And here comes the copying

"In all seriousness, the "local bands" idea is intriguing. I wonder how far they'll actually flesh that one out."

My guess is about as much as their DLC promises.

Alot of people have been dumping on GH since Rock Band, but hey, at least they are trying something different, so color me cautiously optimistic.

I actually liked Guitar Hero 3 a little better than Rock Band (The guitar play felt a little more polished to me.), but I can't see this succeeding.

I'd rather not have them dilute Guitar Hero. That was my main problem with Rock Band, all of the instruments were good, but none of them were great. It was still an excellent game, but it lacked the focus of Guitar Hero.

That's my thinking anyway.

@my spoon is too big: What are they trying different? Now all they are doing is copying rock band's idea.

@my spoon is too big:

If different means directly ripping off your rival game.

Rock Band ftw?

Remember kids, competition works.

Who cares if it's "copycat-ing?" Not me. All I know is that I already have one awesome band game, and now I could possibly have another one. Don't hate.

Normally I'd roll my eyes at the blatant "me too"-ing, but the end result will most likely be great, so I'm not complaining.

I won't be getting any more GH games at launch. I was horrified by GH III and wish I could have gotten my money back. Maybe when they're cheap, I'll get them but Moronvision raped the series and I'm not sure I care enough about it anymore.

So a sequel to Rock Band was announced?

Maybe they will make "Full Orchestra Hero." I'd like to see the box that comes in.

If Activision wants compatibility with the "Rock Band" instruments, Harmonix should make them pay. Let Activision have some of them "just desserts".

@my spoon is too big: That's true... if you consider something different copying off of rock band. After playing guitar hero 3 i'm sticking to my opinion that the soul of GH was Harmonix. I'll be very happy if Activision proves me wrong though. :)

More like Rock Band II, amirite?

With Guitar Hero 3, Activision essentially "copied" what Harmonix did with the first two games.

Now they're copying what Harmonix did with Rock Band. Nothing at all surprising there.

Copying? Copying? THIS is a GOOD THING.

The Guitar Hero franchise is stale, Rock Band absolutely destroys it and they know it, adding new instruments now allows them to actually compete with the competition.

Anyone else remember when Activision called Rock Band a Guitar Hero imitator? :P [kotaku.com]

I've shared my interest for a rebreakable guitar with my friends in the past, I don't know why they all have to hate it cause it would be totally awesome to not have to buy a new guitar after every song cause you just have to smash it at the end of every song like Kevin Pereira.

Waiting for the Nintendo statement of an external hard-drive for the Wii.....
*guy comes out from time machine*
"Don't bother"
*flicks me off and shuts hatch*
...shit.

What on earth are they even talking about? Local bands? Local to where? Huh?

Anyway Guitar Hero is now officially dead to me.

My local Rogers Video is having a GH3 competition that I was thinking about entering. The prize was a copy of Guitar Hero Aerosmith (which I have 0% interest in). My plan was to win the competition (and I probably would win, if it was a fair competition) and then win the new Aerosmith guitar. Turn right around and sell it back to them while saying "sorry, Activision ruined guitar hero".

Look out for the next thrilling, girl melting, hardcore version of the game.

Triangle Hero!

This has "disaster" written all over it -_-

That being said, maybe I can finally start owning people with Trombone Hero :D

NO! I don't want local bands! My local bands suck! Having Di-rect as an opening act for angels and airwaves yesterday was horrible enough!

(Seriously, worst match ever. Think Avril Lavigne opening for Mettalica)

noo way?!?!?! i like guitar hero 3 alot better than rock band because well its all about GUITAR!!! I noticed rock band lets there be a little share in everything, vocals, drums!! but i feel if i really wanna rip some solos i go to GH...thats the whole fun of it!! i just hope they arent gonna copy cause thats gonna suck!! why dont they work on more important things like try to get JIMI HENDRIX Tracks in GH4! lol

don't get too excited. much like the guitar fiasco, you know that Giant Axe Body Spray Bottle peripheral won't be compatible with Rock Band.

"It's the first game we've had in which we can use local content and local bands."

This sounds a lot like the bonus songs for GH I and II and some of the DLC for Rock Band.

As far as the copying goes, I highly doubt Activision will execute the extra instruments with the level of quality that Harmonix has. I think instead of buying GH4 I'm just going to download $60 of DLC for Rock Band.

I wonder if they'll finally allow each others instruments to work on each others games.... don't feel like buying two drums, two microphones, and four guitars.

Wow, I'm glad I gave up on Guitar Hero after II. Now Activision's just blatantly ripping off Harmonix in every way they possibly can. Sigh.

@DarkDragonDave:
You ever seen one of those pods for House moving? There ya go!
I could honestly,care less about GH,since RB came out.I do like to use the Gituar for my bass though.

Local bands? Do they realize that undertaking?

I'm not going for Band Hero if it means I need a second set of gear.

One giant drum kit + two guitars is enough for me kthxbye.

When they say local bands, they mean local to different areas. Which is what the games are sort of doing already since there's some releases by acts that Americans don't care about.

There's one missing ingredient in Rock Band: keyboards. Be they piano, Wurlitzer, marimba, whatever; they're not in the game, and they need to be. The other attachment would be some sort of wind instrument: something that could be a flute or trumpet. I see this one being much less likely.

I like Rock Band in ways I never liked Guitar Hero. My only desire is for them to really go out of the box. Let's play some blues songs, or soukous, or reggae, etc. I hope we get something like this before the end of the next-gen (PS4, etc).

@jgotskilz: YOu do know know that Rock Band lets you play fully with just a guitar, on multiple difficulty options and with actual solos?

Well now...if this means that I can import and convert my band's songs for play in GH4...then I'm in.

But chances are that's not the case. Ah well. :(

Forget Guitar Hero...I want Marching Band Hero so I can put my clarinet skillz to good use.

@jgotskilz: Somebody here is typing with excitement.

@jgotskilz:
Please graduate from high school and then realize that the hardest guitar songs in Rock Band (i.e. Working Man, Green Grass and High Tides) are far greater than anything Activision could drum up.

@eatrice:

On the bright side, you'd be well on your way to building your very own Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band. Hope you have a very, very big living room. And I hope Guitar Hero IV also comes in the no-frills, "Just guitar" bundle.

Guitar Hero IV, now with a taiko drum, shamisen, keyboard and turntable.

Is it just me that doesn't pick Guitar Hero over Rock Band or Rock band over Guitar Hero?? Am I the only one who looks at both at them like new "big albums". I own them both and will continue to own the ones that come out. I buy so much DLC just for that reason. I like playing different music.. Can't we just get along! lol OK NOW BACK TO YOUR FIGHTING!

Harmonix is doing better things...
just die in obscurity to the superior product. 1, 2, and 80s was great, but nothing lasts forever!

@Sparden: Agreed.

Those songs are challenging because the actual song is challenging. Not because everything is triple chord.

Here's a BIG HINT Activision...
/rant
KEEP THE FRIGGIN INSTRUMENT COMPATIBILITY IN CHECK. NO MORE SCREWING CUSTOMERS AS WITH THE PS3 ROCK BAND / GUITAR HERO GUITARS!
/end rant

I think my main beef with Guitar Hero 3 was that it may have been a bit too hard core. Rock Band imo tried to keep a decent balance between fun and challenge. Both good games, I'm just not capable of the robot accuracy of my youth anymore.

So why in the hell are they calling it Guitar Hero still? Shouldn't it be something along the lines of Instrument Hero: Legends of Patent Infringments

@QualityJeverage: This.
I liked how GH3 focused on guitar and just raised the bar for that. That's the part I wanted to play, and I actually wanted a song I couldn't beat on hard, which they delivered, greatly lengthening gameplay over 1 & 2 for me. It would cost me $40 more to do the same in RB but then I'd only have a piece of the game when I want crazy full-guitar based tracks.

@Kyle81:
Actually, they're copying Konami's idea. Guitar Freaks, Drummania, Karaoke Revolution (ok, that's Konami/Harmonix...) The bulk of Rock Band is 1990s Konami music games.

...but, Konami missed it bigtime marketing them properly here, so everyone's going to think Activision is ripping off Harmonix - never mind that it hasn't been shown yet. You never know, maybe they'll copy Keyboardmania instead...

I spent $40 on DLC for GH3.
It should work with GH4.

turntables!

@Cchrist: To be fair, Avril Lavigne is a hard act to follow.

Are they really still calling it "Guitar Hero" after it stops being about the guitars? Way to abuse recognizable brand names.

And knowing Activision, they'll have their own, separate peripherals that are not compatible with Rock Band. Wouldn't want RB traitors to steal your peripherals, after all.

I thought the price point was one of the major reasons people chose GH over RB? I guess the only choices from here on out will be "expensive" vs. "holy crap expensive".

@Kyle81: @Terance: I meant the use of local content and local bands. Plus, what if they built off of Rock Bands idea anyways? Guys, Rock Band was a copy of Guitar Hero in the first place, but built upon that fundamental idea. So why would it be so wrong for Activision to build upon the successes of Rock Band? Could we see things like a keyboard/keytar (You know someone over there has heard the outcries for that!)and backup/duet vocals. Before you throw daggers remember who "copied" whom in the first place, and even if so, it's not such a bad thing as long as it advances that particular game genre.

Wowoh. That's really good news, since I just took the plunge this week and made the decision to buy a GH guitar rather than RB in hopes of us getting "Band Hero" down the line. Because, you know, I really wanted to try the drums, but with the Wii version being crippled as it is, I decided RB wasn't worth it.

@Kyle81:

LOL, you do know that Rock Band copied Guitar Freaks and their drum game from Japan...

Nevermind my comment. There was a video to go go with it but it didn't work. Without the video my comment is an EPIC FAIL

@QualityJeverage: Finally someone talking some sense.

To everyone else: GH is a different experience than RB; it's a little more hardcore and challenging like an arcade game.

I really hope the RB drums are compatible... I already have 5 guitars (2 for PS2, 2 for 360, 1 for RB) and the amount of plastic building up is embarrassing.

I think they way they portrayed GH III. The god awful ps3 servers. The horrifically bad battle mode. The so-called "legends." The attitude they had towards Harmonix when Harmonix made GH in the first place. The debacle with the controllers.

I'm now an RB girl.

I have all but the 80's GH and loved 1, liked 2, and hated 3. Doesn't seem like a good track record for 4.

And besides, what has GH III done to seriously further alone the community of GH? Nothing. A few songs every couple of months, a shoddy system, and spin off's that make squareenix not look like a cash cow whore.

There's a new cash cow whore in town and that's Tony Hawk's Guitar Hero On Tour With Legends and Old Farts.

Thanks a lot Moronvision.

im still waiting on Keyboard Hero.
No love for the keyboardists out there?

@RPGr: Although I think the Guitar Hero 3 guitar is probably the best quality wise, I returned it's ass when I found out that it wouldnt work as a Bass for Rock Band. Only reason I bought it anyways. I mean seriously. The weekly songs in Rock Band are what murder Guitar Hero for me... I mean the other intruments rule, that helps include friends in the mix but seeing as how I am paying for it... it's the DLC. MMMM now more metallica please. And can we get some Zeppelin? I need to play the Immigrant Song like now.

@4 8 15 16 23 42: Keyboard Hero + Children of Bodom songs? I think so!

@Kyle81: as long as it's cheaper than rock band and takes less time to get here (europe) I'm buying it.