Nerd | Geek

Guitar Hero fans rejoice! IGN has an exclusive on the new Guitar Hero game for the Nintendo DS system which also comes with a new Guitar Grip to make playing the game on the DS as authentic as possible. Looks good, and really slick, so I guess this game will probably get people buying the original game instead of downloading the rom for the R4. Heh.

The Nintendo DS version — Guitar Hero: On Tour — is in development at Vicarious Visions, the team best known for the Tony Hawk and Spider-Man series on the dual-screen handheld, as well as the Nintendo Wii conversion of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock released late last year. This portable version will feature the same rhythm-based “play to the music” gameplay of the big boys, and will even have its own peripheral to get the job done: Red Octane has developed what it’s calling the Guitar Grip to give players the ability to finger chords in similar fashion as the console version’s guitar peripheral.

To play, users will hold the DS like a book, and the left hand will be used to press the four buttons that are located on the GBA slot. The right hand will be used for strumming. Sounds awkward I know, but once you get used to it, you’ll never look back, plus future expansions will use the same grip so R4 users can well…you know.

This is frigging awesome.