The annual Games Convention is going on this week in Leipzig, Germany. When it was first introduced in 2002, the GC was an oddity at best. It falls on the calendar barely a month after E3 and before the Tokyo Game Show, is open to the public, and is a mostly console show seated in the heart of a decidedly PC-centric gaming scene. So it was a surprise to see any big news come out of the show.
Six years and a confusing E3 metamorphasis later, Leipzig still isn’t a white-hot show by any stretch of the imagination. Nintendo’s not attending this year, and Microsoft won’t be holding a press conference. However, a few nuggets were saved from min-E3 and are making a big splash at the show this week.
Capcom will finally be showing the console version of Street Fighter IV. The arcade game was still pretty fresh at E3, and they gave the public a pretty good look at the San Diego Comicon earlier this summer. Smart move to sit on the console version. But the big Leipzig news that caught my attention came out of Activision: Guitar Hero World Tour on the 360, PS2 and PS3 will be combatible with all the instruments from previous Guitar Hero games on those systems, and even Rock Band 1 & 2. It’s about time.
World Tour’s set list, composition mode and exclusive bands are attractive, but Rock Band’s commitment to DLC and serious, curatorial take on the rhythem game are a tough act to follow. It was shaping up to be a tough choice for gamers (including yours truly) this Christmas between the two… especially for those gamers who couldn’t possibly bring more toy instruments into their living room.
