Competition looms for new 'Guitar Hero'

The biggest — and loudest — battle in the videogame business this holiday season could turn on a simple question: Who can rock the hardest?

The battle will be fought with controllers shaped like guitars, drum kits and microphones in a category that has become a gold mine thanks to the huge success of "Guitar Hero," a game that makes players who can't play a lick feel like virtual rock stars.

"Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock," the latest version of the Activision Inc. game, hit stores recently, featuring a new wireless guitar controller for jamming along to original recordings of Pearl Jam's "Even Flow," Guns N' Roses' "Welcome to the Jungle" and other ax-heavy tunes.

But the title, which has dominated the music-games category, will now face a formidable new competitor named "Rock Band," which goes on sale next month. Instead of one instrument for controlling the game, the game has four — a guitar, bass, microphone and drums — to better simulate the thrill of being in a music group.

Although many analysts believe "Guitar Hero's" reputation will be hard to overcome this holiday season, "Rock Band" has two major assets behind it: the creative team that made the original "Guitar Hero," Harmonix, and the deep pockets of Viacom Inc.'s MTV, which acquired Harmonix last year.

The music-games genre has found an immense audience by stretching the boundaries of what videogames are. There have been more than 5.9 million copies sold of the earlier versions of "Guitar Hero" in the United States since the game's first installment was released two years ago.

"Guitar Hero" has also successfully tapped into new audiences, partly by avoiding the mayhem that's common in many games. Activision's own research shows that 20 percent of the users of "Guitar Hero" are first-time players of game consoles, including many musicians.

"Guitar Hero III" and "Rock Band" share a similar concept: simulating a sense of creative participation in the music. The games score players on the precision with which they hit color-coded buttons that correspond to visual cues that flash on their TV screens in synch with songs. Users don't technically "play" the musical notes with their instruments, but if they don't hit the right buttons on their controllers the songs don't sound right. As users play, the games show computer animations of rockers strutting on stage to further convey the mood of a performance.