Activision’s Guitar Hero franchise kicked off in 2005 and really picked up pace with games such as Guitar Hero: Metallica as well as numerous downloadable tracks for the games from the online catalog. Activision now announces three new music based titles, Band Hero, DJ Hero and Guitar Hero 5, scheduled to be released this fall. The line-up revolutionizes the way in which entertainment is derived from music video games.
“Guitar Hero has made music social again and has become one of the most popular ways to experience music,” remarked Dan Rosensweig, President and CEO of the Guitar Hero franchise. “Today’s fans enjoy a variety of music and are looking for more ways to engage with their favorite songs, artists and fellow fans. These games will let them listen, participate and socialize with music in ways they have never been able to before.”
Band Hero features a collection of top-40 hits specifically targeted at broadening the experience to a whole new genre. Players can rock together on drums, guitar, bass and microphone in a game that makes it easy to join in the fun, but has that difficult-to-master element from the Guitar Hero franchise.
DJ Hero allows players to play DJ, mixing tracks from over various genres such as hip-hop, Motown, R&B, dance and electronica. The game lets players realize their DJing potential and introduces an all-new controller, the DJ turntable. Players can create original mixes of music from several DJs and artists.
Classic rock bands as well as the most popular rock and roll artists are featured on Guitar Hero 5. The game allows players to just drop in and out at leisure, and also replace instruments and band members. Players can even adjust the difficulty level, “on the fly” to suit their convenience.
So far very little information has been offered about these games. No definite release dates, no clear pricing. Even the official site merely offers a ‘coming soon’ message.