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Guitar Hero: On Tour

January 01, 1970

Guitar Hero: On Tour is a series of music video games based on the Guitar Hero series for the Nintendo DS handheld game system. The series is developed by Vicarious Visions and published by Activision. Three games in the series have been released since June 2008: Guitar Hero: On Tour, Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades, and Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits.

Guitar Hero: On Tour
The cover of the first game, Guitar Hero: On Tour
Genre(s)Music
Developer(s)Vicarious Visions[a]
Publisher(s)Activision
Platform(s)Nintendo DS
First releaseGuitar Hero: On Tour
June 22, 2008
Latest releaseGuitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits
June 9, 2009

As with other games in the Guitar Hero series, the player is challenged to play through the lead or bass guitar portions of rock songs by matching colored notes that scroll on screen towards the player in time with physical actions to score points and keep the virtual crowd pleased. While the console versions of Guitar Hero use a separate guitar-shaped peripheral, Vicarious Visions developed a "Guitar Grip" unit that slips into the Game Boy Advance port on the DS or the DS Lite to be used with the games; it is thus incompatible with the Nintendo DSi, Nintendo DSi XL, or any Nintendo 3DS. The Guitar Grip provides a strap to hold the game unit while providing the player with four fret buttons; the player uses the fret buttons in combination with using the stylus to simulate strumming on the touch-sensitive screen of the DS. Each game features more than 25 songs, with some variation in track lists depending on the region of release, and multiple single-player modes. The local wi-fi capabilities of the DS are used for multiplayer mode, and allow a player to use songs from one installment of the series in competitive modes with a player with a different installment.

Gameplay edit

 
Screenshot of the two DS screens during gameplay of Guitar Hero: On Tour. The right screen is presented on the touchscreen side of the DS, containing the guitar neck to strum and a HUD.
See also: Gameplay in the Guitar Hero series

The core gameplay remains unchanged from the other games in the series.[2] The Guitar Grip is required to play the game and comes as part of a bundle that can be purchased for each installment. The Grip is designed for the DS Lite, but features a small adapter that can be removed for use in the first, original Nintendo DS model.[3] Four fret buttons are located on the side of the unit near the cartridge slot. This is one less than the normal five frets, included an orange-colored one, managed by other Guitar Hero controllers. A wriststrap is attached to the underside to provide support while playing. The player holds the unit in a vertical book orientation (similar to Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword or Hotel Dusk: Room 215), and uses a special guitar pick-shaped stylus to strum on the touchscreen of the DS with their free hand. The "note highway" and the performance of the chosen character in the band are shown on the opposite screen.[4] As notes scroll down on the note highway, the player must press the correct fret button and strum the touchscreen at the same time to successfully score points. While holding a long note, the player can also use the touch screen to apply a whammy effect by moving the stylus across the on-screen whammy bar or anywhere on the screen.[4] After the player has successfully hit a selected series of notes, he or she will gain "Star Power" which doubles their score until the meter has run out. This is activated by yelling or blowing into the DS's microphone, by pressing any of the face buttons on the DS, or by tapping the Star Power meter on the touchscreen.[4]

 
Unlike its predecessors on home consoles, On Tour has only four fret buttons.

There is a single player Career Mode, allowing the player to select from new characters introduced for On Tour or previous characters from the other games in the Guitar Hero series.[3] Completing Career Mode will unlock more venues and options for the selected character's appearance.[4] The game uses the local wireless abilities of the Nintendo DS to support both 2-player co-operative play and competitive play. The competitive play introduces concepts found in Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock's "Battle Mode" which is called "Guitar Duel". In Guitar Duel, one player can acquire and use power-ups to create a temporary distraction for the other player by successfully completing certain sections of the song. In On Tour, these distractions require the affected player to use features of the DS to remove the distraction.[4] Modern Hits introduces a new single player gameplay feature called "Fan Requests" that is used to progress in the single player career. These requests prompt the player to complete songs with certain requirements, such as hitting a minimum number of consecutive notes or hitting a minimum percentage of the notes in the song. Other requests are based on the effects players use in multiplayer mode, such as playing an entire song at "Hyperspeed" (notes moving on the screen faster than normal) or by using the whammy bar on every sustained note.[5][6]

Development edit

 
Holding DS, showing the Guitar Grip strap.

Work on a Nintendo DS version of Guitar Hero started in early 2007 according to Vicarious Visions CEO, Karthik Bala.[2] Bala stated that the inspiration for the game was to "see if it was even possible to do a really good music rhythm game on a handheld".[1] The first six months of development were "touch and go", according to Bala, and it took nearly a year of testing and experimentation to determine the best strumming mechanism for the game.[1] Bala claimed that Vicarious Visions had gone through more than 20 different combinations of software and hardware peripherals until they "hit upon the idea of creating a peripheral that would have the fret buttons plugging into the GBA slot of the DS".[2] This also gave the advantage of making the peripheral compact, allowing it to be easily carried by the user.[2] Other designs that were tested but dropped included a larger guitar-shaped unit that the DS was attached to (dubbed "Ukulele Hero" by the design team), different grips with three to six to twelve buttons, and gameplay that was built only around using the stylus.[1][7] Not until the initial prototype was done did Vicarious Visions approach Nintendo and RedOctane; both companies were skeptical of the game but helped to support the team, Nintendo by assisting in the hardware interaction with the DS, and RedOctane by helping with the ergonomics of the Guitar Grip.[1] This peripheral is not compatible with the Nintendo DSi because it lacks a GBA slot to insert the grip into, but Vicarious Visions has stated that it is eager to continue development of the series on the DSi.[8][9]

 
The Guitar Grip provides four fret buttons for the player, allowing them to strum on the DS touchscreen.

Even with the hardware designed, Vicarious Visions spent additional time refining the game play.[10] According to lead designer Jeremy Russo, the team had the largest number of playtesters brought in for any Vicarious Vision project in order to refine the touchscreen "strumming" action, using a range of testers, including those that had never played a Guitar Hero game, the "'DragonForce' Expert" players, and real guitar players.[10] In addition, the team wanted to expand the "Guitar Duel" mode to include several DS-specific mini-games that could not be recreated on other consoles, but found themselves running out of time. RedOctane wanted to see On Tour as a "polished AAA title on a handheld" and insisted that the "Guitar Duel" be a key feature of the game, giving Vicarious Visions more time to complete the game.[10] The additional time allowed the team to develop the software to recognize every type of strumming approach, including finding a solution to handle the expert players that strummed faster than could be previously recognized. This time also was used to strengthen the "Guitar Duel" gameplay, and as a result, this mode became the testers' favorite feature of the game.[10] While some tracks were brought over from Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, Vicarious Visions recreated all the note tracks for the game, aiming to keep the same difference in difficulty from Easy to Expert as in the console versions.[1] Each song has been divided into three separate compressed tracks that play back simultaneously during gameplay.[1] Vicarious Visions developed a method to overcome the 2,000-polygon drawing limit imposed by the Nintendo DS hardware in order to allow the characters, each composed of about 2,000 polygons, to be recognizable.[1]

Bala stated that Vicarious Visions envisioned the "On Tour" series as a trilogy, and despite the availability of the DSi before the release of "Modern Hits", it wanted to finish out the series on the DS system.[11] While Bala has not revealed what plans the development team has for the DSi for Guitar Hero, they have used their experience in creating the DSiWare game Mixed Messages to prepare for further Guitar Hero games on the unit, including the possibility of downloadable content.[11] Much of the core aspects of the On Tour series will be reused in the DS version of Band Hero, also being developed in part by Vicarious Visions; the game will reutilize the "Guitar Grip" while adding drumming support through a "drum skin" and vocals through the DS' microphone, and support for four player localized play has been included.

On Tour edit

 
The Guitar Grip with pick stylus

Guitar Hero: On Tour was officially announced on September 7, 2007, at the Austin GDC '07,[12] and released on June 22, 2008.[13] During a conference call on May 8, 2008, Activision revealed that the game would be sold as an individual game (along with the "Guitar Grip") as well as bundled with the DS hardware itself.[14] In North America, Nintendo released a bundle which included Guitar Hero: On Tour and a limited edition Silver/Black Nintendo DS Lite branded with the Guitar Hero logo.[15] This bundle was available with the release of Guitar Hero: On Tour in the United Kingdom.[16] This is the first third-party DS game to be included in such a bundle.[15] When pre-ordered in certain stores, the consumer received either a special Guitar Hero: On Tour set of headphones, Nintendo DS Lite "wrap" pack (two stickers for use on the console) or an exclusive guitar pick stylus. The headphones and stylus feature the Guitar Hero: On Tour logo.[17] On June 14, Toys "R" Us stores across the US hosted a "First to Play" event, where players tried out the game more than a week before its release. Also at the event, anyone who attended received a free Guitar Hero sticker, a temporary tattoo, and a special dog tag.[18]

Decades edit

Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades was announced on July 15, 2008, at the 2008 E3 conference,[19] and released on November 16, 2008.[20] Executive Producer David Nathanielsz stated that the short time between releases was to help give DS players the same depth of content as available to the console players of Guitar Hero.[21] Additionally, Vicarious Visions incorporated the ability to share songs between different versions of the game through the wi-fi capabilities of the DS in order to expand the number of potential songs to more than 50.[21]

Modern Hits edit

Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits was announced on March 5, 2009,[5] and released on June 9, 2009.[22] Reflecting its title, Modern Hits incorporates songs published within the last five years of its release, and the developers had to balance what songs were included in order to make a setlist with a wide appeal.[23] The engine of the game has no major changes, but Vicarious Visions stated that it has continued to work on strum detection on the DS touchpad to meet a wide range of playstyles.[9] The interface, however, has been revised over the previous two On Tour titles to feature a more modernized look (particularly in-game on the touch screen side). The game includes a new single player career progression using "Fan Requests" to create a new non-linear progression through the songs in the games.[9] These were added to help move away from gameplay that was "just going, playing a venue, and then moving on to the next one" and instead to "open the world up".[11] The developers also noted that the Fan Requests helped to tap into the way that players had previously played games in the series, setting their own personal goals for certain songs.[23] Audio designer Jason Willey created the game's theme song (titled "S.U.P.R.A.H.U.M.A.N.") through his two-man band, Protoshredanoid, to capture the Modern Hits theme of the game, and after demonstrating a sampling of the song to the rest of the team, were asked to create the whole song.[24] The theme song was released as a free download for Guitar Hero World Tour the week before the game's release.[24]

Band Hero edit

Main article: Band Hero § DS version

In addition to the above games, a Nintendo DS version of Band Hero was also released. It is compatible with the On Tour Guitar Grip, as well as a unique "Drum Skin" and microphone support, but is not considered part of the On Tour series.

Soundtracks edit

Main article: List of songs in the Guitar Hero: On Tour series

Each game in the series contains 25 or more songs, generally consisting of rock music over the past 50 years. The songlist varies; some songs replace others depending on the region of release. On Tour used a number of cover versions of the songs in addition to master recordings, while both Decades and Modern Hits feature complete soundtracks based on master recordings. The games support the local wi-fi connection of the Nintendo DS to allow players to play against each other even if using different versions of the game, with songs being share in an ad hoc manner during play.[25]

Reception edit

Reviews of On Tour edit

Guitar Hero: On Tour received somewhat positive reviews. In general, critics felt the game captured the majority of the elements of the Guitar Hero series,[28] and IGN commented that the note tracks were well done as to provide "a great challenge with a solid difficulty curve".[4] However, the primary concern of reviewers was the Guitar Grip, as it was both difficult to hold and caused hand cramps in some players.[29][30] The Grip was also reported to seat poorly in the GBA slot and came out of the unit at times, which caused the game to stop unexpectedly, requiring a restart of the system due to its inability to support hot swapping.[29][30][32] Reviews reported difficulty in keeping the DS unit steady while playing with the Grip, making it difficult to follow the note patterns on the screen.[4][28] Reviewers found the set list to be both short and somewhat skewed towards recent music,[29] and some commented that the sound quality of the tracks was poor.[29][30] The multiplayer aspects of the game were well received.[29][30] While some reviewers considered the game as an "absolute Guitar Hero experience",[4] others noted that the social aspect of the series was not present,[28] and that the game felt "more like an experiment than a full-fledged game, as if Activision just wanted to see if it could be pulled off."[30]

Guitar Hero: On Tour has won several Nintendo awards from IGN for their 2008 Nintendo DS Best of 2008 feature, including Best Music/Rhythm Game,[33] Most Innovative Design,[34] and Best Local Multiplayer.[35] It was also nominated for several other Nintendo DS awards, including Best Use of Sound,[36] Best Graphics Technology,[37] and Game of the Year.[38]

The game was the top selling DS game in North America the week of its release,[39] selling over 300,000 units, and setting the record for any Activision DS release and as one of the top five releases from Activision on any platform.[40] The game continued to be the best selling DS title in North America in its second week of release.[41] On Tour was the second best-selling game across all systems for the month of June 2008, according to the NPD Group[42] selling more than 422,000 units.[43] In July and August 2008, it sold an additional 309,700 and 110,000 units in North America, respectively, placing on NPD's top ten game sales for both months.[44][45] The worldwide release of On Tour took in over $15 million in sales during the month of July 2008.[46] The bundled version of Guitar Hero: On Tour is the 19th best-selling Nintendo DS game in the United States, selling 1.1 million copies as of November 2008.[47]

Reviews of Decades edit

Decades received better reviews than On Tour, with reviewers noting that the game, released only a short time after the original On Tour, felt more like an expansion pack than a new title.[51][52] Critics noted that there was no change in the hardware design and the gameplay mechanics, such that the same issues with hand-cramping and the inability to keep the DS steady while playing still persisted in Decades.[50][52] Reviewers did praise the compatibility with the previous On Tour title, the improved touch screen interface, and the ability to play competitively with other users regardless of which version of the game they possessed.[28][51]

The track list was considered to be well-rounded;[51] IGN explained the game's track list "starts out bad but starts getting more enjoyable as you unlock the earlier decades" though attributed this partially to personal taste.[52] However, reviewers also noted that with the songs presented in chronological order, the difficulty curve presented in other Guitar Hero games was not present.[50] The poor audio quality of the songs, a problem that was also noted with On Tour, was found to persist in this sequel.[51] Hyper's Tracey Lien commends the game for "staying as true to Guitar Hero as the DS can possibly allow" but criticises it for "major hand cramps, poor song selection, and too few tracks!"[53]

Reviews of Modern Hits edit

Modern Hits received moderate reviews from the gaming press. The game's change of form from having fixed set lists that must be completed to move on, to the fan requests system, though found it still tedious to work through the game in this fashion, according to IGN's Craig Harris.[25] Albert García of Eurogamer considered that the series is still lacking features found in the console-based games, but remains a consistent "little brother" to the main series' titles.[56] The soundtrack was considered to have stronger guitar portions than from previous games,[25] but still felt like a "disco" collection.[56] Modern Hits was criticized in part for being a "victim of Nintendo's timing", according to Harris, as the game was released shortly after the arrival of the Nintendo DSi unit, which lacks the necessary port to use the Guitar Grip, thus making Modern Hits unplayable on the system.[25]

Notes edit

  1. ^ Development of Guitar Hero: On Tour was assisted by Nintendo and RedOctane.[1]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Faylor, Chris (2008-05-30). "How Guitar Hero Came to DS When Nobody Asked: Shack's Hands-on Preview and Interview". Shacknews. Retrieved 2008-05-30.
  2. ^ a b c d Harris, Craig (2008-03-13). "Exclusive Reveal: Guitar Hero DS". IGN. Retrieved 2008-03-19.
  3. ^ a b "Guitar Hero: On Tour". Nintendo. 2007. Retrieved 2008-07-20.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harris, Craig (2008-06-22). "Guitar Hero: On Tour Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 2013-01-03. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
  5. ^ a b Breckon, Nick (2009-03-05). "Guitar Hero DS 'Modern Hits' Officially Announced". Shacknews. Retrieved 2009-03-05.
  6. ^ Harris, Craig (2009-04-16). "Guitar Hero On Tour Modern Hits Hands-on". IGN. Retrieved 2009-04-20.
  7. ^ Booth, Jesse (2008-06-06). . IGN. Archived from the original on June 7, 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-08.
  8. ^ Harris, Craig (2008-10-17). "DSi: Bye Bye GBA Slot". IGN. Retrieved 2009-02-12.
  9. ^ a b c Harris, Craig (2009-03-04). "First Details on Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits". IGN. Retrieved 2009-04-20.
  10. ^ a b c d Russo, Jeremy (2008-06-12). . IGN. Archived from the original on June 18, 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-13.
  11. ^ a b c Bozen, Mark (2009-04-29). "Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits Interview". IGN. Retrieved 2009-04-30.
  12. ^ Frey, Burk (2007-09-07). . Games Are Fun. Archived from the original on 2011-03-07. Retrieved 2008-07-24.
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  14. ^ Thorson, Tor (2008-05-08). "Guitar Hero "leaping forward" in Q4, On Tour DS bundle confirmed". GameSpot. Retrieved 2008-05-10.
  15. ^ a b Hatfield, Daemon (2008-06-12). "Guitar Hero: On Tour Bundle Official". IGN. Retrieved 2008-07-20.
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  20. ^ Shau, Austin (2008-11-25). "Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades review". Gamespot. Retrieved 2011-07-23.
  21. ^ a b Faylor, Chris (2008-10-06). "Guitar Hero DS Decades Arrives November 16". Shacknews. Retrieved 2008-10-06.
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  24. ^ a b Carle, Chris (2009-06-08). . IGN. Archived from the original on 2009-06-13. Retrieved 2009-06-08.
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  27. ^ . Metacritic. Archived from the original on 2008-06-26. Retrieved 2008-06-25.
  28. ^ a b c d e Gallegos, Anthony (2008-06-24). . 1UP.com. Archived from the original on 2009-02-26. Retrieved 2008-06-25.
  29. ^ a b c d e f Thomas, Aaron (2008-06-23). "Guitar Hero: On Tour Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
  30. ^ a b c d e f Tuttle, Will (2008-06-24). "Guitar Hero: On Tour (DS)". GameSpy. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
  31. ^ Aaron (2008-07-02). "Guitar Hero: On Tour Review". GameTrailers. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
  32. ^ Vicarious Visions (June 22, 2008). Guitar Hero: On Tour (Nintendo DS). Level/area: Guitar Grip error. You are rocking out a bit too hard! The Guitar Hero Guitar Grip was removed. Turn off the power and reinsert the Guitar Grip.
  33. ^ . IGN. 2008-12-15. Archived from the original on December 19, 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-19.
  34. ^ . IGN. 2008-12-15. Archived from the original on December 19, 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-19.
  35. ^ . IGN. 2008-12-15. Archived from the original on December 19, 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-19.
  36. ^ . IGN. 2008-12-15. Archived from the original on December 19, 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-19.
  37. ^ . IGN. 2008-12-15. Archived from the original on December 19, 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-19.
  38. ^ . IGN. 2008-12-15. Archived from the original on December 19, 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-19.
  39. ^ Cowen, Danny (2008-06-27). "Sailing The World: DS Guitar Hero, FF Tactics Top U.S. Portable Charts". Gamasutra. Retrieved 2008-06-27.
  40. ^ Faylor, Chris (2008-07-03). "Guitar Hero DS Sets New Sales Records". Shacknews. Retrieved 2008-07-03.
  41. ^ Cowen, Danny (2008-07-07). "Saling The World: Diablo Battle Chest Sees Sales Jump Following Sequel Announcement". Gamasutra. Retrieved 2008-07-07.
  42. ^ Sinclair, Brenden (2008-07-17). "Nintendo: Lifetime US Wii sales surpass Xbox 360". GameSpot. Retrieved 2008-07-17.
  43. ^ Plunkett, Luke (2008-07-17). "Metal Gear Solid 4 Tops Software Sales For June". Kotaku. Retrieved 2008-07-17.
  44. ^ Akira_EX (August 14, 2008). . GameGrep. Archived from the original on 1 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
  45. ^ Ellison, Blake (2008-09-11). "NPD: Madden, Wii Games Lead August". Shacknews. Retrieved 2008-09-11.
  46. ^ Brightman, James (2008-08-15). . Game Daily. Archived from the original on 2008-08-17. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
  47. ^ "How Long are GTA's Legs?". Edge. 2008-12-23. Archived from the original on 2013-01-15. Retrieved 2009-01-05.
  48. ^ "Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades". GameRankings. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
  49. ^ "Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades (ds: 2008)". Metacritic. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
  50. ^ a b c Haywald, Justin (2008-11-17). . 1UP. Archived from the original on 2011-05-23. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
  51. ^ a b c d e Shau, Austin (2008-11-25). "Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades". GameSpot. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
  52. ^ a b c d Harris, Craig (2008-11-17). "Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades". IGN. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
  53. ^ Lien, Tracey (April 2009). "Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades". Hyper (187). Next Media: 57. ISSN 1320-7458.
  54. ^ "Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits Reviews". GameRankings. Retrieved 2008-11-13.
  55. ^ "Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits (ds: 2009)". Metacritic. Retrieved 2009-11-13.
  56. ^ a b c García, Albert (2009-07-08). "Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits". Eurogamer.es (in Spanish). Eurogamer. Retrieved 2009-11-13.
  57. ^ "Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits Review". Nintendo Power. August 2009. p. 90.

January 01, 1970
guitar, hero, tour, series, music, video, games, based, guitar, hero, series, nintendo, handheld, game, system, series, developed, vicarious, visions, published, activision, three, games, series, have, been, released, since, june, 2008, guitar, hero, tour, dec. Guitar Hero On Tour is a series of music video games based on the Guitar Hero series for the Nintendo DS handheld game system The series is developed by Vicarious Visions and published by Activision Three games in the series have been released since June 2008 Guitar Hero On Tour Guitar Hero On Tour Decades and Guitar Hero On Tour Modern Hits Guitar Hero On TourThe cover of the first game Guitar Hero On TourGenre s MusicDeveloper s Vicarious Visions a Publisher s ActivisionPlatform s Nintendo DSFirst releaseGuitar Hero On TourJune 22 2008Latest releaseGuitar Hero On Tour Modern HitsJune 9 2009 As with other games in the Guitar Hero series the player is challenged to play through the lead or bass guitar portions of rock songs by matching colored notes that scroll on screen towards the player in time with physical actions to score points and keep the virtual crowd pleased While the console versions of Guitar Hero use a separate guitar shaped peripheral Vicarious Visions developed a Guitar Grip unit that slips into the Game Boy Advance port on the DS or the DS Lite to be used with the games it is thus incompatible with the Nintendo DSi Nintendo DSi XL or any Nintendo 3DS The Guitar Grip provides a strap to hold the game unit while providing the player with four fret buttons the player uses the fret buttons in combination with using the stylus to simulate strumming on the touch sensitive screen of the DS Each game features more than 25 songs with some variation in track lists depending on the region of release and multiple single player modes The local wi fi capabilities of the DS are used for multiplayer mode and allow a player to use songs from one installment of the series in competitive modes with a player with a different installment Contents 1 Gameplay 2 Development 2 1 On Tour 2 2 Decades 2 3 Modern Hits 2 4 Band Hero 3 Soundtracks 4 Reception 4 1 Reviews of On Tour 4 2 Reviews of Decades 4 3 Reviews of Modern Hits 5 Notes 6 ReferencesGameplay edit nbsp Screenshot of the two DS screens during gameplay of Guitar Hero On Tour The right screen is presented on the touchscreen side of the DS containing the guitar neck to strum and a HUD See also Gameplay in the Guitar Hero series The core gameplay remains unchanged from the other games in the series 2 The Guitar Grip is required to play the game and comes as part of a bundle that can be purchased for each installment The Grip is designed for the DS Lite but features a small adapter that can be removed for use in the first original Nintendo DS model 3 Four fret buttons are located on the side of the unit near the cartridge slot This is one less than the normal five frets included an orange colored one managed by other Guitar Hero controllers A wriststrap is attached to the underside to provide support while playing The player holds the unit in a vertical book orientation similar to Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword or Hotel Dusk Room 215 and uses a special guitar pick shaped stylus to strum on the touchscreen of the DS with their free hand The note highway and the performance of the chosen character in the band are shown on the opposite screen 4 As notes scroll down on the note highway the player must press the correct fret button and strum the touchscreen at the same time to successfully score points While holding a long note the player can also use the touch screen to apply a whammy effect by moving the stylus across the on screen whammy bar or anywhere on the screen 4 After the player has successfully hit a selected series of notes he or she will gain Star Power which doubles their score until the meter has run out This is activated by yelling or blowing into the DS s microphone by pressing any of the face buttons on the DS or by tapping the Star Power meter on the touchscreen 4 nbsp Unlike its predecessors on home consoles On Tour has only four fret buttons There is a single player Career Mode allowing the player to select from new characters introduced for On Tour or previous characters from the other games in the Guitar Hero series 3 Completing Career Mode will unlock more venues and options for the selected character s appearance 4 The game uses the local wireless abilities of the Nintendo DS to support both 2 player co operative play and competitive play The competitive play introduces concepts found in Guitar Hero III Legends of Rock s Battle Mode which is called Guitar Duel In Guitar Duel one player can acquire and use power ups to create a temporary distraction for the other player by successfully completing certain sections of the song In On Tour these distractions require the affected player to use features of the DS to remove the distraction 4 Modern Hits introduces a new single player gameplay feature called Fan Requests that is used to progress in the single player career These requests prompt the player to complete songs with certain requirements such as hitting a minimum number of consecutive notes or hitting a minimum percentage of the notes in the song Other requests are based on the effects players use in multiplayer mode such as playing an entire song at Hyperspeed notes moving on the screen faster than normal or by using the whammy bar on every sustained note 5 6 Development edit nbsp Holding DS showing the Guitar Grip strap Work on a Nintendo DS version of Guitar Hero started in early 2007 according to Vicarious Visions CEO Karthik Bala 2 Bala stated that the inspiration for the game was to see if it was even possible to do a really good music rhythm game on a handheld 1 The first six months of development were touch and go according to Bala and it took nearly a year of testing and experimentation to determine the best strumming mechanism for the game 1 Bala claimed that Vicarious Visions had gone through more than 20 different combinations of software and hardware peripherals until they hit upon the idea of creating a peripheral that would have the fret buttons plugging into the GBA slot of the DS 2 This also gave the advantage of making the peripheral compact allowing it to be easily carried by the user 2 Other designs that were tested but dropped included a larger guitar shaped unit that the DS was attached to dubbed Ukulele Hero by the design team different grips with three to six to twelve buttons and gameplay that was built only around using the stylus 1 7 Not until the initial prototype was done did Vicarious Visions approach Nintendo and RedOctane both companies were skeptical of the game but helped to support the team Nintendo by assisting in the hardware interaction with the DS and RedOctane by helping with the ergonomics of the Guitar Grip 1 This peripheral is not compatible with the Nintendo DSi because it lacks a GBA slot to insert the grip into but Vicarious Visions has stated that it is eager to continue development of the series on the DSi 8 9 nbsp The Guitar Grip provides four fret buttons for the player allowing them to strum on the DS touchscreen Even with the hardware designed Vicarious Visions spent additional time refining the game play 10 According to lead designer Jeremy Russo the team had the largest number of playtesters brought in for any Vicarious Vision project in order to refine the touchscreen strumming action using a range of testers including those that had never played a Guitar Hero game the DragonForce Expert players and real guitar players 10 In addition the team wanted to expand the Guitar Duel mode to include several DS specific mini games that could not be recreated on other consoles but found themselves running out of time RedOctane wanted to see On Tour as a polished AAA title on a handheld and insisted that the Guitar Duel be a key feature of the game giving Vicarious Visions more time to complete the game 10 The additional time allowed the team to develop the software to recognize every type of strumming approach including finding a solution to handle the expert players that strummed faster than could be previously recognized This time also was used to strengthen the Guitar Duel gameplay and as a result this mode became the testers favorite feature of the game 10 While some tracks were brought over from Guitar Hero III Legends of Rock Vicarious Visions recreated all the note tracks for the game aiming to keep the same difference in difficulty from Easy to Expert as in the console versions 1 Each song has been divided into three separate compressed tracks that play back simultaneously during gameplay 1 Vicarious Visions developed a method to overcome the 2 000 polygon drawing limit imposed by the Nintendo DS hardware in order to allow the characters each composed of about 2 000 polygons to be recognizable 1 Bala stated that Vicarious Visions envisioned the On Tour series as a trilogy and despite the availability of the DSi before the release of Modern Hits it wanted to finish out the series on the DS system 11 While Bala has not revealed what plans the development team has for the DSi for Guitar Hero they have used their experience in creating the DSiWare game Mixed Messages to prepare for further Guitar Hero games on the unit including the possibility of downloadable content 11 Much of the core aspects of the On Tour series will be reused in the DS version of Band Hero also being developed in part by Vicarious Visions the game will reutilize the Guitar Grip while adding drumming support through a drum skin and vocals through the DS microphone and support for four player localized play has been included On Tour edit nbsp The Guitar Grip with pick stylus Guitar Hero On Tour was officially announced on September 7 2007 at the Austin GDC 07 12 and released on June 22 2008 13 During a conference call on May 8 2008 Activision revealed that the game would be sold as an individual game along with the Guitar Grip as well as bundled with the DS hardware itself 14 In North America Nintendo released a bundle which included Guitar Hero On Tour and a limited edition Silver Black Nintendo DS Lite branded with the Guitar Hero logo 15 This bundle was available with the release of Guitar Hero On Tour in the United Kingdom 16 This is the first third party DS game to be included in such a bundle 15 When pre ordered in certain stores the consumer received either a special Guitar Hero On Tour set of headphones Nintendo DS Lite wrap pack two stickers for use on the console or an exclusive guitar pick stylus The headphones and stylus feature the Guitar Hero On Tour logo 17 On June 14 Toys R Us stores across the US hosted a First to Play event where players tried out the game more than a week before its release Also at the event anyone who attended received a free Guitar Hero sticker a temporary tattoo and a special dog tag 18 Decades edit Guitar Hero On Tour Decades was announced on July 15 2008 at the 2008 E3 conference 19 and released on November 16 2008 20 Executive Producer David Nathanielsz stated that the short time between releases was to help give DS players the same depth of content as available to the console players of Guitar Hero 21 Additionally Vicarious Visions incorporated the ability to share songs between different versions of the game through the wi fi capabilities of the DS in order to expand the number of potential songs to more than 50 21 Modern Hits edit Guitar Hero On Tour Modern Hits was announced on March 5 2009 5 and released on June 9 2009 22 Reflecting its title Modern Hits incorporates songs published within the last five years of its release and the developers had to balance what songs were included in order to make a setlist with a wide appeal 23 The engine of the game has no major changes but Vicarious Visions stated that it has continued to work on strum detection on the DS touchpad to meet a wide range of playstyles 9 The interface however has been revised over the previous two On Tour titles to feature a more modernized look particularly in game on the touch screen side The game includes a new single player career progression using Fan Requests to create a new non linear progression through the songs in the games 9 These were added to help move away from gameplay that was just going playing a venue and then moving on to the next one and instead to open the world up 11 The developers also noted that the Fan Requests helped to tap into the way that players had previously played games in the series setting their own personal goals for certain songs 23 Audio designer Jason Willey created the game s theme song titled S U P R A H U M A N through his two man band Protoshredanoid to capture the Modern Hits theme of the game and after demonstrating a sampling of the song to the rest of the team were asked to create the whole song 24 The theme song was released as a free download for Guitar Hero World Tour the week before the game s release 24 Band Hero edit Main article Band Hero DS version In addition to the above games a Nintendo DS version of Band Hero was also released It is compatible with the On Tour Guitar Grip as well as a unique Drum Skin and microphone support but is not considered part of the On Tour series Soundtracks editMain article List of songs in the Guitar Hero On Tour series Each game in the series contains 25 or more songs generally consisting of rock music over the past 50 years The songlist varies some songs replace others depending on the region of release On Tour used a number of cover versions of the songs in addition to master recordings while both Decades and Modern Hits feature complete soundtracks based on master recordings The games support the local wi fi connection of the Nintendo DS to allow players to play against each other even if using different versions of the game with songs being share in an ad hoc manner during play 25 Reception editReviews of On Tour edit ReceptionAggregate scoresAggregatorScoreGameRankings73 26 Metacritic72 100 27 Review scoresPublicationScore1Up comB 28 GameSpot6 0 10 29 GameSpy7 0 10 30 GameTrailers7 7 10 31 IGN9 0 10 4 Guitar Hero On Tour received somewhat positive reviews In general critics felt the game captured the majority of the elements of the Guitar Hero series 28 and IGN commented that the note tracks were well done as to provide a great challenge with a solid difficulty curve 4 However the primary concern of reviewers was the Guitar Grip as it was both difficult to hold and caused hand cramps in some players 29 30 The Grip was also reported to seat poorly in the GBA slot and came out of the unit at times which caused the game to stop unexpectedly requiring a restart of the system due to its inability to support hot swapping 29 30 32 Reviews reported difficulty in keeping the DS unit steady while playing with the Grip making it difficult to follow the note patterns on the screen 4 28 Reviewers found the set list to be both short and somewhat skewed towards recent music 29 and some commented that the sound quality of the tracks was poor 29 30 The multiplayer aspects of the game were well received 29 30 While some reviewers considered the game as an absolute Guitar Hero experience 4 others noted that the social aspect of the series was not present 28 and that the game felt more like an experiment than a full fledged game as if Activision just wanted to see if it could be pulled off 30 Guitar Hero On Tour has won several Nintendo awards from IGN for their 2008 Nintendo DS Best of 2008 feature including Best Music Rhythm Game 33 Most Innovative Design 34 and Best Local Multiplayer 35 It was also nominated for several other Nintendo DS awards including Best Use of Sound 36 Best Graphics Technology 37 and Game of the Year 38 The game was the top selling DS game in North America the week of its release 39 selling over 300 000 units and setting the record for any Activision DS release and as one of the top five releases from Activision on any platform 40 The game continued to be the best selling DS title in North America in its second week of release 41 On Tour was the second best selling game across all systems for the month of June 2008 according to the NPD Group 42 selling more than 422 000 units 43 In July and August 2008 it sold an additional 309 700 and 110 000 units in North America respectively placing on NPD s top ten game sales for both months 44 45 The worldwide release of On Tour took in over 15 million in sales during the month of July 2008 46 The bundled version of Guitar Hero On Tour is the 19th best selling Nintendo DS game in the United States selling 1 1 million copies as of November 2008 47 Reviews of Decades edit ReviewsAggregate scoresAggregatorScoreGameRankings78 48 Metacritic76 100 49 Review scoresPublicationScore1Up comB 50 GameSpot6 0 10 51 IGN8 0 10 52 Decades received better reviews than On Tour with reviewers noting that the game released only a short time after the original On Tour felt more like an expansion pack than a new title 51 52 Critics noted that there was no change in the hardware design and the gameplay mechanics such that the same issues with hand cramping and the inability to keep the DS steady while playing still persisted in Decades 50 52 Reviewers did praise the compatibility with the previous On Tour title the improved touch screen interface and the ability to play competitively with other users regardless of which version of the game they possessed 28 51 The track list was considered to be well rounded 51 IGN explained the game s track list starts out bad but starts getting more enjoyable as you unlock the earlier decades though attributed this partially to personal taste 52 However reviewers also noted that with the songs presented in chronological order the difficulty curve presented in other Guitar Hero games was not present 50 The poor audio quality of the songs a problem that was also noted with On Tour was found to persist in this sequel 51 Hyper s Tracey Lien commends the game for staying as true to Guitar Hero as the DS can possibly allow but criticises it for major hand cramps poor song selection and too few tracks 53 Reviews of Modern Hits edit ReceptionAggregate scoresAggregatorScoreGameRankings71 5 54 Metacritic70 100 55 Review scoresPublicationScoreEurogamer7 10 56 IGN7 8 10 25 Nintendo Power7 10 57 Modern Hits received moderate reviews from the gaming press The game s change of form from having fixed set lists that must be completed to move on to the fan requests system though found it still tedious to work through the game in this fashion according to IGN s Craig Harris 25 Albert Garcia of Eurogamer considered that the series is still lacking features found in the console based games but remains a consistent little brother to the main series titles 56 The soundtrack was considered to have stronger guitar portions than from previous games 25 but still felt like a disco collection 56 Modern Hits was criticized in part for being a victim of Nintendo s timing according to Harris as the game was released shortly after the arrival of the Nintendo DSi unit which lacks the necessary port to use the Guitar Grip thus making Modern Hits unplayable on the system 25 Notes edit Development of Guitar Hero On Tour was assisted by Nintendo and RedOctane 1 References edit a b c d e f g h Faylor Chris 2008 05 30 How Guitar Hero Came to DS When Nobody Asked Shack s Hands on Preview and Interview Shacknews Retrieved 2008 05 30 a b c d Harris Craig 2008 03 13 Exclusive Reveal Guitar Hero DS IGN Retrieved 2008 03 19 a b Guitar Hero On Tour Nintendo 2007 Retrieved 2008 07 20 a b c d e f g h i Harris Craig 2008 06 22 Guitar Hero On Tour Review IGN Archived from the original on 2013 01 03 Retrieved 2008 06 23 a b Breckon Nick 2009 03 05 Guitar Hero DS Modern Hits Officially Announced Shacknews Retrieved 2009 03 05 Harris Craig 2009 04 16 Guitar Hero On Tour Modern Hits Hands on IGN Retrieved 2009 04 20 Booth Jesse 2008 06 06 Hardware Design IGN Archived from the original on June 7 2008 Retrieved 2008 06 08 Harris Craig 2008 10 17 DSi Bye Bye GBA Slot IGN Retrieved 2009 02 12 a b c Harris Craig 2009 03 04 First Details on Guitar Hero On Tour Modern Hits IGN Retrieved 2009 04 20 a b c d Russo Jeremy 2008 06 12 The Gameplay IGN Archived from the original on June 18 2008 Retrieved 2008 06 13 a b c Bozen Mark 2009 04 29 Guitar Hero On Tour Modern Hits Interview IGN Retrieved 2009 04 30 Frey Burk 2007 09 07 News Austin GDC 07 New Guitar Hero DS details Games Are Fun Archived from the original on 2011 03 07 Retrieved 2008 07 24 Thomas Aaron 2008 06 23 Guitar Hero On Tour review Gamespot Retrieved 2011 07 23 Thorson Tor 2008 05 08 Guitar Hero leaping forward in Q4 On Tour DS bundle confirmed GameSpot Retrieved 2008 05 10 a b Hatfield Daemon 2008 06 12 Guitar Hero On Tour Bundle Official IGN Retrieved 2008 07 20 Jackson Mike 2008 06 12 Guitar Hero branded DS revealed Computer and Video Games Retrieved 2008 07 20 Kuchera Ben 2008 06 28 Guitar Hero on the DS headphones crazy guy on the bus Retrieved 2008 07 20 Toys R Us Hosting First to Play Event for Activision s Highly Anticipated Guitar Hero On Tour IGN 2008 06 06 Retrieved 2008 07 20 Linde Aaron 2009 03 10 Guitar Hero On Tour Decades Unveiled Shacknews Retrieved 2009 03 10 Shau Austin 2008 11 25 Guitar Hero On Tour Decades review Gamespot Retrieved 2011 07 23 a b Faylor Chris 2008 10 06 Guitar Hero DS Decades Arrives November 16 Shacknews Retrieved 2008 10 06 Guitar Hero On Tour Modern Hits overview Gamespot Retrieved 2011 07 23 a b Erikson Tracy 2009 05 22 Vicarious Visions gives us the beat on Guitar Hero On Tour Modern Hits PocketGamer co uk Archived from the original on 2009 05 24 Retrieved 2009 05 22 a b Carle Chris 2009 06 08 Guitar Hero On Tour Modern Hits Interview IGN Archived from the original on 2009 06 13 Retrieved 2009 06 08 a b c d e Harris Craig 2009 06 12 Guitar Hero On Tour Modern Hits Review IGN Retrieved 2009 11 13 Guitar Hero On Tour Reviews GameRankings Retrieved 2008 06 25 Guitar Hero On Tour ds 2008 Metacritic Archived from the original on 2008 06 26 Retrieved 2008 06 25 a b c d e Gallegos Anthony 2008 06 24 Reviews Guitar Hero On Tour 1UP com Archived from the original on 2009 02 26 Retrieved 2008 06 25 a b c d e f Thomas Aaron 2008 06 23 Guitar Hero On Tour Review GameSpot Retrieved 2008 06 23 a b c d e f Tuttle Will 2008 06 24 Guitar Hero On Tour DS GameSpy Retrieved 2008 06 24 Aaron 2008 07 02 Guitar Hero On Tour Review GameTrailers Retrieved 2008 07 02 Vicarious Visions June 22 2008 Guitar Hero On Tour Nintendo DS Level area Guitar Grip error You are rocking out a bit too hard The Guitar Hero Guitar Grip was removed Turn off the power and reinsert the Guitar Grip IGN DS Best Music Rhythm Game 2008 IGN 2008 12 15 Archived from the original on December 19 2008 Retrieved 2008 12 19 IGN DS Most Innovative Design 2008 IGN 2008 12 15 Archived from the original on December 19 2008 Retrieved 2008 12 19 IGN DS Best Local Multiplayer 2008 IGN 2008 12 15 Archived from the original on December 19 2008 Retrieved 2008 12 19 IGN DS Best Use of Sound 2008 IGN 2008 12 15 Archived from the original on December 19 2008 Retrieved 2008 12 19 IGN DS Best Graphics Technology 2008 IGN 2008 12 15 Archived from the original on December 19 2008 Retrieved 2008 12 19 IGN DS Game of the Year 2008 IGN 2008 12 15 Archived from the original on December 19 2008 Retrieved 2008 12 19 Cowen Danny 2008 06 27 Sailing The World DS Guitar Hero FF Tactics Top U S Portable Charts Gamasutra Retrieved 2008 06 27 Faylor Chris 2008 07 03 Guitar Hero DS Sets New Sales Records Shacknews Retrieved 2008 07 03 Cowen Danny 2008 07 07 Saling The World Diablo Battle Chest Sees Sales Jump Following Sequel Announcement Gamasutra Retrieved 2008 07 07 Sinclair Brenden 2008 07 17 Nintendo Lifetime US Wii sales surpass Xbox 360 GameSpot Retrieved 2008 07 17 Plunkett Luke 2008 07 17 Metal Gear Solid 4 Tops Software Sales For June Kotaku Retrieved 2008 07 17 Akira EX August 14 2008 July 2008 NPD 360 Price Cut Does Nothing to Significantly Boost Sales GameGrep Archived from the original on 1 January 2009 Retrieved 2009 07 03 Ellison Blake 2008 09 11 NPD Madden Wii Games Lead August Shacknews Retrieved 2008 09 11 Brightman James 2008 08 15 Music Video Games Account for 32 of Industry Growth in 08 Game Daily Archived from the original on 2008 08 17 Retrieved 2008 08 18 How Long are GTA s Legs Edge 2008 12 23 Archived from the original on 2013 01 15 Retrieved 2009 01 05 Guitar Hero On Tour Decades GameRankings Retrieved 2008 12 07 Guitar Hero On Tour Decades ds 2008 Metacritic Retrieved 2008 12 07 a b c Haywald Justin 2008 11 17 Guitar Hero On Tour Decades 1UP Archived from the original on 2011 05 23 Retrieved 2008 12 07 a b c d e Shau Austin 2008 11 25 Guitar Hero On Tour Decades GameSpot Retrieved 2008 12 07 a b c d Harris Craig 2008 11 17 Guitar Hero On Tour Decades IGN Retrieved 2008 12 07 Lien Tracey April 2009 Guitar Hero On Tour Decades Hyper 187 Next Media 57 ISSN 1320 7458 Guitar Hero On Tour Modern Hits Reviews GameRankings Retrieved 2008 11 13 Guitar Hero On Tour Modern Hits ds 2009 Metacritic Retrieved 2009 11 13 a b c Garcia Albert 2009 07 08 Guitar Hero On Tour Modern Hits Eurogamer es in Spanish Eurogamer Retrieved 2009 11 13 Guitar Hero On Tour Modern Hits Review Nintendo Power August 2009 p 90 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Guitar Hero On Tour amp oldid 1220527464, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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