A different riff

Who knew a video game had the power to turn one into a rock star?

In Activision's Guitar Hero II, players compete to do just that by shredding guitar riffs from more than 60 songs made famous by bands such as Van Halen, Nirvana, Motley Crüe, Black Sabbath, Reverend Horton Heat and Guns N' Roses. By using a controller modeled after a cherry red Gibson SG, players can move through several different modes, including a practice mode, which was stripped from the original Guitar Hero game.

The “T for Teen-rated” game features new multiplayer modes like Co-op (form a rock band), Pro Face-off (guitar battle) and Face-off (guitar battle with trade-off lead guitar sections), as well as new characters like 1950s rocker Eddie Knox and Norwegian metal dude Lars Umlaut. And the venues have expanded to contain both the Vans Warped Tour and Stonehenge!

John Tam, executive producer at Los Angeles-based Red Octane, the development group behind Guitar Hero, tells Playthings that the game has two guitar streams that let players perform songs in different ways so they won't become bored performing the same songs over and over.

In-store promotions supporting the game will include tie-ins with items like guitar skins for real Gibson guitars, shirts and other guitar-related products. “Word of mouth is also a heavy way that helps to promote the game,” says Tam. “Every fan that tells two friends is just as big of a partner as any other.”

Ultimately, Tam wants players to get something else from the Guitar Hero games. “I want to hear that people actually went out and loved the product enough to go learn to play guitar.”