Or at least as much as can be done in a living room. Jamie Jackson, creative director from FreeStyleGames, which made Guitar Hero for Activision, believes this will give players a visceral, realistic experience. Keep playing the wrong notes and even the band starts scowling. When he screws up, the crowd gives him nasty looks. When the player hits all his notes, the crowd of hundreds or thousands of extras goes wild. The screen shows the stage from the eyes of the band's lead guitarist. This time, Activision has taped live performances with real musicians forming invented bands to play real music. Part of FreeStyleGames' motion-capture and live recording rig that allowed the developer to create its interactive performances. In the past, the background of the game featured cartoon musicians and crowds, re-creating the atmosphere of music venues large and small. The company wants to make you feel like an up and coming rock legend, and the way it will do that has to do with everything else that's not the game's music or controls. But what's changed is what happens on the screen behind the game. Guitar Hero will still have a plastic instrument-controller and ask you to learn twitchy finger-moves that made living room gamers feel like rock stars back in 2007. Game maker Activision Blizzard is reintroducing its play-along music game after a four-year hiatus with a new spin that it hopes will get music fans interested again. Well, Guitar Hero wants to rock your world - again. Remember when the video game industry sold plastic guitar-shaped controllers and a game that helped you live out your fantasies of playing Guns N' Roses 'Welcome to the Jungle' atop a stage of adoring fans? Activision hopes 'live' performances will make the difference. It's Guitar Hero, but it's also different.

Guitar hero live