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Guitar Hero: On Tour (video game)

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Guitar Hero: On Tour
Developer(s)Vicarious Visions
Publisher(s)RedOctane, Activision
Platform(s)Nintendo DS
Genre(s)Music
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer
For the sequel, see Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades.

Guitar Hero: On Tour is a music video game for the Nintendo DS system, based on the Guitar Hero series of video games. The game is developed by Vicarious Visions and published by RedOctane and Activision, and was released in North America and Australia in June 2008, and in Europe in July 2008. Two versions were released in Europe, one for primarily English-speaking countries, and one for the rest of Europe, with some changes in the song list.

As with other Guitar Hero games, the player attempts to follow the lead guitar portion of a rock song as note patterns scroll by on the game's screens. Instead of the normal guitar peripheral used in other game console versions, On Tour is packaged with the "Guitar Grip", a unique four-fret controller that fits into the Game Boy Advance slot on either the Nintendo DS or DS Lite hardware, although not compatible with the Nintendo DSi due to the removal of the Game Boy Advance cartridge slot. The player strums each note by dragging the stylus across the touchscreen while holding down the fret buttons. The design of the Guitar Grip and other gameplay mechanics went through many iterations by Vicarious Visions before the final design was reached. A special Guitar Duel mode against the computer or human opponent over local wireless LAN incorporates other features of the Nintendo DS in order to remove distractions created by the opponent in order to keep playing the song.

On Tour received mixed reviews from critics. Many reviews cited problems with holding the Guitar Grip in place and cramping by holding the Grip too long. While some felt the game captured the spirit of the Guitar Hero series, others felt it was more an experiment than a successful game. The game broke Activision's sales records for the DS the week of its release, and it has been announced that a sequel, Guitar Hero: On Tour Decades, will be produced.

Gameplay

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.
See also: Gameplay in the Guitar Hero series

The core gameplay remains unchanged from the other games in the series.[4] To adapt the gameplay to the Nintendo DS, the game comes with a special peripheral, the "Guitar Grip", that is slightly smaller than the Nintendo DS Lite and fits into the Game Boy Advance cartridge slot on the unit. The unit is designed for the DS Lite, but features a small adapter that can be removed for use in the older Nintendo DS models.[5] Four, instead of the normal five (the orange fret being the one excluded), fret buttons are located on the side of the unit near the cartridge slot. 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. Notes and the performance of the chosen character in the band are shown on the opposite screen.[6] As notes scroll down on the "note highway", the player must press the correct fret button and strum the touchscreen at the same time using a special pick shaped stylus 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.[6] After the player has successfully hit a selected series of notes, they 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 mic, by pressing any of the face buttons on the DS, or by tapping the meter on the touch screen.[6]

There is a single player Career Mode, allowing the player to select from six different characters; Axel Steel, Judy Nails, Pandora, and Johnny Napalm are present from past Guitar Hero games, while new to On Tour are Gunner Jaxon and Memphis Rose.[5] Completing Career Mode will unlock more venues and options for the selected character's appearance.[6] The game utilizes 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 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 utilize features of the DS to remove the distraction.[6]

Development

How the DS is held when playing Guitar Hero: On Tour.
Holding DS, showing the Guitar Grip strap.

Work on a Nintendo DS version was started in early 2007 according to Vicarious Visions CEO, Karthik Bala,[4] though the game was not officially announced until September 7, 2007 at the Austin GDC '07.[7] 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".[8] 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.[8] Bala claimed that they 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".[4] This also gave the advantage of making the peripheral compact, allowing it to be easily carried by the user.[4] Other designs that were tested but dropped included a larger guitar-shaped unit that the DS was attached to (dubbed "Ukelele Hero" by the design team), different grips with three to six to twelve buttons, and gameplay that was built only around using the stylus.[8][9] 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.[8]

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 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 on the "Guitar Duel" be a key feature of the game, and gave 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.[8] Each song has been divided into three separate compressed tracks that play back simultaneously during gameplay.[8] 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, still be recognizable.[8] They also developed a method of allowing input through the GBA port of the DS.[8]

The Guitar Grip with pick stylus

During a conference call on May 8, 2008, Activision revealed that the game would both be sold as an individual game (along with the "Guitar Grip") as well as bundled with the DS hardware itself.[11] 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.[12] This bundle was available with the release of Guitar Hero: On Tour in the United Kingdom.[13] This is the first third-party DS game to be included in such a bundle.[12] 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.[14] 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.[15]

A sequel to On Tour was announced at the 2008 E3 convention, titled Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades, also to be developed by Vicarious Visions.[16] The game will utilize the DS's local wifi capabilities to allow players to share songs from both On Tour and On Tour Decades with other players.

Soundtrack

Guitar Hero: On Tour features two different track lists, one for primarily English-speaking regions including North America, the British Isles, and Australia, and another for other non-English-speaking European countries with five replacement songs.[3] Both track lists includes 26 licensed tracks including one bonus track, with about 85% of them being master recordings.[8] Twenty are exclusive to this version of Guitar Hero while the remaining six songs have previously been used within the series. Freezepop's "I Am Not Your Gameboy" is a bonus song that is unlocked by completing all the Guitar Duels on any difficulty in the game. Please Note: Metallica's Master of Puppets is not a song in the game, contrary to popular beilef. that means The Cheat Lied!!! This also means that Ozzy Osbourne's Crazy Train, Guns N' Roses' Welcome to the Jungle and Red Hot Chili Peppers' Dani California are not in the game as well. Sorry.

Year Song title Artist Master recording NA/UK/AUS/JAP Tier European Tier
1999 "All Star" Smash Mouth Yes 2. Rooftop 2. Rooftop
1999 "All the Small Things" blink-182 Yes 1. Subway 1. Subway
2006 "Anna Molly" Incubus Yes 5. Battleship 5. Battleship
2003 "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" Jet Yes 1. Subway 1. Subway
1995 "Avalancha" Heroes del Silencio Yes N/A 4. Greek Arena
1970 "Black Magic Woman" Santana No 4. Greek Arena 3. Parade (encore)
1991 "Breed" Nirvana Yes 2. Rooftop 2. Rooftop
2006 "Ça Me Vexe" Mademoiselle K Yes N/A 3. Parade
1973 "China Grove" Doobie BrothersThe Doobie Brothers Yes 3. Parade N/A
2006 "Do What You Want" OK Go Yes 1. Subway 1. Subway
2004 "Heaven" Los Lonely Boys Yes 3. Parade N/A
2004 "Helicopter" Bloc Party Yes 3. Parade 3. Parade
1979 "Hit Me with Your Best Shot" Pat Benatar Yes 2. Rooftop 2. Rooftop
2007 "I Don't Wanna Stop" Ozzy Osbourne Yes 5. Battleship 5. Battleship
2004 "I Am Not Your Gameboy" Freezepop Yes Bonus song Bonus song
1977 "I Know a Little" Lynyrd Skynyrd No 5. Battleship (encore) 5. Battleship (encore)
1981 "Jessie's Girl" Rick Springfield Yes 2. Rooftop N/A
1977 "Jet Airliner" Steve Miller Band No 4. Greek Arena N/A
1989 "Knock Me Down" Red Hot Chili Peppers Yes 5. Battleship 5. Battleship
1973 "La Grange" ZZ Top No 4. Greek Arena 4. Greek Arena
2004 "Monster" Beatsteaks Yes N/A 2. Rooftop
2007 "Monsoon" Tokio Hotel Yes N/A 3. Parade
1983 "Pride and Joy" Stevie Ray Vaughan Yes 5. Battleship 5. Battleship
1975 "Rock and Roll All Nite" Kiss No 3. Parade 3. Parade
1985 "Rock the Night" Europe Yes N/A 4. Greek Arena
1995 "Spiderwebs" No Doubt Yes 1. Subway 1. Subway
1981 "Stray Cat Strut" Stray Cats Yes 4. Greek Arena 4. Greek Arena
2004 "This Love" Maroon 5 Yes 2. Rooftop (encore) 2. Rooftop (encore)
1984 "We're Not Gonna Take It" Twisted Sister Yes 1. Subway (encore) 1. Subway (encore)
2007 "What I Want" Daughtry featuring Slash Yes 3. Parade (encore) N/A
1989 "Youth Gone Wild" Skid Row No 4. Greek Arena (encore) 4. Greek Arena (encore)

Reception

Guitar Hero: On Tour has received mixed reviews. In general, critics felt the game captured the majority of the elements of the Guitar Hero series,[17] and IGN commented that the note tracks are well done as to provide "a great challenge with a solid difficulty curve".[6] However, the primary concern of reviewers was the Guitar Grip, as it was both difficult to hold and caused hand cramps in some players.[19][18] 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.[19][18] 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.[17][6] Reviewers found the set list to be both short and somewhat skewed towards recent music,[19] and some commented that the sound quality of the tracks was poor.[19][18] The multiplayer aspects of the game were well received.[18][19] While some reviewers considered the game as an "absolute Guitar Hero experience",[6] others noted that the social aspect of the series is not present,[17] and that the game "feels more like an experiment than a full-fledged game, as if Activision just wanted to see if it could be pulled off."[18]

The game was the top selling DS game in North America the week of its release,[23] 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.[24] The game continued to be the best selling DS title in North America in its second week of release.[25] On Tour was the second best-selling game across all systems for the month of June 2008, according to the NPD Group[26] selling more than 422,000 units.[27] 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.[28][29] The worldwide release of On Tour took in over $15 million in sales during the month of July 2008.[30]

Sequel

Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades[31] is an upcoming music video game for the Nintendo DS based on the Guitar Hero series and a follow-up to Guitar Hero: On Tour. The game will be developed by Vicarious Visions. It was announced at Nintendo's 2008 E3 conference and is planned to be released in late 2008.[16]

The game will use the DS's local Wi-Fi capabilities to let users share songs between On Tour and On Tour Decades.[16]

References

  1. ^ Faylor, Chris (2008-06-12). "Guitar Hero DS, Hardware Bundle Arrives June 22". Shacknews. Retrieved 2008-07-29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ Van Leuveren, Luke (2008-06-25). "Guitar Hero: On Tour Review". PALGN. Retrieved 2008-07-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ a b Bramwell, Tom (2008-06-26). "Guitar Hero: On Tour European track list". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2008-06-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ a b c d Harris, Craig (2008-03-13). "Exclusive Reveal: Guitar Hero DS". IGN. Retrieved 2008-03-19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ a b "Guitar Hero: On Tour". Nintendo. 2007. Retrieved 2008-07-20.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harris, Craig (2008-06-22). "Guitar Hero: On Tour Review". IGN. Retrieved 2008-06-23. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ Frey, Burk (2007-09-07). "News — Austin GDC '07: New Guitar Hero DS details". Games Are Fun. Retrieved 2008-07-24.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ Booth, Jesse (2008-06-06). "Hardware Design". IGN. Retrieved 2008-06-08. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ a b c d Russo, Jeremy (2008-06-12). "The Gameplay". IGN. Retrieved 2008-06-13. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ Thorson, Tor (2008-05-08). "Guitar Hero "leaping forward" in Q4, On Tour DS bundle confirmed". Gamespot. Retrieved 2008-05-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ a b Hatfield, Daemon (2008-06-12). "Guitar Hero: On Tour Bundle Official". IGN. Retrieved 2008-07-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ Jackson, Mike (2008-06-12). "Guitar Hero-branded DS revealed". Computer and Video Games. Retrieved 2008-07-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ^ Kuchera, Ben (2008-06-28). "Guitar Hero on the DS: headphones = crazy guy on the bus". Retrieved 2008-07-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ^ "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. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  16. ^ a b c Linde, Aaron (2008-07-15). "Guitar Hero: On Tour Decades Unveiled". Shacknews. Retrieved 2008-07-15. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help) Cite error: The named reference "shacknews e3 announce" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  17. ^ a b c d Gallegos, Anthony (2008-06-24). "Reviews: Guitar Hero: On Tour". 1up. Retrieved 2008-06-25. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  18. ^ a b c d e f Tuttle, Will (2008-06-24). "Guitar Hero: On Tour (DS)". Gamespy. Retrieved 2008-06-24. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  19. ^ a b c d e f Thomas, Aaron (2008-06-23). "Guitar Hero: On Tour Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 2008-06-23. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  20. ^ "Guitar Hero: On Tour Review". GameTrailers. 2008-07-02. Retrieved 2008-07-02. {{cite web}}: |first= missing |last= (help); Check date values in: |date= (help)
  21. ^ "Guitar Hero: On Tour (ds: 2008)". Metacritic. Retrieved 2008-06-25.
  22. ^ "Guitar Hero: On Tour Reviews". Game Rankings. Retrieved 2008-06-25.
  23. ^ Cowen, Danny (2008-06-27). "Sailing The World: DS Guitar Hero, FF Tactics Top U.S. Portable Charts". Gamasutra. Retrieved 2008-06-27. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  24. ^ Faylor, Chris (2008-07-03). "Guitar Hero DS Sets New Sales Records". Shacknews. Retrieved 2008-07-03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  25. ^ Cowen, Danny (2008-07-07). "Saling The World: Diablo Battle Chest Sees Sales Jump Following Sequel Announcement". Gamasutra. Retrieved 2008-07-07. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  26. ^ Sinclair, Brenden (2008-07-17). "Nintendo: Lifetime US Wii sales surpass Xbox 360". Gamespot. Retrieved 2008-07-17. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  27. ^ Plunkett, Luke (2008-07-17). "Metal Gear Solid 4 Tops Software Sales For June". Kotaku. Retrieved 2008-07-17. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  28. ^ http://play.tm/wire/click/2063512
  29. ^ Ellison, Blake (2008-09-11). "NPD: Madden, Wii Games Lead August". Shacknews. Retrieved 2008-09-11.
  30. ^ Brightman, James (2008-08-15). "Music Video Games Account for 32% of Industry Growth in '08". Game Daily. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
  31. ^ "Nintendo again redefines game control, puts spotlight on community building". Nintendo. 2007-07-15. Retrieved 2008-07-24.
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