Everybody can be a Guitar star

It’s official: Guitar Hero World Tour’s release this week means the war of the band games is on.

Guitar Hero World Tour expands the guitar-only formula of the series to allow an entire band to play together, much like its competitors, Rock Band and Rock Band 2.

While the Rock Band series was first out of the gate to offer a full-band experience, Guitar Hero World Tour enters the arena with more game modes and a Music Studio feature that lets players compose their own songs. Only time — and the sound of clicking peripherals — will tell which series prevails.

A refreshing alternative to the violent fare usually equated with gaming, music games that allow multiplayer participation are a hot trend in entertainment right now.

Players choose an authentically shaped instrument for guitar, bass, drums, or pick up a microphone for vocals and participate by keeping in rhythm with scrolling notes on the television.

Technology journalist Kris Abel attended the recent Guitar Hero World Tour launch party in Toronto and got a chance to rock out on guitar and do vocals on tracks such as Today by the Smashing Pumpkins. He says games such as Guitar Hero World Tour could make stage fright a thing of the past among the younger generation since these aren’t just music games any more — they’re full-blown performance simulators.

“I think these games are going to create an entire generation who don’t know the meaning of stage fright and have fewer self-esteem issues,” Abel said.

Craig Flannagan, a platform manager for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 game system, says Guitar Hero World Tour and other music games are expected to become the biggest force driving new gamers to the system. He believes the popularity of music games stems largely from their social nature.

“These are games that are taking gaming to a very social place. It’s easy to bring new people in and play together, and experiences are better when they’re shared with friends,” Flannagan said.