With every indication that the hugely popular Guitar Hero franchise is heading towards the same ‘cover every musical angle’ saturation as the SingStar series, Activision has this week moved to tempt an extremely specific thrash-loving audience with the unveiling of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith.
Activision announces Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. Credit: Activision/Harmonix.
As the title implies, the latest Guitar Hero offering from Activision’s musical stable will focus solely on long-serving American rock group Aerosmith by delivering a dedicated set list that spans the band’s career of more than 30 years.
Set to take to the gaming stage this coming June, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith could well be the tip of an extremely lucrative band-specific iceberg -- should it be successful in its singular focus and avoid alienating those Guitar Hero fans not keen on Aerosmith or those who prefer the series’ usual variety.
Credit: Activision
In an attempt to pre-empt any fan criticism regarding the emergence of an Aerosmith-only edition of Guitar Hero, Activision is keen to point out that the game will also feature tracks from artists Aerosmith have either collaborated with or been directly inspired by during their award-winning career.
“Any band that can go from ‘Don’t Want to Miss A Thing’ to the ass-kicking ‘Sweet Emotion’ to the cheekiness of ‘Love in an Elevator,’ to the classic ballad ‘Dream On’ shows why Activision chose us to headline this game based on the diversity of the Aerosmith catalog,” enthused Aerosmith lead vocalist Steven Tyler. “Not only is songwriting a bitch, but then it goes and has puppies.”
To help further the appeal of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, third-party publishing giant Activision is offering owners of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock the opportunity to whet their appetites by downloading the band’s track ‘Dream On’ for gameplay via the Xbox Live Marketplace and PlayStation Store. Available from Feb 16 to Feb 18, the track is completely free.
When it struts up the mic in June, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith (which, contrary to current 'full-band multiplayer' rumours, is for 'guitar' heroes only) will be released for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, and PlayStation 2.
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