going to have to do to compete if Activision starts doing the same thing. Like I said, it's all going to be good for the consumer.

I'm eager to see where all of this customization goes. That kind of depth is something I've always liked about certain games, but I'm not sure how much it will bring to a game of this nature. All in all, it's early in the development process and we'll have to wait and see if Activision is really able to compete on the level of HMX.

[househead]

GHIII<RB<GHIV<RB2<GHV<RB3

etc etc etc

[dk3dknight]

Yay.. more ddr clones.

The world needs more ddr (sarcasm)

[player2006911]

Originally Posted by Moose1132

Yeah exactly. All of that stuff about GH4 sounds good and everything, but it doesn't matter if they continue to have awful and sporadic DLC. I mean there have been a few good things here and there, but compared to Rock Band it's terrible. I've had Rock Band since the day it came out and I still play it almost every day because DLC keeps it fresh. There might not be something I want every week, but the consistancy is what makes it so great.

Who needs DLC? Thats what no ones getting here, you can literally rip the song off of the HDD and make your own beat to the songs or if you wanna be lazy you can just pay to play the ones they decide to make.

[Chocolatejas]

I need DLC.

[chnandler_bong]

Originally Posted by player2006911

Who needs DLC? Thats what no ones getting here, you can literally rip the song off of the HDD and make your own beat to the songs or if you wanna be lazy you can just pay to play the ones they decide to make.

I wonder how easy it will be to make your own tracks for GH4. If it's even close to the level of complexity of synchronizing your Christmas lights to music, then I don't think I'd have the patience.

[Steelmaker]

Originally Posted by foots

I'll stick with Rock Band, thanks. Not to mention there is no word on DLC... which imho is the best thing about Rock Band.


Oh and I'm not buying another set of instruments. I don't care how "amazing" they are.

Actually the article does talk about DLC. They said that GH4 will have tons of DLC. They acknowledge the fact that the DLC on GH3 has been bad. They say this will not be case for GH4.

Still, I'm more fired up over the prospect of recording my own stuff!!

What I wish either Neversoft or Harmonix would do is come up with a way to be more expressive with the guitar. I wish there was a way to simulate string bending. Maybe make the buttons to where instead of simply pushing them in, you can both push them in AND push them up and down. Maybe make it where they are on a slider like the buttons on a mixing board. I would love the ability to manipulate notes more and allow for more improvisation.

[Terjyn]

You aren't recording your own stuff. You are taking a limited subset of pre-built patterns and sounds and putting them together.

If it had a real create-a-song mode then I'd be excited. Mario Paint has a more fluid music creation interface than what they are describing for GH4.

RIP Rockband. The DLC sucks, the instruments break, and the guitar is not as fun as GH4. I saw the drum set and it looks sick.

Wow, you've played GH4? Please, put up some awesome videos for us to drool over.