Guitar Hero announced

J Dogg · Administrator Joined: 16 Jan 2002 Location: Sunnyvale, CA

RedOctane has officially announced its agreement with Harmonix to release Guitar Hero for PS2. This is a guitar simulation game, different from Guitar Freaks, that uses buttons on a specially designed guitar controller.

REDOCTANEÂ® ANNOUNCES GUITAR HEROâ¢ FOR PLAYSTATIONÃ2 COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM

LOS ANGELES, Calif., May 17th, 2005 - At the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), RedOctaneÂ® announced today it has signed an agreement with HarmonixÂ®, acclaimed developers of Frequency, Amplitude, Karaoke Revolution and EyeToy: AntiGrav, to release GUITAR HERO, the guitar playing simulation game that makes you the star of your very own rock band.

"There is no better type of music game for the American audience than one focused on rock music and guitar-based rhythms." stated John Tam, game producer at RedOctane. "When you pick up the guitar controller and jam down on the strum bar, you really do feel like a total Guitar Hero!â

GUITAR HERO is a guitar simulation game that puts you at the center of your very own rock band. By pressing down on fret buttons on a specially designed guitar controller, players can form notes and chords to be played by strumming in time on a âstrum barâ representing the strings of an electric guitar. These notes and chords are represented onscreen by scrolling note markers. Using button combinations, sustains and the whammy bar, players will experience the essence of what itâs like to actually play some of the coolest rock songs of all time. Players can choose from multiple rock characters and play at concert venues that grow in size as your rock career progresses.

âPeople who actually play guitar are amazed at how well Harmonix has captured the electrifying thrill of playing the guitar into the game,â continued Tam. âYour rock star dreams can come true with this game."
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iamstorm · Trick Member Joined: 02 Jul 2003 Location: Peoria, IL

I'm definately looking forward to it!

Falling/Fading/LostItAll · Trick Member Joined: 14 Jun 2004 Location: The Wired

Sounds good.

Heffenfeffer · Trick Member Joined: 22 Apr 2002 Location: Las Cruces, NM

Any gameplay footage, music tracks, screenshots, controller info, anything else on this game other than 'it exists'? I did a quick google and all I got were results for sheet music and the press release.

Oh yeah, and apparently you(r band) can be part of the game, too.

Here's hoping that it's dissimilar enough from Guitar Freaks to not merit another lawsuit - with Beatmania crossing the pond, it's a lot less of a leap to imagine Konami bringing more Bemani over officially, and I'd hate to see any game get canned by legal issues.
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jbean3535 · Trick Member Joined: 08 May 2004 Location: KC Kansas

Over at BMS they are saying it is nothing like GF.
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djp -bemanistyle- · Trick Member Joined: 15 Aug 2002 Location: Anaheim, CA

I got a chance to play a super early build of the game with the prototype controllers they had for it. It's 5 buttons and arranged VERY much like Frequency/Amplitude. It's alot harder than GF but it's also alot truer to the instrument. I have more info but I have to put together a full update before I post it. It'll be up soon (most likely tomorrow).
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Melvis at the Disco! · Posted: Thu May 19, 2005 10:19 pm Post subject:

I got an appointment tomorrow to play a demo (or at least get more product info) -- hopefully I'll have something good.
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DoesNMatter · Trick Member Joined: 15 Sep 2003 Location: Fremont, CA

After yesterday at Golfland, I played Guitar Freaks and man I was addicted! It was free play till 12 and I had no money, still addicted to Guitar Freaks.

I looked online and well since you guys mention Guitar Hero, it sounds very interesting. I hope it will rock!
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Melvis at the Disco! · Posted: Mon May 23, 2005 8:35 am Post subject:

I'll be doing a write-up by Wednesday.

Got to play their demo. I definitely have some opinions on this one.

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jas · Posted: Wed May 25, 2005 9:29 am Post subject:

So i hear the controller is a lot like the GF controller just with 5 buttons instead of 3; does that mean the lower pick button is still in tact?

I hate that damn pick button. D:
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Cutriss · Staff Member Joined: 24 Jan 2002

Actually, it's nothing like the GF controller, in terms of input methods. I would say it's a lot more like playing 5-key Beatmania on a guitar-shaped controller, from what I've gathered.
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Heffenfeffer · Trick Member Joined: 22 Apr 2002 Location: Las Cruces, NM

Cutriss · Staff Member Joined: 24 Jan 2002

From what RO's press people indicated to me, there is no strum bar. That's what makes it very unlike GF - you just hit the buttons for the chord as they come down the pipe - you don't hold them and hit a button triggering the reading of the chord. Not very guitar-like, but hey - only about half of the Bemani games are anything close to "realistic", so let's not lie to ourselves.

So, provided my info is correct (Sherl0k got to play it, so he'd know better), it quite literally is 5-key on a guitar-shaped controller. 5 buttons that activate when you hit them, and a whammy bar instead of a turntable.
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Melvis at the Disco! · Posted: Thu May 26, 2005 2:16 pm Post subject:

RudeBoie · Vivid Member Joined: 26 Oct 2004

Thinner Mr. Wendell is correct.

Cutriss · Staff Member Joined: 24 Jan 2002

Ah, Michael. Good to see ya.

Well, I got that impression from Tracie when I was talking to her about it, but I am obviously wrong.

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ch · Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2005 9:44 pm Post subject:

so this game could be playable with a 5 key beatmania controller, with minor modifications?

and being set up like beatmania also means that the guitar could be compatible with gf, correct?
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Cutriss · Staff Member Joined: 24 Jan 2002

Have you played GF?

I highly doubt the controller would be compatible with GF. They play very differently.

What you just asked (no offense) was akin to wondering if you could use a Taiko Tatacon to play DM. They're two entirely different games.
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Sinistar · Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2005 6:06 am Post subject:

ch · Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2005 7:25 pm Post subject:

what i was asking was if there were a similar assortment of buttons. ive heard that there is a pic bar, no pic bar but a wailing bar, etc

but if theres at least 3 buttons on the neck and a pic par, it should work with gf, right?
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I approve of the direction this thread is going

http://www.xtranormal.com/watch?e=20090310025322668