GH World Tour’s new ‘instrument peripheral’ is the PC; MIDI sequencer clarified
During the past couple of days, whispers indicate a new controller peripheral (other than the drums and microphone) will be introduced for Guitar Hero: World Tour – for its PS3 and Xbox 360 versions, at least. It turns out that someone got misquoted somewhere, but now it’s been clarified. The so-called “new instrument” is actually a feature that uses the PC to record songs into your PS3 or 360 library. It may be a bit anti-climactic for some of you, but it’s cool nonetheless.
During the past couple of days, whispers of a new instrument were said to be introduced for Guitar Hero: World Tour – for its PS3 and Xbox 360 versions, at least. Since the beginning, it’s been announced that this fourth installment in the franchise would finally introduce two new peripherals other than the guitar controller: the drums and the microphone. But is there a fourth controller?
It turns out that Neversoft project director Brian Bright was actually misquoted and there’s never really been this “new instrument” – to clarify, it’s actually a feature that integrates the use of a PC.
The feature is the MIDI Sequencer – that’d be the same mode in which you get to create your own music for Guitar Hero: World Tour. In that feature, you get to hook your PC to your PS3 or Xbox 360 and record whatever’s playing into the in-game studio. Here’s the reason behind the new feature, as Bright explained:
If you’re a musician or you do any sequencing, it really just makes the pathway to getting your songs in the game that much easier–once you get it down. We just really want to give people enough tools to be able to make good music.
This feature will be incorporated as a patch to be released sometime during the launch week of the game. The MIDI sequencer functionality will be limited to just the drums tracks for the Xbox 360 (due to unspecified “hardware issues”) but the PlayStation 3 version would be able to incorporate drum tracks as well as those for rhythm guitar, lead guitar, bass, and keyboards.
For those who want to pursue the whole in-depth MIDI sequencing and song creation functionality (as Bright admits, “it’s not something that your average user is gonna do”), a full FAQ will be released at the official Guitar Hero website in the near future.
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