Ronin_Dragon_NC
10-18-2007, 11:07 PM
Interesting news article (link (http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/828/828415p1.html?RSSwhen2007-10-18_170000&RSSid=828415)) from IGN.
Guitar Hero's Backstage Pass
We tour Guitar Hero's awesome online community portal.
October 18, 2007 - When Activision purchased RedOctane and, along with it, the Guitar Hero franchise, many were left wondering what the future of the hit rhythm game would be. A new developer, Neversoft, was put in charge and the game was being rebuilt from the ground up. A few new features such as online play and battle mode have been announced, but few would argue that the series is about due for a shot in the arm to revitalize it. The new Guitar Hero community portal, which is set to fully launch on October 26 and can be found at the easy to remember address of guitarhero.com, may be just what the doctor called for. IGN was recently treated to a behind the scenes look at what the webpage will do for Guitar Hero 3 once it goes live.
The new Guitar Hero community site is being put together by Agora Games, a company that specializes in creating community tools that link videogames with the web. Think of Bungie.net if you're looking for a good corollary from another developer. Once you've linked your profile on your Xbox 360, PS3 or Wii to the Guitar Hero website, which is as simple as entering a code on the site that you find in the game, a wealth of information is fed out and aggregated there as you play. All three versions work with the same site and all three versions will interact together, compete with each other, and become one massive rock and roll community. Between five and 15 minutes is all it will take for your Guitar Hero 3 game results to be reflected on the site. It goes much further than the simple stat tracking that most games offer, though.
http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/828/828415/guitar-hero-iii-legends-of-rock-20071018022314686-000.jpg (http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/899/899096/img_4985060.html)
The home page in all of its glory. These images may not be exactly the
same as what you see when the site launches.
It begins with the home page. Like any other, this page will link you out to the other major sections of the site. It will also give you a quick look at who has the highest total score, sortable by each of the three platforms, as well as a look at other choice info. You'll be able to see what songs are most popular, click over to purchase the soundtrack on iTunes, take part in polls and get some Guitar Hero official news.
The home page also introduces you to the groupies. Every rock star needs them. Even the emo ones. Groupies on Guitarhero.com are a form of currency, rather like experience points. Play a song and beat it on easy for the first time and you'll score a couple. Get five stars on medium and you'll get more. The more you play the game, the more groupies you'll get, with extra groupies awarded to encourage you to play with all of the game's modes and features. If you stop playing, though, you'll start to lose groupies. No true groupie is going to sit around and wait for a rocker to come out of retirement. You'll also be able to get groupies through other means as well, such as registering or joining a tour group.
http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/828/828415/guitar-hero-iii-legends-of-rock-20071018022350951-000.jpg (http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/899/899096/img_4985070.html)
Join a Tour Group, Guitar Hero's version of clans.
Tour groups are the Guitar Hero equivalent of clans. This is where you and your friends can get together and communicate in a private forum, keep watch on each other's performances, and pool together groupies to compare with other groups.
Everyone who registers with the page will get their own user profile. All of the basic stats will be there, including your favorite character, venue, guitar (out of 111 varieties all told including the different finishes), and songs. The page will change based on your in-game choices, shifting art assets and "rocker status" to reflect what you've done . You can also get a closer look at your game progress and compare it with your friends. Again, since this is all done through the web, your friend list will be distinct from what you have on the consoles. That means you'll be able to play on Wii and compare your progress with a friend on PS3 or Xbox 360. Likewise, each profile page will list awards that can be won by playing the game that will be distinct from the Xbox 360 achievements.
http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/828/828415/guitar-hero-iii-legends-of-rock-20071018022326452-000.jpg (http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/899/899096/img_4985060.html)
Your profile will show how much you rock...or don't.
The profile page is being made as much more than just a reflection of what you and your friends have done in the game. Blogs and media tools are being included to give players what they need to make this more personal. Google Maps are integrated to give you a glance at where your friends are or who you've recently played against. You can even take a look at what real-life activities are happening in your area with the click of a button.
Tools for creating tournaments, both online and off, will all be integrated into the page and, as time goes on, become increasingly complex. If you want to advertise a local tournament to round up a few people at a bar or apartment, this is where you'd start. Or, if you want to test your merit against the whole world, you can create or hop into an online tournament made here. Want to make a bracketed tournament that begins with a hundreds people and eliminates them as people lose? With this page, you'll be able to set the rules and let the tech do the rest.
http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/828/828415/guitar-hero-iii-legends-of-rock-20071018022401982-000.jpg (http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/899/899096/img_4985070.html)
Enter a tournament, onilne or in the real world.
Since this all works across multiple platforms, you won't be playing each other directly in these tournaments. Instead, once you enter a tournament, you'll be given a time period to meet the conditions (say Slow Ride on Expert) and then the webpage will collect the data and see if your best score is good enough to win. Since it is within a time period (usually 24 hours), you'll be able to play the song multiple times over to get your best run. However, the option to have it be a single play might come with time.
In fact, a lot of the features we spoke with Agora Games and Neversoft about for tournaments are things that may be added in the future. The plan is for the site to grow with the community, so things like private tournaments, limiting who can enter by groupie status, or challenges for the head of a tour group are under consideration to be added after the site first launches. If people want to see it, there's a good chance it will get added. If there is one line we heard repeated over and over during our web tour, it was that this page will be constantly updated and expanded after it launches with new features being added all of the time.
http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/828/828415/guitar-hero-iii-legends-of-rock-20071018022337998-000.jpg (http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/899/899096/img_4985066.html)
More scoreboards than you can shake a stick at.
Take the scoreboards, for example. There's a limit to how many can be included in one Xbox 360 game. Not so for Guitarhero.com. This page will have leaderboards for just about any kind of category you can imagine. Every difficulty, every song, win streaks, campaign modes, co-op modes, online battles and more will be available to be viewed and sorted. Right now, it only exists by platform -- you won't be able to directly compare Wii to Xbox 360 scores. That may come eventually, but it would likely require the go ahead from each of the console manufacturers. The same goes for aggregate score comparisons (Who can score more, Xbox 360 or PS3 players?).
[]
[i]Only the best get Hall of Fame status.
But if you're really good, and we've seen the 360 leaderboards so we know that many of you out there are, the ultimate goal is the Hall of Fame. People get inducted to through the acquisition of a certain number of groupies. And it won't be easy. There will likely only be 10s of people, maybe 100s, in the Hall of Fame. The plan is to give them their own private message board, prizes and to display their picture for all to see.
Nothing has been decided on whether other versions of Guitar Hero 3 due out later will also be incorporated into the site, so if you're holding out for the PC version you'll have to wait and see. If you're lining up to get GH3 on PS3, Wii, or 360, you can head over to Guitarhero.com now to reserve your username and score a few bonus groupies in advance of the official launch. We'll see you there.
Sweet stuff.
On a side note, I request that the image limit be bumped up from 5 to 6. These IGN review articles are always 3 pages long with 2 images per page, so a 6-pic limit is perfect for 'em.
Guitar Hero's Backstage Pass
We tour Guitar Hero's awesome online community portal.
October 18, 2007 - When Activision purchased RedOctane and, along with it, the Guitar Hero franchise, many were left wondering what the future of the hit rhythm game would be. A new developer, Neversoft, was put in charge and the game was being rebuilt from the ground up. A few new features such as online play and battle mode have been announced, but few would argue that the series is about due for a shot in the arm to revitalize it. The new Guitar Hero community portal, which is set to fully launch on October 26 and can be found at the easy to remember address of guitarhero.com, may be just what the doctor called for. IGN was recently treated to a behind the scenes look at what the webpage will do for Guitar Hero 3 once it goes live.
The new Guitar Hero community site is being put together by Agora Games, a company that specializes in creating community tools that link videogames with the web. Think of Bungie.net if you're looking for a good corollary from another developer. Once you've linked your profile on your Xbox 360, PS3 or Wii to the Guitar Hero website, which is as simple as entering a code on the site that you find in the game, a wealth of information is fed out and aggregated there as you play. All three versions work with the same site and all three versions will interact together, compete with each other, and become one massive rock and roll community. Between five and 15 minutes is all it will take for your Guitar Hero 3 game results to be reflected on the site. It goes much further than the simple stat tracking that most games offer, though.
http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/828/828415/guitar-hero-iii-legends-of-rock-20071018022314686-000.jpg (http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/899/899096/img_4985060.html)
The home page in all of its glory. These images may not be exactly the
same as what you see when the site launches.
It begins with the home page. Like any other, this page will link you out to the other major sections of the site. It will also give you a quick look at who has the highest total score, sortable by each of the three platforms, as well as a look at other choice info. You'll be able to see what songs are most popular, click over to purchase the soundtrack on iTunes, take part in polls and get some Guitar Hero official news.
The home page also introduces you to the groupies. Every rock star needs them. Even the emo ones. Groupies on Guitarhero.com are a form of currency, rather like experience points. Play a song and beat it on easy for the first time and you'll score a couple. Get five stars on medium and you'll get more. The more you play the game, the more groupies you'll get, with extra groupies awarded to encourage you to play with all of the game's modes and features. If you stop playing, though, you'll start to lose groupies. No true groupie is going to sit around and wait for a rocker to come out of retirement. You'll also be able to get groupies through other means as well, such as registering or joining a tour group.
http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/828/828415/guitar-hero-iii-legends-of-rock-20071018022350951-000.jpg (http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/899/899096/img_4985070.html)
Join a Tour Group, Guitar Hero's version of clans.
Tour groups are the Guitar Hero equivalent of clans. This is where you and your friends can get together and communicate in a private forum, keep watch on each other's performances, and pool together groupies to compare with other groups.
Everyone who registers with the page will get their own user profile. All of the basic stats will be there, including your favorite character, venue, guitar (out of 111 varieties all told including the different finishes), and songs. The page will change based on your in-game choices, shifting art assets and "rocker status" to reflect what you've done . You can also get a closer look at your game progress and compare it with your friends. Again, since this is all done through the web, your friend list will be distinct from what you have on the consoles. That means you'll be able to play on Wii and compare your progress with a friend on PS3 or Xbox 360. Likewise, each profile page will list awards that can be won by playing the game that will be distinct from the Xbox 360 achievements.
http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/828/828415/guitar-hero-iii-legends-of-rock-20071018022326452-000.jpg (http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/899/899096/img_4985060.html)
Your profile will show how much you rock...or don't.
The profile page is being made as much more than just a reflection of what you and your friends have done in the game. Blogs and media tools are being included to give players what they need to make this more personal. Google Maps are integrated to give you a glance at where your friends are or who you've recently played against. You can even take a look at what real-life activities are happening in your area with the click of a button.
Tools for creating tournaments, both online and off, will all be integrated into the page and, as time goes on, become increasingly complex. If you want to advertise a local tournament to round up a few people at a bar or apartment, this is where you'd start. Or, if you want to test your merit against the whole world, you can create or hop into an online tournament made here. Want to make a bracketed tournament that begins with a hundreds people and eliminates them as people lose? With this page, you'll be able to set the rules and let the tech do the rest.
http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/828/828415/guitar-hero-iii-legends-of-rock-20071018022401982-000.jpg (http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/899/899096/img_4985070.html)
Enter a tournament, onilne or in the real world.
Since this all works across multiple platforms, you won't be playing each other directly in these tournaments. Instead, once you enter a tournament, you'll be given a time period to meet the conditions (say Slow Ride on Expert) and then the webpage will collect the data and see if your best score is good enough to win. Since it is within a time period (usually 24 hours), you'll be able to play the song multiple times over to get your best run. However, the option to have it be a single play might come with time.
In fact, a lot of the features we spoke with Agora Games and Neversoft about for tournaments are things that may be added in the future. The plan is for the site to grow with the community, so things like private tournaments, limiting who can enter by groupie status, or challenges for the head of a tour group are under consideration to be added after the site first launches. If people want to see it, there's a good chance it will get added. If there is one line we heard repeated over and over during our web tour, it was that this page will be constantly updated and expanded after it launches with new features being added all of the time.
http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/828/828415/guitar-hero-iii-legends-of-rock-20071018022337998-000.jpg (http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/899/899096/img_4985066.html)
More scoreboards than you can shake a stick at.
Take the scoreboards, for example. There's a limit to how many can be included in one Xbox 360 game. Not so for Guitarhero.com. This page will have leaderboards for just about any kind of category you can imagine. Every difficulty, every song, win streaks, campaign modes, co-op modes, online battles and more will be available to be viewed and sorted. Right now, it only exists by platform -- you won't be able to directly compare Wii to Xbox 360 scores. That may come eventually, but it would likely require the go ahead from each of the console manufacturers. The same goes for aggregate score comparisons (Who can score more, Xbox 360 or PS3 players?).
[]
[i]Only the best get Hall of Fame status.
But if you're really good, and we've seen the 360 leaderboards so we know that many of you out there are, the ultimate goal is the Hall of Fame. People get inducted to through the acquisition of a certain number of groupies. And it won't be easy. There will likely only be 10s of people, maybe 100s, in the Hall of Fame. The plan is to give them their own private message board, prizes and to display their picture for all to see.
Nothing has been decided on whether other versions of Guitar Hero 3 due out later will also be incorporated into the site, so if you're holding out for the PC version you'll have to wait and see. If you're lining up to get GH3 on PS3, Wii, or 360, you can head over to Guitarhero.com now to reserve your username and score a few bonus groupies in advance of the official launch. We'll see you there.
Sweet stuff.
On a side note, I request that the image limit be bumped up from 5 to 6. These IGN review articles are always 3 pages long with 2 images per page, so a 6-pic limit is perfect for 'em.