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Eurogamer - Guitar Hero Live skips backwards compatibility as it reboots series

J

Jimmyfenix

Member
Some owners of previous Guitar Hero games will be disappointed to hear that the songs and peripherals they already own do not work with Guitar Hero Live. This makes sense, when you consider the gameplay and guitar controller have been re-jigged. And let's remember that Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock is five years old now. But given Rock Band 4 developer Harmonix is working to let players transfer their DLC over and use the old peripherals, Guitar Hero Live feels a tad stingy.

"It's not 2010 any more," Jackson said. "There are not many other games that let you use stuff you bought back then in their games now. The difference with this is, it's completely different gameplay. So, quite simply, the DLC you bought just won't work. The guitar is different. The way we've presented it is different.

"Guitar Hero Live is a completely new game. We wanted to make sure we gave you something new to learn and enjoy. It's got new gameplay. You're going to be starting with a new game, basically.

"Reboot's an interesting word, but I guess it is. It's a fresh start. It's been away for five years. We always said, when we come back, it needs to be something unique and new. If we'd just come back with the same gameplay and the same look and feel, no-one at Freestyle would have felt like we tried hard enough."

Somewhat improbably, Guitar Hero Live goes up against Rock Band 4 this Christmas in the battle for the hearts, minds and wallets of music rhythm video game fans old and new. These games are expensive, so most of us must decide between the two. Rock Band 4, with its (fingers crossed) backwards compatibility, feels like the safer, more familiar choice. Guitar Hero Live, with its new gameplay and redesigned controller, feels like a clean break.

And a risky one.
Click to expand...

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-04-14-guitar-hero-live-goes-first-person-and-live-action-without-backwards-compatibility
 
W

Waylon Drums

Member
I'm not really surprised about this. It might have been a good idea to give SOME backwards-compatibility...as I'm not sure there was a huge demand for this game and that might've helped former player get interested...but if they're really trying to push GH in a new direction then shedding all the old stuff is probably a good thing.
 
R

Ridley327

Member
That's some really crappy spin on their part, since all that happened was that Activision let the licensing on every song in the series expire at the same time a couple of years ago. Harmonix has been constantly renewing and renegotiating contracts with their tracks, which is why the list of songs that have been removed has been rather small in the grand scheme of things.
 
Z

ZeroXZee

Member
Storm360 said:
Kinda makes it a hard sell when I can buy RB 4 and get my 1000+ songs from 5 years ago
Click to expand...

And using the same instruments
if they still work after all this time, of course xD

I think it's a good move trying to differentiate from RB, the players will not feel "burned out" of buying games with identical gameplay, which was pretty much the reason of the decline of this genre.
 
S

Storm360

Member
ZeroXZee said:
And using the same instruments
if they still work after all this time, of course xD

I think it's a good move trying to differentiate from RB, the players will not feel "burned out" of buying games with identical gameplay, which was pretty much the reason of the decline of this genre.
Click to expand...

All they have to do IMO is release DLC and not a game every other month. The genre is perfect for DLC, but I feel that ATVI never really grasped that
 
Oppo

Oppo

Member
Ridley327 said:
That's some really crappy spin on their part, since all that happened was that Activision let the licensing on every song in the series expire at the same time a couple of years ago. Harmonix has been constantly renewing and renegotiating contracts with their tracks, which is why the list of songs that have been removed has been rather small in the grand scheme of things.
Click to expand...

Exactly my thoughts. they let their content go; they MUST differentiate.
 
Q

Queen of Hunting

Unconfirmed Member
More like let's change the style so we have an excuse nor to be backwards compatible
 
A

akidnamededdy

Banned
Before you start a song there's a short prelude that sees you, as lead guitarist, nervously play with your plectrum before making your way to the stage,
Click to expand...

I read this sentence too fast and got a little confused for a moment.
 
A

Aostia

El Capitan Todd
Impeccable said:
Inexcusable especially considering their competitor offers the solution.
Click to expand...

this is the most important part imho.
since RB launch there was a rough face-off: if they are now re-launching offering this opportunity, it sounds like a misstep by Activision to dump the bw compatibility out
 
S

Shift Breaker

Member
It's not a surprise that backwards compatibility doesn't exist when Activision took all the Guitar Hero DLC off the store years ago and never let you export tracks from the Van Halen game into Warriors of Rock.
 
B

Brewster's Wallet

Member
Storm360 said:
Kinda makes it a hard sell when I can buy RB 4 and get my 1000+ songs from 5 years ago
Click to expand...

Agreed. Rock Band seems to be adding features to an existing format rather than trying something new.

Also, they are different games. One is more single player focussed, whereas the other is a party game.

I prefer the single player experience, but I am definitely in the minority
 
V

ViciousDS

Banned
pretty sure Harmonix will release a usb hub for backwards compatibility for $20.......which is perfectly fine with me anyways....because there is no way I'm fitting everything on two usb's lol....should have never threw my original one out that came with RB1....son of a bitch!

I wonder if my amazon basics USB hub would work perfectly fine....they are just PnP devices.
 
P

Protome

Member
The new controller sounds like a nice concept.
Not sure I can go back to plastic instruments after playing Rocksmith though.
 
A

AlfredX1990

Banned
You know, if this was before the announcement of Rockband 4 and the part where they said that you can download your old songs maybe it wouldn't be so bad, but this + that statement only shows how retarded Activision is with this stuff

No Guitar Hero Live for me
 
M

Mask

Member
This and the FMV stuff just smacks of cutting the costs as much as possible to rush it out and try to get as much cash as possible.

You've got the controllers not being compatible with RB4, stopping people from just buying a disk copy and using it with RB controllers, forcing people to buy the more expensive bundles and no backwards DLC, meaning they can release the stuff you already had and make you pay again if you want them again.

Activision gon Activision.
 
V

Vanish

Member
Wait, both Rock Band and Guitar Hero happen to coincidentally be rebooting/coming back the same year after a several year hiatus?
 
W

waitwhat42

Member
Not digging the 3 button controller. I get what they're going for with the adjacent buttons to better emulate playing chords but it would have been pretty amazing if it were 5 black and white buttons each.

First person live action is just cringe. Part of the appeal of Rock Band was making your band of friends and watching them rock out. Every design choice is the exact opposite of what I would have wanted in a new Guitar Hero. Hopefully Harmonix knocks RB4 out of the park.
 
W

waitwhat42

Member
Rlan said:
Guitar Hero didn't even have compatability between games anyway, right?
Click to expand...

There was some compatibility between setlists and dlc from GH5, World Tour and Warriors of Rock, but it wasn't as comprehensive as Rock Band. In Rock Band 3 you could transfer most of RB1 and RB2 setlists, all DLC, and the full setlists from Lego, Green Day, ACDC, and RB Blitz.
 
S

Starwolf_UK

Member
Vanish said:
Wait, both Rock Band and Guitar Hero happen to coincidentally be rebooting/coming back the same year after a several year hiatus?
Click to expand...
I know Rock Band 4 was announced first but there have been rumors of Guitar Hero revival for a while.

You know it is funny with how conservative Rock Band 4 is in comparison (this isn't necessarily a bad thing as old DLC and instruments will work) I feel that Rock Band is the reactionary product and might end up more successful.
 
R

Raide

Member
Starwolf_UK said:
I know Rock Band 4 was announced first but there have been rumors of Guitar Hero revival for a while.

You know it is funny with how conservative Rock Band 4 is in comparison (this isn't necessarily a bad thing as old DLC and instruments will work) I feel that Rock Band is the reactionary product and might end up more successful.
Click to expand...

I guess it is a tough one. Rockband could do just the same as the earlier games and have fresh DLC + Backwards compatibility and it would work. That's kinda what people want. Some games need reinventing, some just need refreshing.

Its like expecting Tony Hawks to be something radically different. They tried that, did ntot work, fans just want a really sequel to Pro Skater. Some games are just worth remaking.
 
C

cakely

Member
CopperPuppy said:
Except, you know, your main competitor.
Click to expand...

6XrF2Jj.jpg
 
R

RetroMG

Member
ghostjoke said:
Well that makes it an easy choice.
Click to expand...

Pretty much. I always liked Rock Band more than Guitar Hero anyway, but given that RB is doing backwards compatibility where GH isn't... Well, there's no way I'm getting GH. I understand their thing about the difference between old RB and new RB making DLC difficult, but they're going to have to have something pretty amazing in place to make up for this.
 
A

alex2004

Member
Hi, I didn't want to start a new topic and figured my questions would fit in here as well. I'm not interested in GH Live, but rather its Wii predecessors and their compatibility with Wii U.

a) Only looking at GH3 and GH5 (not Rock Band nor GH Live): are the plastic guitars interoperable? I am looking at a used GH3 bundle and potentially another GH5 bundle, both of them incl. guitars. Can I use the GH3 guitar on GH5 and vice versa?

b) Can we play each of the games in local 1vs1 using both guitars?

c) Will Wii guitars work on Wii U? (note: I don't own any Wiimotes - should I?)

Thank you very much!
 
O

OnionPowder

Member
alex2004 said:
Hi, I didn't want to start a new topic and figured my questions would fit in here as well. I'm not interested in GH Live, but rather its Wii predecessors and their compatibility with Wii U.

a) Only looking at GH3 and GH5 (not Rock Band nor GH Live): are the plastic guitars interoperable? I am looking at a used GH3 bundle and potentially another GH5 bundle, both of them incl. guitars. Can I use the GH3 guitar on GH5 and vice versa?

b) Can we play each of the games in local 1vs1 using both guitars?

c) Will Wii guitars work on Wii U? (note: I don't own any Wiimotes - should I?)

Thank you very much!
Click to expand...

Yes to everything
 
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