Guitar Hero World Tour is vertically intergrated.
Developed by Neversoft
Published by Redoctane and Activision
Released for PS3, XBOX 360, PS2 and Wii
North America: October 26, 2008 (All Versions)
Europe: November 7, 2008 (Game Solus and Guitar Bundle)
November 14, 2008 (Full band bundle)
for PC/Mac
North America: December 2009 (All Versions)
It sold 543,000 units its first week of release, less than half the sales of Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock during that period.
In november 2008 978,000 units were sold with 475,000 of those for the wii platform. The wii version was the 5th best selling game of december 2008 in the USA selling in over 850'000 copies. While the PS2 version was the highest selling PS2 game in december 2008.
It sold 3.4 million copies across all platforms in North America in 2008.
61% of the games revenue in January 2009 came from full band bundles.
And in 2009 the Guitar Hero franchise surpassed $2 billion in terms of sales for all its games, it is the only third party franchise beside Super Mario and Madden to achieve this.
A large development was needed to produce the game as there are lots of different parts to it, e.g. song note writing, character development, instrument development etc.
Proffesional musical drummers, Chad Smith (Red Hot Chilli Peppers), Stewart Copleand (The Police) and Travis Barker (Blink 182). Helped with the development of the new drum instrument, all of whom suggested the elevated drum cymbals.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGL0BHUlPfE
The major production choice was song choice, the original list began as over 500 songs.
Songs were then prioritised on what would be the best for the game, and so developers then went after songs which would take the longest to licence (Jimi Hendrix songs).
For this version songs with good guitar, bass and drum parst were selected highly for families to play, although songs that were stronger for one instrument were also chosen to make single-player still appealing.
Also special caricatures (real life characters) were also chosen and given special songs, such as Ozzy Osbourne (Lonely Train, Mr Crowley). This was either due to the team seeking that specific artist or the artist approaching the development team and requesting to be a part of it.
E.G. the band "Tool" allowed the inclusion of three of their songs as lon as they were involved in the artwork and tracking of their songs in the game, leading to the creation of the art like Tool venue where there is no band or crowd.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USeB53paKPU
Neversoft developed a game engine for Guitar Hero 3 in anticipation of the XBOX 360 AND PS3 in 2002, but technical advances came so fast and furious it became current and almost defunct.
"Havok" middlewar games engine was used for hair and physical base objects that swung with the characters.
Marketing:
Most adverts showed off the instruments and the fun of playing it, rather than just the actual game.
Both adverts copied a scene from the film "Risky Business" where the characters dances around to Bob Seger's "Old Time Rock and Roll" which older viewers would recognise.
Advert 1: involves athletes and sportsman, Kobe Bryant (basketball), Tony Hawk (skateboarding), Micheal Phelps (swimming) and Alex Rodriguez (baseball) playing along to the game with the new controllers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAgj5eKm8kg
Advert 2: Involved supermodel Heidi Klum playing along to the song with a guitar.
Viral Marketing
Guitar Hero: World Tour has its own website where you can:
Find the songs on the game and download them from an itunes link.
Watch behind the scenes videos
Download game wallpapers for Iphone.
Observe the online scoreboards for each console, song and game mode, you can also message any of the leaders and even become their groupie.
And Guitar Hero: World Tour has its own facebook page.
Non-Advert: Youtube video "Bike Hero" by Droga5 shows a teenage riding a bike along a route marked with symbols similar to in-game tracks with LED lights on the handlebars blinking in time to the notes on the road of "Prisoner Of Society" by The Living End which is an in-game song.
It was considered a succes with about 3.5 million views since its release.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlMYWuGUZlM
Promotion and Extras
The whole band bundle bought exclusively from RedOctane's store also includes a t-shirt, keyring and recharging kit.
Uk players who pre-ordered the full-band bundle recieved a second guitar controller free for bass.
During Christmas 2008 some retailers such as Target sold two indentical wireless guitar controller from the previous game.
Due to the better graphics and capability of the XBOX 360 AND PS3, the Wii had a special Mii freestyle mode made exclusivley for it.
Distribution:
The games was sent to retailers to be sold in tree different forms.
1. The game on its own. (£30-£40)
2. The guitar bundle, the game and one guitar controller. (£70-£80)
3. Full Band Bundle, The game and guitar,drums and microphone controller (£160-£180)
Each of these versions were sold in most games retailers.
Also all of the instruments could be bought individually as well.
All of the songs from this game could also be exportable to Guitar Hero 5 and Band Hero for a small fee.
Online
XBOX 360, PS3 AND Wii owners are able to download new licensed songs that aren't in the game.
Owners are also able to download full music albums and singles such as Metallica's "Death Magnetic" and Oasis's "Dig Out Your Soul", the Metallica album was released in promotion for the game Guitar Hero: Metallica.
Each song costs:
160 Microsoft point for Xbox 360
$1.99 for PS3
200 Wii points for wii
Users can also purchase artist track packs of three songs for:
440 Microsoft Points
$5.49 on Ps3
550 Wii points.
Consumption:
The way the game is played is completely different to any other games.
There are three different controllers, guitar, drums and microphone. And four different playable parts, guitar and bass (both played on guitar), drums and vocals.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XjaImfQK6U
In game modes range from either individual or band career mode which involves playing through all of the songs in order of difficulty therefore unlocking in game stuff.
Or you can simply pick and play any song in quickplay mode without worrying about the competition.
This game is more focused on the idea of everyone playing together either at home with your family and friends, or online with random people. Online leaderboards also show each players progress through the game and their highest score.
Players can also create there own characters to play in game, and there is also a music studio where they can create their own tunes.
Game reviews were all positive with marks ranging from 7.5/10 to 9/10, with the wii version earning the higher scores.
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