[Wii] SD card to the storage rescue in Guitar Hero: World Tour

[Will]

Vicarious Visions, the developer behind the Guitar Hero games on Nintendo platforms, has spoken to GameDaily about solving the Wii storage issue with Guitar Hero: World Tour, allowing the game to feature downloadable songs through an in-game music store.

The company's CEO, Karthik Bala, said, "That's right! Guitar Hero World Tour will be the first Wii game to offer downloadable songs through an in-game music store. Players can preview, purchase and download songs using Wii Points and we'll have new songs available on a regular basis.

"Players can either download songs to the Wii System Memory or store songs on a SD Card, called the "Rock Archive". When you want to play songs from the Rock Archive, players can create a custom set list, and then choose a venue and play!"

The music will be stored in a compact, custom Wii format, Bala added, and in the future, the company might be interested in releasing exclusive Wii-only tracks to complement the multi-platform downloadables and the 85 master-recordings which will feature on the disc from day one. "That's a lot of music," said Bala.

The amount of people who played GHIII online on Wii was surprising according to Bala, and he added, "This year, we've really expanded the multiplayer options to eight players, either head to head (e.g. 2 vs. 2, 3 vs. 3 or Band vs. Band), cooperative or online career modes."

Nintendo has an interest in seeing the Guitar Hero games succeed on its platforms and has been working closely with Vicarious Visions. "Nintendo is a great partner to work with," said Bala. "Guitar Hero World Tour is requiring a lot of work on both the hardware and software side, so Nintendo's been working closely with both RedOctane and Vicarious Visions to make it a great title for the Wii platform."

Nintendo's recommended approach of employing a wired USB microphone in World Tour has been adopted, but the guitar and drum periperhals are completely wireless thanks to the use of the Wii Remote.

"The Wii is definitely a platform that appeals to a wide variety of people," said Bala. "A big part of Guitar Hero's success has come from its accessibility and broad appeal. In a way, it inherently overlaps with the Wii audience and their interests.

"Having said that, we are working on some Wii specific features that I can't quite talk about just yet."

[Sensitive Salaryman]

I say this is good news for all those with an inner rock star, like myself.

[Bjay]

Good news to hear.

Shame there's no new method but at least they are re-enforcing the use of an SD card.

[Rift]

+1 to Vicarious Visions. Read about this a couple of days ago, awesome to see GH:WT for Wii will not be as gimped as the last one.

[spyke]

well they are clearly surpassing rock band's attempt on wii.. they dont even have wifi (what a joke).

[BrettJay]

Awesome news.

I'd like it if the graphics were improved over Guitar Hero III. Sure, it won't be able to live up to the PS3 and 360 experience, but that's no reason not to make it look the best it can, and although Guitar Hero III on Wii looked fine, it looked distinctly PS2-like.

Guitar Hero: World Tour Wii > Rock Band Wii

At least VV are trying. More than we can say for Harmonix - like spyke said - the Wii version of RB doesn't have online; except that cannot be attributed to a lack of hard drive - it's just a side effect of porting the PS2 version and not being bothered trying to add a feature that even Guitar Hero III already has.

[BoonMcNougat]

I'm still not sure whether or not I choose this over the xbox 360 version.

This is a tough, tough, tough choice. It will likely come down to the guitar controller for the 360.

[Parasyte]

+50

I can't believe that finally the Wii get's dlc for it's games and it was as simple as downloading everything to an SD Card... Who would i thought... /sarcasm

[jezcat]

does no-one see the potential for piracy here?
Like, I'm not condoning it or anything, but SD cards get plugged into computers pretty easily nowadays.
And most people with computers can upload anything to the 'net. Looks like the necessity to actually pay for Wii DLC won't last that long.

[Bread In A Box]

Wow I'm still getting the 360 version because it'll suck less.

[Parasyte]

Originally Posted by Bread In A Box

Wow I'm still getting the 360 version because it'll suck less.

Me is too...and for the same reason. :D

[MattManic7325]

Originally Posted by jezcat

does no-one see the potential for piracy here?
Like, I'm not condoning it or anything, but SD cards get plugged into computers pretty easily nowadays.
And most people with computers can upload anything to the 'net. Looks like the necessity to actually pay for Wii DLC won't last that long.

I imagine they'll be "locked" to the Wii that downloaded the game, same as Virtual Console games.

[Hyper the Metroid]

Originally Posted by xParad0Xx

Me is too...and for the same reason. :D

/me high fives you gaiz.

[TSPhoenix]

Its a step in the right direction, what I want to see next is the ability to swap discs so I can play GH3 songs in GH4. Sure there would be a lot of swapping, but its better than having to turn the system off.

Originally Posted by jezcat

does no-one see the potential for piracy here?
Like, I'm not condoning it or anything, but SD cards get plugged into computers pretty easily nowadays.
And most people with computers can upload anything to the 'net. Looks like the necessity to actually pay for Wii DLC won't last that long.

Its called encryption, same thing that VC and WiiWare games have when copied to SD that means they can only be played on your Wii. Its not foolproof but it makes it hard enough such that probably no more than a few perfect of those who buy the game will do it as the process is not really within reach of the average consumer.

Every system has suffered from piracy and it hasn't killed any of them, in fact I'd say its why the PSX was so successful. The same risk exists on 360 and PS3 as they save to standard PC hard drives and allow you to backup your data, bu

[Dark Moogle]

Now if they just give us the DLC songs from Guitar Hero 3 I will have been won over and will go get back into the series. It's nice to not feel like a gimped consumer!