And by taking the experience online, Guitar Hero can go beyond simply offering new tracks, and instead turn the act of music discovery into a living, constantly evolving experience by allowing players to try out new songs that they'd otherwise never hear - not unlike Spotify.Ī lot has changed since the first years of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
You'll even be able to pay flat rates to get timed access to the full library, similar to a karaoke room rental - a feature that these games have been sorely lacking since the beginning.
No, you won't 'own' any of the songs you play through Guitar Hero TV instead, Guitar Hero TV gives you access to every single one of them, on-demand, as long as you have the tokens to play them. Guitar Hero Live is taking a similar direction with its 'DLC' plan so that it more closely resembles the likes of these streaming services.
You don't own these songs - they exist entirely on Activision's servers, and you can play them by either tuning into the proper Guitar Hero TV 'channel' or by earning or purchasing tokens to play them on-demand. It also keeps track of leaderboards, your player level, and more, rewarding you with unlockable bonuses while you play. Guitar Hero TV requires an online connection, as it streams each of the songs to you via the internet. Instead of being individual tracks available for purchase from a digital storefront, new songs will be added to Guitar Hero TV via live pre-programmed blocks of music videos, not unlike that of something like MTV (y'know, back when MTV actually played music). It's clear that Activision is intending to cater to a younger audience than Rock Band, whose catalog spans thousands of songs over several decades, and that means providing those songs in a way that modern audiences now consume music.
Hell, there's a Skrillex song in here a song which, I'm almost certain, doesn't actually have any guitar in it.
The set list is an eclectic mix of tunes both old and new, from Judas Priest's 'Breaking the Law' to The Killers' 'When You Were Young', but there's no doubt that the majority of tracks skew modern - most of the game's confirmed list was written within the last 15 years. That's not to say that the songs included with Guitar Hero Live at launch aren't worth playing.