Guitar Hero gets unplugged on PSP

by Andrew Yoon { Jun 1st 2009 at 11:50AM }

To quiet all the naysayers saying Activision has not announced enough Guitar Hero games, the prolific publisher added one more to the music franchise: Guitar Hero ... PSP. A late-night Activision investor call made mention of a PSP iteration of the rhythm game, which promises to feature "a drum component," according to Gamespot. Further details aren't available yet, but we'd be unsurprised if it looks a lot like Rock Band Unplugged. Chances are we'll see more of the game when Sony officially unveils the PSP Go! at its press conference tomorrow.

[Thanks, David B.!]

Tags: activision, e3-2009, guitar-hero, guitar-hero-psp

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Adam Owen @ Jun 1st 2009 11:56AM

I bet the cow ActiBlizzard's milking is spewing blood at this point....

vwbeetlvr @ Jun 1st 2009 11:55AM

OOH!!! Can't wait. I'll be FIRST in line to get this game.

traceur_ryuk_shinigami @ Jun 1st 2009 11:56AM

*Gives vwbeetlvr a dirty look*

Fluorescent Octopus @ Jun 1st 2009 12:17PM

Guess you didn't get the memo about the Go! - no more lines to wait in.

charlie b. @ Jun 1st 2009 12:37PM

the milking of this franchise just isn't funny anymore. now it's just depressing.

tr1cky tpr @ Jun 1st 2009 2:17PM

MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

B3astofthe3ast @ Jun 1st 2009 11:55AM

Ugh...

Unplugged @ Jun 1st 2009 12:00PM

Damian @ Jun 1st 2009 11:56AM

My god, this is getting out of hand, Guitar hero copies everything rock band has done.

traceur_ryuk_shinigami @ Jun 1st 2009 11:58AM

I bet if rock band jumped off a bridge GH would too...

Zack11190 @ Jun 1st 2009 12:09PM

Wow! So they are releasing a game on the same system that has a Rock Band game and they are considered to be copying? In that case, Gears of War copied Halo 3 because Halo was on the 360 first.

Guitar Hero 3 came out on 360 (and other platforms) first and then Rock Band came out. According to your logic, that is copying.

traceur_ryuk_shinigami @ Jun 1st 2009 12:11PM

@Zack: I think you're missing the point.

Archon (PSN: Archonik, XBL: DarkARHN) @ Jun 1st 2009 12:13PM

Zack... Yeah. Like, announcing a band game some time after the original Rock Band came out and announcing a PSP Guitar Hero game (without instruments, there's no way you could make an attachement like this for the PSP) right after the release of a PSP Rock Band game.

If it's not copying... you can AT LEAST some similarities, can you not?

Zack11190 @ Jun 1st 2009 12:15PM

The point is that you think that GH is copying RB because RB has a PSP game and GH announces one.

Zack11190 @ Jun 1st 2009 12:20PM

Archon:

Guitar Hero would fail if they didn't make a full band game. It's the only way to keep up with the competition. Maybe there are some similarities, but it's only in order to keep up with the competition.

Xbox Live Marketplace is launched and Sony creates the PSN Store. Sony did that in order to keep up with MicroSoft. Is it copying? Only the MS fanboys say it is. So is what Activision doing is copying? Only the Harmonix fanboys say it is.

Archon (PSN: Archonik, XBL: DarkARHN) @ Jun 1st 2009 12:33PM

No Zack. That's the very reason Guitar Hero will fail and eventually die a horrible death of thousand deaths.

Just like Tony Hawk did. And trying to resurrect it won't do them any good either.

I understand that there are things that need to be done to keep up with the competition, but making a RB clone and stating "THAT'S THE FIRST GAME EVER THAT DOES THAT" is bullshit, unfair and stupid. Also they don't even pretend that they care about the franchise. They do nothing to justify a new game. It's just "let's release 10 new games, because that's like... ten times the profit, right?!" Somebody needs to get their business lesson. And they'll get it, the hard way.

People stopped moaning about them copying ideas long ago. What they are moaning about is just the ridiculous amount of games they release. And it wouldn't be so bad if they actually came out with something unique.

You're not trying to tell me, that they have to copy someone else, because there's nothing else to think of, right? I'll think of something better right here, right now. How about a mode, where you can get drunk and then the note paths get mixed and you play the drum part on your guitar and the drummer plays the guitar part. There you go. Not done before. Making a "band game" revolving around a single player mechanics, like Guitar Hero: World Tour just proves, that it was nothing else, but a sorry way to save their asses just to counter the Rock Band 2 announcement. Look how different GH:Metallica plays. If they didn't rush GH4, it could have been amazing. But it was, ok, at best.

rkrocks123 @ Jun 1st 2009 12:35PM

@Zack1190

You mentioned "Harmonix fanboys", yet you're defending Guitar Hero with the zeal of a GH Fanboy. It's no secret that World Tour was a subpar game compared to Rock Band 2. Just like Teminator Salvation is a subpar game compared to Wolverine. Some things can't be argued.

Also, I'd be HIGHLY surprised if this game was better than Rock Band: Unplugged. RBU has set a pretty high standard...

Zack11190 @ Jun 1st 2009 12:38PM

I totally see where you are coming from, but all I'm trying to say is why do people care so much if there are more GH games? They sell. They make money for not just Activision, but the whole video game market.

Zack11190 @ Jun 1st 2009 12:40PM

I got nothing against Harmonix nor Activision. People just label me as a GH fanboy because I don't hate Activision like everyone else, so people assume that I'm a fanboy.

Archon (PSN: Archonik, XBL: DarkARHN) @ Jun 1st 2009 12:58PM

People care, because raping the franchise = killing it. And nobody wants that.

I'd rather play Rock Band 3 in 2010 than Guitar Hero 15 in 2009. I just don't want my games to get old too fast.

Raytia @ Jun 1st 2009 1:37PM

@Zack1190

Let's have a comparison:

Rock Band
Rock Band 2
Rock Band Unplugged
The Beatles: Rock Band
Lego Rock Band

Guitar Hero (Harmonix)
Guitar Hero II (Harmonix)
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
Guitar Hero: World Tour
Guitar Hero 5
Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s (Harmonix)
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith
Guitar Hero: Metallica
Guitar Hero: Smash Hits
Guitar Hero: Van Halen
Band Hero
Guitar Hero: On Tour
Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades
Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits
+ GH PSP

And this isn't counting any mobile/arcade versions. I think the point is well made. Similar game, significantly more of them that are not necessary other than the point of making money. They are killing their franchise. We do not need 15 Guitar Hero's when we can have 3-5 Rock Bands. Quantity =/= quality.

PedoJokerBear (aka Deeznuts) @ Jun 1st 2009 11:58AM

pata pata pata pon!

Storm Eagle @ Jun 1st 2009 12:05PM

If I worked for Neversoft, I bet I would've quit by now. You know, your project manager walks in, everyone's all excited to hear what the next big task is going to be, and then he speaks those two fateful words..

Guitar Hero.....

As if muttered from Satan himself.

Young_Nastyman @ Jun 1st 2009 12:06PM

Guitar Hero: Un-totallynotaripoffofrockband-plugged

Fun DMC @ Jun 1st 2009 12:08PM

This is the tenth Hero game they've announced this year.

How can people support this shit?

traceur_ryuk_shinigami @ Jun 1st 2009 12:12PM

Unfortunately I will be supporting them this year. I will be buying DJ hero, I just can't resist.

13lights @ Jun 1st 2009 12:21PM

Hey Activision! Give me a finger drums peripheral and i'll be a happy man!

http://www.coolest-gadgets.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/06/finger-drums.jpg

Unplugged @ Jun 1st 2009 12:27PM

Oh gods don't let that be real!

Arkitekt @ Jun 1st 2009 12:29PM

Lets make this clear everyone Activision does not make GH, they PUBLISH it. They have published it since 2006, RedOctane also publishes the game.. they do not develop or produce any of the Guitar Hero games. For those that do not understand the relationship between developer and publisher think about books, an author writes the book, whereas a company like Random House publishes the book and puts it on the market to be sold.

Next point, Harmonix (who develops Rock Band) developed (read created) Guitar Hero from 2005 til 2007, in which Neversoft started developing the Guitar Hero franchise. In all technicalities Neversoft is the one copying the idea's of Harmonix/Rock Band.

There is also VicariousVisions who developed GH for the DS and HandsOn Mobile who developed it for the Mobile Phone.

Billop @ Jun 1st 2009 12:33PM

Nice try but no cigar. Activision OWN Neversoft

Yeah TB @ Jun 1st 2009 4:51PM

And who do you think tells who what type of game to make? The developer can't go out and just make any game that they want. Neversoft can't say, "Hey Activision, I know you wanted us to make Guitar Hero 12, but we decided to make a baseball game instead. Surprise! Here, now publish please." If Activision wants more GH, they will get GH, and there's nothing that Neversoft can do about it. Except lose their job.

rohan @ Jun 1st 2009 12:37PM

MOOOOOO

razer922 @ Jun 1st 2009 12:39PM

*facepalm*

Activision has become what EA once was.

It's official - Activision has become such a copycat that it copied EA and bettered them at the game of "O HAY WE COPY YOU", while EA bettered themselves at original IPs.

Good fucking god. I'll stick to GH5 and GH5 ONLY.

charlie b. @ Jun 1st 2009 12:41PM

um... you're complaining about Activision, but you're still going to buy Guitar Hero 5?

Arkitekt @ Jun 1st 2009 12:42PM

Yes Activision Blizzard owns Neversoft, they are a subsidiary company. However, the point still stands, Neversoft develops and Activision publishes. You want to accuse someone of copying than accuse Neversoft, they are the ones developing the game(s)

Billop @ Jun 1st 2009 12:49PM

Neversoft is Puppet. Activision is the Puppet Master

xandeR- @ Jun 1st 2009 12:49PM

This disgusts me. How blatant can you get? Honestly.

Rock Band: Unplugged comes out in a few days and Guitar Hero's like "Hey! That's a market we haven't raped yet! PSP GAME!"

lego91994 @ Jun 1st 2009 12:58PM

Doesn't actually seem like that bad of an idea to me. Rock Band Unplugged is a very fun game, so it will interesting to see what Neversoft comes up with. I hope they don't go the peripheral route though, I don't want to have a bunch of dongles with me everywhere I go. It would also be great if they include multiplayer, thats the only thing that bothers me about RB:U.

Onw thing I find interesting is that people didn't seem to have this kind of reaction when Harmonix announced Rock Band Unplugged.

People say all Activision is doing is milking there franchise, but I really don't see the problem with it. They are a business, it's there goal to make money. That means making new games and bringing their franchises to new platforms. All these games they make sell, so why stop making them? Do you think Harmonix is making games out of the kindness of their hearts? They do it to make money, and if none was involved I'm sure you wouldn't be seeing any more Rock Band.

Viewtiful Jason2 @ Jun 1st 2009 1:13PM

"I hope they don't go the peripheral route though, I don't want to have a bunch of dongles with me everywhere I go."

"[6:17] There will be a PSP Guitar Hero game that would feature a drum component."

I'm pretty sure a drum component doesn't mean drum gameplay, but rather a drum peripheral. If it doesn't, I will be very surprised at Acti. If it is, I'm not surprised and I'll pick up a PSP Go with hopefully a digital version of RBU to play.

Raytia @ Jun 1st 2009 1:43PM

People didn't complain because they're the ones that made Amplitude and Frequency which are both in the same vein as Rock Band Unplugged. It's just got the Rock Band name on it now but it's still a concept they had already done earlier.

And actually I'm glad they brought it back, because Amplitude & Frequency were fun games.

Tegolin @ Jun 1st 2009 3:33PM

Shame Activision....Shame......

Arkitekt @ Jun 1st 2009 5:08PM

Actually, the way the developer/publisher relationship works is much like the author/publisher or screenwriter/production company relationships work. The developer comes up with the game idea, markets the idea to a publishing company in hopes they will financially back the game and then it is made. Point still is that Neversoft makes GH not Activision. They don't code or program them, and i do not believe they have any hand in the original idea. They are simply promoting and marketing and reaping the financial gain from a product they financially backed for another company.

Whomever truly thinks that Activision is the one who pulls the strings and gets the games made needs to give their head a shake and understand business practises a bit more.