GH:Aerosmith Interview with David Nathanielsz, Executive Producer, Vicarious Visions

The Wiire had the opportunity to talk a little bit with David Nathanielsz regarding the Wii's version of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. He had a lot of information to give, so let's get to it.

The Wiire - Many fans are excited to see Aerosmith to be featured in a video game, but at the same time, some argue that their may have been better choices. What made you decide on Aerosmith?

DAVID - Aerosmith is one of the most important bands in rock history! They're one of just a handful of bands that have been creating great music for decades and they're in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, so they were an obvious choice for the game. RedOctane has fielded a lot of feedback from fans of the Guitar Hero series over the years and Aerosmith has always been one of the top five most requested bands.

Beyond that, they are also fans of Guitar Hero. The initial idea to build a game around Aerosmith was sort of a joint idea between RedOctane, Joe Perry and the entire band. But really, the most compelling reason to focus on Aerosmith was their music. Their songs are incredibly fun to play in Guitar Hero - the guitar and bass lines work great for the note tracks - and I think that even people who don't consider themselves fans of the band will have a great time playing the songs.

The Wiire - Sounds like the perfect fit for the game, it's great to see musicians get into the games that clone their talent. The game progresses loosely based on the band's actual history. Can you explain this in anymore detail?

DAVID - Each venue in the game covers a key moment in Aerosmith's 30-year history as a band. You start out at Aerosmith's first gig - Nipmuc High School - and progress through the same trajectory of stardom that the band did, playing bigger clubs, stadiums and touring the world. Additionally, the band is featured throughout the game in a number of video clips talking about their history and the significance of the songs and venues that you are playing.

The Wiire - The band's history sort of represents the history of Rock in the past few decades, so it will be interesting to see that! Speaking of which, Aerosmith is not the only band to have songs in this game; can you fill us in on some of the other bands and their songs?

DAVID - Yes, 60% of the tracklist is songs by Aerosmith but the other 40% is from other bands and artists. These were hand-picked to reflect artists through the ages that have a connection to Aerosmith - many that were influenced by the band and many that are friends and have toured with them in the past. They include Cheap Trick, Lenny Kravitz, The Kinks, The Clash, Run D.M.C (of course!) and many more.


The Wiire - Of course Run D.M.C., what a perfect fit! It will be great to see them in digital form as well. Speaking of which, when playing this game, do we play as Joe Perry or does this game feature any unlockable characters not previously seen, and can you detail those for us?

DAVID - When you perform the Aerosmith songs in the game you play as Joe Perry. But you can also play as any one of your favorite Guitar Hero characters from the past. And yes, there are a few new unlockable characters in the game - but you'll have to find them yourself!

The Wiire - Sounds like you're being tight-lipped about those elusive unlockables, but I'll try anyway... Any surprises you care to reveal?

DAVID - I'd prefer to keep the surprises secret so you can find them yourself when you're playing the game. But I should definitely mention the inclusion of Run D.M.C. and "Walk This Way" in the game. This was one of Aerosmith's biggest hits so it was a no-brainer including it in the game. And it really adds to the authenticity of the game to have D.M.C. on-stage performing with the band while you shred away on the guitar.

The Wiire - How closely did the band work with the developers to get this game as accurate to the Aerosmith experience as possible?

DAVID - The band was deeply involved in the development process and was very invested in ensuring the accuracy and quality of the game. The band did full motion capture for their in-game characters. In fact, Steven Tyler was so dedicated to getting the experience right that he did specific motion capture and lip-sync for each and every song. Additionally, the band re-recorded and re-mastered some songs to make sure the audio and music quality was as good as possible.

The Wiire - Wow, a band that committed to a video game must make for a great final product, it's great to hear how dedicated they are! Are there any other plans to develop band-centric games based on other bands? Will there be any other Guitar Hero releases before the end of the year?

DAVID - Right now the focus is on Guitar Hero: Aerosmith and Guitar Hero: On Tour for the Nintendo DS - which are both releasing this June - as well as the upcoming Guitar Hero World Tour later this year.

The Wiire - The Wii Version of Guitar Hero 3 was criticized for the graphics compared to other Next-Gen consoles and of course the lack of stereo support. Has there been any advancement for the Aerosmith version?

DAVID - Fortunately, our development schedule for Aerosmith was long enough for us to focus on squeezing every last drop out of the game's graphics on the Wii. We built every venue from scratch and spent a lot of effort optimizing the visuals to look as good as possible on the Wii without sacrificing performance. Frankly, I don't think GH3 Wii had poor graphics and I'm surprised someone would criticize it compared to other offerings on the Wii. But Aerosmith looks even better!

I'm also happy to say that Aerosmith has stereo support - just like any copy of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock that you can buy in the store today.

The Wiire - Thanks for taking the time to talk with us today David, it sounds as if Guitar Hero III: Aerosmith will be a blast!