Rumor: Guitar Hero returning on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One

Activision's Guitar Hero franchise may be making a comeback on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, if an ongoing rumor is to be believed.

15

Virtual rock gods may once again be able to jam out with their friends from the comfort of their living or local bar as Activision’s Guitar Hero franchise is rumored to be making a return on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

According to a source speaking with PSU that’s located close to where the game is being recorded, “extras” have been spotted going in and out of the location, with one of these extras revealing what’s been going on. “Basically for weeks they’ve been recording live crowds for all songs on the next Guitar Hero. Today all the extras are being dressed up all emo-style for one of the songs.”

It’s been four years since the last iteration of the Guitar Hero franchise, Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, was released. Music-based games are still pretty popular, especially with the release of Harmonix’s Disney’s Fantasia: Music Evolved, so the Guitar Hero series making a comeback would certainly be welcomed in my boox. So long as Activision doesn’t skimp on the quality of the game and includes an even larger song list in the new game and maybe including additional downloadable content as free upgrades, although I know that won’t be likely.

Remember, this is a rumor, so don’t go out and buy a bunch of plastic instruments just yet.

Senior Editor
From The Chatty
  • reply
    October 31, 2014 8:00 AM

    Daniel Perez posted a new article, Rumor: Guitar Hero returning on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One

    • reply
      October 31, 2014 8:55 AM

      I want Rock Band but only if they let you reimport the original music and DLC

      • reply
        October 31, 2014 8:56 AM

        And use the old hardware.

        • reply
          October 31, 2014 9:00 AM

          Nah, if the hardware was a significant upgrade, I'd bite the bullet for it.

          • reply
            October 31, 2014 9:24 AM

            brick and mortar stores sure as hell wouldn't

          • reply
            October 31, 2014 9:30 AM

            I can see the PS4 having a benefit since it's Blutooth for wireless. XB1 would need a way to make the old stuff compatible if using wireless controllers. Maybe a special dongle.

            But yeah is they end up upgrading the hardware significantly then we'll see. Perhaps people already using actual stringed guitars will be well off too.

        • reply
          October 31, 2014 9:11 AM

          Only my ION Drums and I'll be happy.

          • reply
            October 31, 2014 12:33 PM

            Luckily the ION drums have a replaceable brain so they could just release a PS4/XBONE version!

      • reply
        October 31, 2014 9:13 AM

        yessssssssssss

      • reply
        October 31, 2014 9:16 AM

        Rock Band has always kicked way more ass than Guitar Hero.

      • reply
        October 31, 2014 9:52 AM

        I'm surprised there's no Rock Band 3 port for the new consoles yet. Or is there?

        Played Rock Band at a party again recently and it was still pretty fun. I thought I was burned out of that genre, but with some whisky buzz going it's still a blast.

        • reply
          October 31, 2014 9:57 AM

          There is not. Asking Harmonix about RB4 always gets a "Well we sure do love that franchise!" answer.

        • reply
          October 31, 2014 10:08 AM

          A Rock Band Collection where it bundles all the music of the old games (Remastered?) and gives you access to the old DLC for a nominal fee would be sweet.

          Allow you to use the old instruments if you choose but maybe you'll miss out on a few features that he newer controllers/instruments will introduce. And allow me to keep using my ION drum set. To me that would be the best compromise.

          • reply
            October 31, 2014 11:27 AM

            The licensing fees were always the biggest costs for music games. You couldn't bundle all that music together for any affordable amount of money, nor could you provide access to the old DLC for a "nominal fee".

            No offense, but your suggestion is like saying, "Hey, Blu-Ray has a lot of storage space. They should put all the Beatles songs on one disc and sell for a dollar!" It's not the media (or the game system, engine, etc.) that's expensive--it's the rights to the songs.

            • reply
              October 31, 2014 11:41 AM

              Well you had to pay money to get access and import the old music in the last iterations of Rock Band. I know this is a whole new console so licensing is likely restricted to just that generation.

              The new Dance Central game on XB1 doesn't have access to any of the old stuff from the previous games on the 360. So it'll likely be the same manner for new music games.

              It's just a wishlist of what would make it ideal. I care more about being able to use my ION drum set.

    • reply
      October 31, 2014 9:14 AM

      I'm ready for music games to come back, though I'm more excited about controller-based ones than peripheral-based ones.

      • reply
        October 31, 2014 9:16 AM

        Me too. It's been long enough where I'm interested again. Especially in drums.

      • reply
        October 31, 2014 10:26 AM

        [deleted]

        • reply
          October 31, 2014 10:27 AM

          I know! I want more of those kinds of things, especially if it were a bigger budget thing where they could afford to license music.

    • reply
      October 31, 2014 9:21 AM

      I'm still kind of amazed at how quickly this market died. I mean I expected sales to fall off for both titles as years went by, but was surprised when I heard that neither were being actively developed.

      Did that last versions tank that hard? At any rate, I'm 100% ready for a new plastic instrument game. Bring it.

      • reply
        October 31, 2014 9:26 AM

        They definitely were oversatured by the end there. Between RB and GH, there were 13 (or more, depending on which other ones you count) games released in only 5 years.

        • reply
          October 31, 2014 10:02 AM

          They really did, it was pretty gross.

          • reply
            October 31, 2014 10:34 AM

            Yeah, by the time the Aerosmith and Van Halen games were out, gamers could see that the wheels were coming off of this train. Rock Band 3 sounded pretty solid, with the pro mode, keyboard mode, and Fender guitar. Meanwhile, Guitar Hero had gone off and doubled down on the crazy characters with "Warriors of Rock"

            Also, the shark-jump moment for the genre was "PowerGig: Rise of the SixString", best remembered by the epic Giant Bombcast discussion in the pre-E3 2010 Bombcast: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVMnesyAsjQ

            It was not much of a surprise to hear in Activision's February 2011 quarterly earnings call that they were killing off the entire Guitar Hero business unit. Prior to that, back in late 2010 / early 2011, Viacom sold Harmonix to a private investment firm: http://www.shacknews.com/article/66935/rock-band-dev-harmonix-sold . PowerGig developer Seven45 folded back to making iOS games.

      • reply
        October 31, 2014 10:55 AM

        I actually wasn't surprised at all.I liked Guitar Hero,and had limited contact with Rock Band,but liked it as well,but the biggest problem with both games was the track selection.

        I know it sounds kind of ridiculous,considering how many songs they both amassed,but in the end,who cares how many songs there are if you only like playing 50-25% of them.There just isn't any value in that.

        There are just way too many songs that I would like to play that I know wouldn't appear on either game in a million years,because of licensing issues,or what have you.

        Another thing that killed these games off was Rocksmith,a game that actually taught you how to play a REAL guitar,which is something that a lot of people didn't like,nor understand about RB and GH,that it was a game,and not trying to actually teach you how to play a real guitar.

        Either way,I'm pretty sure that I won't get it unless there's just an unbelievable track list of songs that pretty much only really appeals to me.

      • reply
        October 31, 2014 9:27 PM

        I've never understand gamers' attitude towards music games: they'll gladly pay $60/year for the latest iteration of Madden football, or Call of Duty, or whatever. And it's the same game every year! But a new Rock Band game once every year or two? "Gah, market oversaturation!" Really? And one cannot use the excuse that there GH and RB together released too many games: how many FPS shooters in the style of CoD come out every year? And how many years have their been multiple football games?

      • reply
        October 31, 2014 9:34 PM

        They did it to themselves -- really I blame Activision for running Guitar Hero into the ground, but Harmonix did belch out a whole bunch of Rock Band games close to the end.

        Korban and I went to a Circuit City that was closing out in Exton, and you could have built a decent-sized cabin with the number of copies of Guitar Hero they were liquidating.

        • reply
          November 1, 2014 2:04 PM

          Bullshit. They had three main games: RB1 in 2007, RB2 in 2008, and RB3 in 2010.

          Now, yes, it's true they did have DLC in the form of additional songs, and they had DLC packs you could buy in stores (like RB: Green Day in 2010, Lego Rock Band in 2009). But I wouldn't consider those to be new "Rock Band games", any more than "Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare" was a new game.

          And like I said elsewhere, there's a new CoD game every year. There's a new Madden game every year. Madden is basically the same every year, with new rosters. Is EA running the Madden franchise into the ground by releasing a new title every year?

    • reply
      October 31, 2014 11:32 PM

      [deleted]

Hello, Meet Lola