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Guitar Hero: Aerosmith

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Guitar Hero: Aerosmith
Developer(s)Neversoft
Vicarious Visions (Wii)
Budcat Creations (PS2)
Publisher(s)Activision
SeriesGuitar Hero
Platform(s)PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360
Genre(s)Rhythm
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is an upcoming rhythm game being developed by Neversoft and distributed by Activision. It is the fifth entry and second spin-off in the Guitar Hero franchise. Guitar Hero: Aerosmith features the likenesses and music of the rock band Aerosmith, as well as music from bands that have toured with or influenced Aerosmith. Like all Guitar Hero titles, the game will allow players to use a guitar-shaped peripheral to simulate the playing of rock music. Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is a stand-alone game incorporating many of the features of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. The game is expected to be released in North America on June 29 2008 and two days earlier in Europe.

History

File:Aerosith in Gh aero.jpg
The band Aerosmith will be prominently featured in the upcoming Guitar Hero: Aerosmith.

Billboard announced that the band Aerosmith was "working closely with the makers of Guitar Hero IV, which will be dedicated to the Boston group's music."[1] Guitar Hero: World Tour was also confirmed as in development following the announcement of the merger between Activision and Vivendi Games in December 2007.[2] It is currently unclear whether this announcement was in reference to Guitar Hero: World Tour, or the announced spin-off of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith.

On February 15, 2008, Activision announced that one of the two new Guitar Hero installments will be Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, to be released in June of 2008.[3][4][5] Guitar Hero: Aerosmith will be developed by Neversoft for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions, while the Wii version of the game will be developed by Vicarious Visions and the PlayStation 2 version will be developed by Budcat Creations.[6]

The game will focus primarily on the top-selling American rock band Aerosmith. The soundtrack will be composed of songs performed by Aerosmith or bands otherwise related to Aerosmith. Venues featured in the game will highlight different points in the band's popular career. Kai Huang, president and co-founder of RedOctane, has informed the media that the game will span the full 30+ years of Aerosmith's history, from high school to super-stardom.

This is not the first time Aerosmith has been featured in such a game. Quest for Fame had a very similar premise to this Guitar Hero edition.

Storyline

A departure from other games in this franchise, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith will follow the career of Aerosmith, by playing significant songs in their catalog in a 'rough chronological fashion'.[7] The gameplay will follow the band through various periods in its history, spanning from its first show at Mendon Nipmuc Regional High School in 1970 to the 2001 Super Bowl XXXV halftime show. The player will start as Joe Perry, and will eventually be able to unlock Brad Whitford and Tom Hamilton.[7] The game will not focus on internal strife and stress within the band. Guitarist Joe Perry stated that the game would focus on the positive aspects of Aerosmith's history.[7] Perry has stated that "Having a game built around Aerosmith has been a huge honor and really a great experience for us. We've put a lot of ideas into the game so that fans can have fun interacting with our music, getting inside our body of work and learning about the band's history."[8] Even though the player will be able to play as Aerosmith, they will start the setlists as the original band from Guitar Hero III with a rhythm character added as the opening act. After the player has played a song with the characters from Guitar Hero III, Aerosmith will make a dramatic entrance and the player will start the journey through Aerosmith's career.[9]

Development

File:Guitar Hero Aerosmith screenshot.jpg
Aerosmith's lead guitarist Joe Perry, as represented in the game

The idea for Guitar Hero: Aerosmith came about during the development of Guitar Hero III. Originally, a cover version of "Same Old Song and Dance" was present in the game, but Neversoft president Joel Jewett noted that the quality of the cover was poor. After getting in contact with Joe Perry, Perry was able to provide the original masters for the song, and, according to Neversoft developer Alan Flores, "that sort of established the relationship."[7] This also came at a time where Activision was attempting to expand the Guitar Hero franchise, and fans expressed a strong interest in playing a game focused solely on Aerosmith's works, according to RedOctane's Dusty Welch.[7] Another producer for the game, Aaron Habibipour, stated that Aerosmith was one of the five "holy grail" musical groups as polled by Activision.[10]

Similar to Slash, Tom Morello, and Bret Michaels in Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, the entire Aerosmith band has participated in motion capture to accurately recreate their moves digitally for the game.[7] Additional opening acts and special guest stars will also be in the game.[7]

While Aerosmith was able to provide many of the original master recordings for the game, the band was forced to re-record some songs from their early career, such as "Make It", for the game.[11] Joe Perry re-mastered the lead guitar on many songs to interact with the gameplay better,[12] while Steven Tyler did re-record some of the vocals.[12]

The game itself is based much on Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock's mechanics with some improvements; notably, hammer-ons and pull-offs are "less mushy", there will be new venues for the game, and while all other gameplay modes from Guitar Hero III are present, there will be no co-op career mode.[11] The game's interfaces and menus have been redesigned for the game.[10] Additionally, the team re-evaluated the difficulty of the game based on feedback from players of Guitar Hero III who felt that there were "too many brick walls for casual fans".[10]

The developers attempted to recreate as many of historical venues within the game. For example, to recreate Max's Kansas City in New York, the developers used old photographs and YouTube videos of the club during the 1970s, to a highly accurate degree, as claimed by those that had attended the club during that period.[12] Additional venues used by the band will be inspired from Aerosmith album covers. Three that have been confirmed are Pump, Toys in the Attic and Nine Lives.[10]

Promotion

Activision released Aerosmith's "Dream On" to the Xbox Live Marketplace and the PlayStation Store as a free Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock downloadable song. The free download was available from February 16-18, 2008, after which it was removed pending the release of the game."[13] In a Nintendo Power Magazine, Dream On was revealed to be part of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. However, it is not known if it will be the same version that was on Guitar Hero III.

Bundle pack

File:New Aero.jpg
The bundle pack featuring Aerosmith tour book

As with some of the previous installments in the series, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith will be available as both a standalone disc and as part of a bundle. This bundle includes a guitar controller and a special red faceplate with "Aerosmith" in white letters. The bundle also includes a tour book for the game listing the songs featured in the game. The special Aerosmith bundle is available for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii versions.[14] The Playstation 2 bundle includes the Kramer Wireless controller included with Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. [15]

Soundtrack

The following table contains the known tracks that will be in the game; the order for the first three sets was revealed by GamePro.[16] The Wii track listing, including the 4th tier, was revealed in the June 2008 issue of Nintendo Power,[17] while the 5th tier was announced by Joystiq.[18] In each set, the first two tracks are from artists who, at some point in time, have been an opening act for Aerosmith.[12] The total soundtrack is reported to have more than 40 songs.[12]

Song Artist Master
Recording		 Tier
"All the Young Dudes" Mott the Hoople 1. Nipmuc High School
"Dream Police""Dream Police" Cheap Trick Green tickY 1. Nipmuc High School
"Make It" Aerosmith Green tickY 1. Nipmuc High School
"Uncle Salty" Aerosmith Green tickY 1. Nipmuc High School
"Draw the Line" Aerosmith Green tickY 1. Nipmuc High School
"I Hate Myself for Loving You" Joan Jett Green tickY 2. Max's Kansas City
"All Day and All of the Night" KinksThe Kinks 2. Max's Kansas City
"Movin' Out" Aerosmith Green tickY 2. Max's Kansas City
"No Surprize" Aerosmith Green tickY 2. Max's Kansas City
"Sweet Emotion" Aerosmith Green tickY 2. Max's Kansas City
"Complete Control" ClashThe Clash Green tickY 3. The Orpheum
"Personality Crisis" New York Dolls 3. The Orpheum
"Livin' on the Edge" Aerosmith Green tickY 3. The Orpheum
"Rag Doll" Aerosmith Green tickY 3. The Orpheum
"Love in an Elevator" Aerosmith Green tickY 3. The Orpheum
"Always on the Run" Lenny Kravitz Green tickY 4. Half Time Show
"Hard to Handle" The Black Crowes 4. Half Time Show
"Back in the Saddle" Aerosmith Green tickY 4. Half Time Show
"Beyond Beautiful" Aerosmith Green tickY 4. Half Time Show
"Dream On" Aerosmith Green tickY 4. Half Time Show
"She Sells Sanctuary" The Cult Green tickY 5. Moscow
"King of Rock" Run-D.M.C. Green tickY 5. Moscow
"Bright Light Fright" Aerosmith Green tickY 5. Moscow
"Nobody's Fault" Aerosmith Green tickY 5. Moscow
"Walk This Way" Run-D.M.C. featuring Aerosmith Green tickY 5. Moscow
"Kings and Queens"[19] Aerosmith Green tickY
"Mama Kin"[20] Aerosmith Green tickY
"Combination"[21] Aerosmith Green tickY

In addition to the artists above, the game is expected to include tracks from Stone Temple Pilots[22][20], Deep Purple and The White Stripes.[23] The game is reported to have "about 60 percent Aerosmith and 40 percent artists that either inspired Aerosmith, played with Aerosmith, or are liked by Aerosmith."[11]

Currently, there are no plans to offer the tracks in Guitar Hero: Aerosmith as downloadable content for Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock or the upcoming Guitar Hero: World Tour.[24]

References

  1. ^ Graff, Gary (2007-09-04). "Aerosmith Hitting The Studio In November". Billboard. Retrieved 2007-09-05.
  2. ^ Elliot, Phil (2007-12-03). "Activision Blizzard fact sheet reveals some unannounced titles in the pipeline". Game Industry Biz. Retrieved 2007-12-03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ "World Renowned Recording Group Aerosmith Rocks This Way to Guitar Hero(R): Aerosmith(R)". Activision, Inc. 2008-02-15. Retrieved 2008-02-15. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ Goldstein, Marteen (2008-02-15). "Rock This Way With Guitar Hero: Aerosmith". Shacknews. Retrieved 2008-02-15. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ "Guitar Hero: Aerosmith (official game site)". Activision Publishing, Inc. Retrieved 2008-02-15. Walk This Way coming June 2008
  6. ^ "Next Guitar Hero Game Aerosmith Only". 1UP.com. 2008-02-15. Retrieved 2008-02-15. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Snider, Mike (2008-02-14). "Aerosmith plugs into 'Guitar Hero' popularity". USA Today. Retrieved 2008-03-03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ "Guitar Hero: Aerosmith Coming in June Says Activision". Retrieved 2008-02-15.
  9. ^ Game Informer magazine - April 2008 issue
  10. ^ a b c d Tolito, Stephan (2008-04-17). "'Guitar Hero: Aerosmith' Lowdown - Why The Boston Band Is Getting Its Own Game". MTV Canada. Retrieved 2008-04-17. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ a b c Thomas, Aaron (2008-03-27). "Guitar Hero: Aerosmith First Look". GameSpot. Retrieved 2008-03-28. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ a b c d e "Guitar Hero: Aerosmith First-Look Preview (Xbox 360)". Team Xbox. 2008-03-28. Retrieved 2008-03-31. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ Burg, Dustin (2008-02-12). "Guitar Hero: Aerosmith announced and a free GHIII DLC download". Retrieved 2008-02-19.
  14. ^ http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?product_id=70918
  15. ^ http://www.redoctane.com/guitarheroasps2bundle.html
  16. ^ "ConsoleHero Guitar Hero Aerosmith First 3 Tiers Announced". 2008-03-27. Retrieved 2008-03-27.
  17. ^ Nintendo Power, Sweet Wii-Motion (June 2008) Page 44
  18. ^ "Joystiq Joystiq hands-on: Guitar Hero: Aerosmith". 2008-05-30. Retrieved 2008-05-30.
  19. ^ Game Informer - Issue 180 (April 2008) Page 53-54
  20. ^ a b "Guitar Hero: Aerosmith Information Announced". 2008-03-03. Retrieved 2008-03-03.
  21. ^ Joe Perry, Guitar World interview (April 2008) Page 68
  22. ^ "Guitar Hero: Aerosmith Announced". 2008-02-15. Retrieved 2008-02-20.
  23. ^ "ConsoleHero More Guitar Hero Aerosmith Songs and Bands Announced". 2008-03-26. Retrieved 2008-03-26.
  24. ^ Kollar, Philip (2008-03-28). "Def Leppard in Guitar Hero 4... or Perhaps Sooner?". 1UP. Retrieved 2008-03-28. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
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