Topic: Guitar Hero World Tour (No Prince confirmed! WHAAAA!)

[Ian Sane]

To be fair Rock Band didn't include a bass and GH: World Tour is just copying that.  The original plan was... well probably to make more money.  But these bundles are expensive and throwing in another guitar raises the price.  Perhaps when Rock Band came out MTV Games took a gamble that a lot of people would own a guitar for Guitar Hero already that they could use as a bass.  So they could exclude it, get a lower price and a large chunk of their audience wouldn't really mind since they would have the hardware already.  Now on the Wii this doesn't work and as far as I know the Xbox 360 is really the only console where the hardware is perfectly compatible with both games with no issues.  But it's not like they could exclude it with the X360 and include it with the other versions.  For Rock Band the X360 looks to be the target platform anyway.

Activision probably figured they could do the same thing especially when a large part of their audience on all platforms would likely have a fully compatible Guitar Hero guitar already.  And if you don't?  Well, hey, why don't you buy GH3 or GH: Aerosmith?  Yeah, that's deliberate but it's a good strategy and the bundle would cost more if they included another guitar.  Note that the extra features that make use the guitar redesign in World Tour are only for the guitar and not the bass.  They're pretty much assuming you'll use the GH3 guitar for bass.  If they wanted to be dicks they would have added the extra stuff to the bass as well to encourage people to buy an extra new design guitar.

[EasyCure]

Well considering the extra features on the new GH:WT guitars are optional and not required in-game to complete a song, i dont think its right to say that they're not intended for bass. They've actually said that the touch strips could be used to recreat a slap bass feel if you chose to play bass with that new guitar controller. Basically, its not like you have to use the old guitars for bass while the guitar players get all the cool new features.

[EasyCure]

I just had a thought..

I've never noticed but are songs in Guitar Hero censored or edited in any way? I was listening to music on the ride to work and a SOAD song came on that i believe is going to be included in World Tour. The start of the chorus has a chant of "where the f*ck are you?" and i thought to myself "how is this going to work with the game?"

I'm an amatuer musician, a music enthusiast, and have varied taste... basically what i'm getting at is i'm one of those crazy people that feel music shouldtn be censored in any way, but i understand why its done and that for the most part something as removing a curse word or something that might be found offensive from a radio single doesnt bother me much.
On the other hand when an artist records some alternate lyrics for a single just to get some airplay, it irks me so much.. but i'm not gonna rant about musical integrity here..

Back to the main topic, how are 'offensive lyrics' such as curse words dealt with in the guitar hero games? I've played some of II and finally bought the lil plastic guitar for III but didnt really notice the contents of the songs. Sometimes i'm so wrapped up in the guitar riffs when playing the game that i drown out the lyrics, even on songs i know the lyrics to by heart!
All the tracks on World Tour are supposed to be master tracks so they can't really get away with re-working the lyrics thru a cover band, so are they going to just have an awkward pause in the lyrics? If WT was just another GH game (sans vocals) it wouldn't be such a problem but its obviously isn't. I don't really see Activision asking the original artist to re-record part of a song just to have the game be a lil more family friendly either... so hows it going to work?

P.S.

Realized in the middle of my post i DO remember an instance when i noticed a song being edited. In GHIII the Dead Kennedys song "Holiday In Cambodia" has a few changed lyrics, such as changing the "n-word" to "brothers". Then i found a video of another song of theirs, "Police Truck," which was in GH: Rock The 80s and was also edited. They changed the words "drunks" to "punks"... wtf?!!?

[nickmitch]

So, there's officially not going to be a stand alone drum kit when this comes out?  Because that kinda screws me over, since I already have two guitars.

[vudu]

I've never noticed but are songs in Guitar Hero censored or edited in any way?

See this example from GHIII.  (~1:00 mark)

In Bulls On Parade they just muted the swear word.  However, it might be a little different for BYOB since **** is a little more pronounced.

[Spinnzilla]

http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?p=r&user=pdtecrj&page=1

for anyone interested here's nearly all of the songs (guitar parts only).  It does give you a look at HENDRIX (!) and Travis Barker. 

The animations are pretty damn smooth this time around (especially when compared to aerosmith).  This is the 360/PS3 version I think.

[BranDonk Kong]

All of the "real curse words" are edited in Rock Band and Guitar Hero. Even stuff like "asshole" and God damn" are censored, which is pretty lame if you ask me. There should be an option, based on parental controls to either censor or not censor the songs.

[Spinnzilla]

All of the "real curse words" are edited in Rock Band and Guitar Hero. Even stuff like "asshole" and God damn" are censored, which is pretty lame if you ask me. There should be an option, based on parental controls to either censor or not censor the songs.

considering both of those are partially censored on television it makes sense.  Not censoring swearing would bump up the rating to Mature. It would cut the market. 

[Ian Sane]

I don't like censorship but I'm not totally oblivious to good business sense either.  Guitar Hero is a game with mass appeal and the gameplay is largely wholesome.  Videogames traditionally get a lot of flack because most games involve killing.  Guitar Hero is just about playing music.  No moral watchdogs are going to go after it.

So the game can't have controversy.  It's too popular to risk it.  Even if they have parental controls you have the f-word in a song and the game is rated 'M'.  That's going to limit sales.  It's going to get parents who bought the previous Guitar Hero games for their kids mad when they buy World Tour under the assumption it would be suitable for kids and it isn't.  Suddenly Guitar Hero is about polluting kids' minds with Satanic music.

I don't like censorship but Rock Band and Guitar Hero are the "it" games right now and they're very non-offensive while still coming across as cool games.  GTA attracted all sorts of negative attention with hot coffee and being a criminal simulation game.  Guitar Hero and Rock Band are good games and they're also great representatives of gaming.  Gaming really needed games like this to become big at this time.

Though if a song needs censorship they could just pick another popular song by the same band without explicit lyrics.  I guess from a gameplay perspective an edited version of the song is better than nothing but having only appropriate songs is less noticable than obviously muted lyrics.

The funny thing of course is the kids all know what the muted word is supposed to be.  Unless you're home schooled you learn all the bad words within the first few months of elementary school - even at religious schools.

[vudu]

I don't like censorship but I'm not totally oblivious to good business sense either.

I understand this perspective for the retail game, but it sucks that DLC tracks are censored, too.  Why can't they just offer Explicit and Clean versions like they do on iTunes?

[Morari]

That's where DLC comes into play. The ESRB says that the gameplay experience may change online, and that such isn't rated. Only persons with a credit card (ie; adults) can purchase those extras songs. Bingo, problem solved. Heck, you could just create an "uncensored patch" and sell it easily enough for a few bucks! Really though, any band that lets their music be used in a way that requires such censorship aren't doing much for their image as artists... it's all about the money at that point.

Does iTunes really offer "clean" versions alongside real version of songs? That's terrible. What kind of an idiot would pay to listen to edited music? Isn't that what the radio is for? Obtrusive ads and annoy DJs ahoy!

[Spinnzilla]

Not world tour related...but it's apparently a leaked teaser for Guitar Hero: Metallica

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=72niMyAvjh0

[vudu]

Does iTunes really offer "clean" versions alongside real version of songs? That's terrible. What kind of an idiot would pay to listen to edited music? Isn't that what the radio is for? Obtrusive ads and annoy DJs ahoy!

Yes, they do.  And while I would never buy a clean version of an album for personal use, I can definitely see how it could be beneficial in some cases.  For example, a DJ at a high school dance could make good use of clean versions of popular rap and R&B songs.  And have you ever tried to find "good" hip-hop for teenagers?  It's not easy, my friend.

[EasyCure]

All of the "real curse words" are edited in Rock Band and Guitar Hero. Even stuff like "asshole" and God damn" are censored, which is pretty lame if you ask me. There should be an option, based on parental controls to either censor or not censor the songs.

Thats how i feel it should be, an option where parents worried about lyrical content can flip and mute those words out, and the rest of us can deal with a little "****" or whatever. But...

I don't like censorship but I'm not totally oblivious to good business sense either.  Guitar Hero is a game with mass appeal and the gameplay is largely wholesome.
... So the game can't have controversy.  It's too popular to risk it.  Even if they have parental controls you have the f-word in a song and the game is rated 'M'.  That's going to limit sales. 

What he said. I even mentioned in my post that i understand why things like curse words are censored over tv and radio play, and i understand why activision would do the same. Its all commercialy motivated, still sucks though.

The video vudu pointed out.. i've played the song a couple times and never noticed the muted word. I would notice if it was a song i was (more of) a fan of and if in WT i had to sing it. Now that i know they just mute it (as opposed to changing the lyric) i wonder how that'll play out.. I never played Rock Band, so... if you're on the mic is it like guitar where if you sing when theres no "notes" you lose your combo or something? Take the BYOB song for example, if i choose to sing "****" when the word isnt there, does it affect the score??

It's going to get parents who bought the previous Guitar Hero games for their kids mad when they buy World Tour under the assumption it would be suitable for kids and it isn't.  Suddenly Guitar Hero is about polluting kids' minds with Satanic music.

Lol... you make it sound like that hasn't happened already

And those are just a few tamer articles i could find.

Though if a song needs censorship they could just pick another popular song by the same band without explicit lyrics.  I guess from a gameplay perspective an edited version of the song is better than nothing but having only appropriate songs is less noticable than obviously muted lyrics.

thats another good alternative but still.. i just wish people weren't so uptight about certain words or that parents would, you know, parent and make effective use of parental controls. Oh well.

[Spinnzilla]

you guys should be happy that censoring is the biggest thing you can complain about.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

they're not happy if they're not complaining. it's the law of the internets!

[EasyCure]

you guys should be happy that censoring is the biggest thing you can complain about.

well there are still friend codes...

[Spinnzilla]

you guys should be happy that censoring is the biggest thing you can complain about.

well there are still friend codes...

well...guitar hero still has one of the most easy to use online systems for wii.

[EasyCure]

you guys should be happy that censoring is the biggest thing you can complain about.

well there are still friend codes...

well...guitar hero still has one of the most easy to use online systems for wii.

but i haff 2 put in de 12 new numberz n it takez foreverz!!!

[Spinnzilla]

hahahhahhahaha.  if friends codes bother people that much, go buy it for the 360. 

[UltimatePartyBear]

Lol... you make it sound like that hasn't happened already

That bit about "Satanic messages when playing Guitar Hero backwards" was added by a random Fark poster for reasons I can only guess would lead us into forbidden religious discussion.  The original story is simply the release of a Christian music alternative to Guitar Hero with no mention of any fundamentalist objections to Guitar Hero except for those imagined by the various 2 kool 4 skool bloggers and forum posters who bounced the story all over the web.

[Spinnzilla]

The part about satanic messages probably came out of, ya know, Lucifer being the the final boss.

[EasyCure]

hahahhahhahaha.  if friends codes bother people that much, go buy it for the 360. 

but den i'dz have to payz a fee n datz stupid for i r 2 1337 4 dat

[EasyCure]

The part about satanic messages probably came out of, ya know, Lucifer being the the final boss.

I'll be honest i didnt check over all the info on the links i posted, but there has been a small bit of controversy over a few things in the guitar hero series. Luicfer being the final boss is one, pentagrams another. The point i was making was that it has happened and honestly there are still people out there that condem (rock) music for being evil and morally corrupting the youth, even without giving them the fodder that rock n roll stereotypes found in guitar hero offer.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

12 digit friend code VS. 8hr work day needed to afford a 360 HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM