So I finally jumped on the $100 price slash and scored World Tour. As much as I complain about Gamestop I simply could not pass it up. Stan Bush, the 80’s rock legend from the original Transformers animated movie has offered up “The Touch” as a free downloadable track from the PS3 store. Stan even remastered the track for this free distribution. How cool is this guy? And if you argue that this song is not epic on cosmic level proportions, well then my heartfelt apologies go out for there is truly no hope for you. And if you’re a true 80’s kid that gets it then prepare for a religious experience.

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Well I finally pulled the trigger on Guitar Hero: World Tour. The kit being close to $200 dollars just wasn’t in the cards for me as I had planned on waiting until it reached the 100 dollar range. Amazon had a promotion where GH:WT was selling for just that with the odd exception of the PS3 version going for 120. So I played the waiting game.

Turns out patience paid off and the old adage “good things come to those who wait” proved true when Gamestop started their $100 off band bundle on all platforms. Leaving this happy guitar hero leaving the store with a kit priced at $89.99.

Check out the offer here while the good keeps going!

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Got that Android G1 phone? If you do it looks like the ultimate phone app game has arrived in the form of Guitar Hero on the go. They’ve designed the game so that you can hold down the appropriate buttons via the G1 touch screen and strum away the tedium of car trips and movie theater commercials. (not to be confused with movie trailers) Yeah, it’s kind of dorky but it beats thumb wrestling. Plus if you’re not above tapping on plastic toy guitars then you shouldn’t really have any issues with this either. And if you fear being seen in public doing this well you need not worry because if you have a G1 chances are you’re better than most people anyway.

That’s a joke. At least it’s not an iphone, amiright? Just kidding again. Kinda.

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The Guitar Hero experience is now being brought to fans via a non-console version.  Vicarious Visions has found a way to bring the Guitar Hero experience to the handheld Nintendo DS (as well as Game Boy Advance and DS Lite, with the help of an included small plastic adapter) in the form of Guitar Hero: On Tour.

Now, rather than using a plastic guitar, the handheld version comes with a four-button “guitar grip.” You slide your left hand through the adjustable wrist strap and cradle the DS in your palm, such as you would an open book. Notes scroll downward on the left screen and you push down on the corresponding fret buttons with your fingertips. There is no strum bar, instead you use the included guitar pick-like stylus to strum across the guitar that is displayed on the right screen. It takes a bit of practice to get the strumming down but unfortunately, even when you do, at times the input is not registered. Improving your high scores using this handheld version can become quite frustrating but isn’t enough of an issue to render the game unplayable.

Guitar Hero: World Tour for Nintendo DS with fret attachment

The game begins with instructions for the player to keep his/her wrist straight, to take frequent breaks to avoid cramping, try different play styles to find one that is most comfortable for the player, and to even visit the game’s Web site “for more play comfort suggestions.” That tells me that someone was aware that the game could present physical problems for people.

There are 26 songs on the setlist. The audio quality of the songs is poor through the DS speakers and it has been recommended to use headphones, but this also highlights the low fidelity of the tracks.

It is yet to be seen what types of improvements will follow and possibly allow the user to play the game with some sort of alternate control scheme, but such an option isn’t available.

Though impressive from a technical standpoint, the limited setlist, the somewhat awkward-at-times fret attachment, and the high price tag ($50 USD) leads a Guitar Hero aficionado to decide whether the cost is worth having your favorite game…on the go.

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