Re: Nintendo DS
Activision confirmed a portable version of Guitar Hero for Nintendo DS on Wednesday while simultaneously unveiling a new peripheral add-on.
Guitar Grip add-on to play Guitar Hero DS, bookstyle
The announcement was made by IGN today revealing that the oft rumored handheld edition would be coming "this summer."
Guitar Hero: On Tour will ship with its own fret peripheral which plugs into the GameBoy Advance cartridge slot. Strums will take place on the touch screen using an included oversized pick or a default stylus. The built-in microphone will also be used, perhaps to control "Star Power," speculates IGN.
"We began prototyping ideas for Guitar Hero on DS in early 2007," said Vicarious Visions CEO Karthik Bala. "We figured that attaching a full-size guitar or even a mini-guitar would be too awkward to play on the road, hence the design of the more compact Guitar Grip, which gives you the tactile sense of the fret buttons, with the touch screen depicting the strings of the guitar."
More than 20 licensed songs have been confirmed including tracks from Nirvana, OK Go, and No Doubt. A single player campaign and local multiplayer mode have also been confirmed, but no word yet regarding online play, a specific release date, or pricing.
The game is being developed by Vicarious Visions, the same studio that forgot to include stereo sound when it made the Wii version of Guitar Hero III. The problem has since been taken care of, however, through a disc replacement program.