Sometimes, even wafer-thin rumors hold a kernel of truth. Take today's prime cut of speculation du jour, which stems from a
NeoGAF poster who claims to have obtained an advance copy of next month's Game Informer. According to the author, who didn't post any art or screens to back up his claim, the forthcoming issue is jam-packed with details about Guitar Hero IV, the next installment in Activision's billion-dollar franchise.
According to the poster, the next issue of GI allegedly confirms that, yes, Guitar Hero IV will introduce drums and vocals a la Rock Band. (Get ready, Drum Villains!) More interestingly, the game will allow players to create their own songs--sans vocals, apparently due to copyright issues--and upload them along with customizable album art to a "Guitar Hero Tunes" store from which others can download them. Regular players will have a five-song cap, whereas those who pen popular ditties will be able to upload up to 10 power ballads.
Though licensed Guitar Hero III downloads are limited to the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, Guitar Hero IV song sharing will, according to the post, also be available for the PlayStation 2 and Wii editions of the game. Guitar Hero IV will also reportedly feature all master tracks, including original selections from The Eagles, Linkin Park, Sublime, and--as rumored--Van Halen.
The official story: Activision didn't respond to e-mail inquiries about the NeoGAF post. However, statements made from the highest levels of the multibillion publisher have already all but confirmed the details in the post. Speaking to Conde Nast Portfolio last month, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick explicitly confirmed that both vocals and instrumentals were coming to the Guitar Hero franchise.
As for song sharing, Activision outlined an online initiative for an unnamed title last week which sounds like it could well be song sharing for Guitar Hero. Specifically, the company said in its earnings announcement last week that "online functionality for certain key titles to be released in the December quarter of fiscal year 2009 and thereafter is expected to become a significant component of gameplay for certain platforms." Then, Activision went on to say the cost of the online functionality over six months could be as much as $350 million--hardly a small investment, even for a company with nearly $3 billion in annual revenue.
Then, in an earnings report after the call, Activision publishing president Mike Griffiths said that his company was readying something big for its billion-dollar rhythm-game franchise. "For the holiday, we'll provide a significant leap forward in innovation for Guitar Hero worldwide on all platforms including the PS3, PS2, Xbox 360, Wii, and again on the DS," he boasted.
Later, Griffith repeated his assertion that the next Guitar Hero would have a cutting-edge trick up its sleeve--a trick Activision was investing heavily in. "We've put a lot of additional development resources, a lot of additional music licenses resources, a lot of additional hardware supplier resources against the title to fuel growth over next year," he told an analyst in a conference call. "We're excited by the increased musical content and innovation we're bringing. We do expect a leap forward in innovation with our holiday launch, and we're about two weeks away from providing very specific details on that." (Emphasis added.)
Bogus or not bogus?: Uh, doesn't the new issue of Game Informer hit newsstands next week? Not bogus.
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