Where's John?

Where's John?

In nearly two-and-a-half years, neither John nor I have ever missed being on an episode of Inside The Console. Unfortunately, that has finally changed. John was unable to make it to Studio 5 for Episode #111, and we decided not to attempt a Skype- or Gizmo Project-based show since we've had iffy results with those in the past. Luckily, since we now have Drew as our third (and excellent) host, we decided to go ahead and do a show with just him and I, and hold off on John (and his topic) until next time.

So we had to improvise this week, since we didn't want to steal John's thunder and discuss plagiarism in gaming without him. We scrambled for a while, but ended up talking about the impending release of Guitar Hero 4 (or "World Tour" as it's called) and its not-so-shy attempt to conquer Rock Band this holiday season. If you don't know by now, Guitar Hero 4 includes a drum kit (enhanced over Rock Band's) as well as a microphone, and an "unannounced feature" of the guitar which will supposedly change the way music games are played for-evah. I'll believe that one when I see it.

Why the need to completely change your game and attempt to swallow the competition, though? Millions of people enjoy both Guitar Hero and Rock Band, as each cateres to a different audience (to a certain extent). Is Guitar Hero giving up its guitar fundamentals in an attempt to completely outshadow Rock Band?

This is what Drew and I attempt to answer in this episode. Share your thoughts in the comments or shoot us a line at insidetheconsole@gmail.com. Don't forget to answer John's questions about plagiarism, which are posted just below, for the next episode.

-Phil