Guitar Hero the next level “Rock Band”

By Mike Bantick
Monday, 02 April 2007 17:38

Opinion and Analysis

Guitar Hero developer Harmonix, along with MTV and Electronic Arts have jointly announced the evolution of the popular franchise's, soon four players can jam.

USA Today is running the story of Rock Band from developer Harmonix (makes of the Guitar Hero series).  This time around Rock Band will feature four players vying for the imaginary affections of an imagined adoring crowd.

Two guitars (lead and bass) along with a drum kit and a good old fashioned microphone will see mothers everywhere banning the game console to the garage.

Rock Band "takes the core premise of Guitar Hero and expands it tenfold," says Alex Rigopulos, co-founder of Harmonix, "It lets you create a complete collaborative band."

MTV’s involvement will enable Harmonix to make deals with music publishers to gain rights to performances by original artists for the game; "This game offers a meaningful way for labels to participate in a segment of entertainment they, for the most part, have not been able to," MTV's Jeff Yapp says.

Time to get some mates practicing on the current crop of Guitar Hero games, while you duck out for some Sing Star training, even if only with the hair brush and the mirror.

Slated for a end of year release, look for Rock Band on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.