Last night’s announcement seems to have set off a flurry of questions and speculation about the Wii version of Guitar Hero. Being the obsessive Guitar Hero fan that I am, I spent most of the day pondering all of these questions, much to the disdain of my girlfriend…

Since the game is coming out in “fiscal 2008″, does this mean we have to wait all the way until 2008?-

The fiscal year for Activision begins on April 1 and lasts for 12 months. This means that technically, Guitar Hero could be released anywhere from April 1 of this year, to March of 2008. Since Guitar Hero I & II have been previously been released around the holiday season, I think we could very well see Guitar Hero on the Wii before the year is up.

Will Guitar Hero use the standard guitar peripheral, or will it make use of the Wii Remote and Nunchuk?-

I have a feeling that people are thinking way too hard into this situation. It’s exciting to think about all the possible ways that Guitar Heroness can be achieved on the Wii, but I really think Activision will just stick with the tried and true guitar controller. If they went with the Wii Remote and Nunchuk setup, Activision would be taking a huge gamble, which I just don’t see them doing. This is Activision after all. They love to play it safe by just sticking with a small group of very profitable franchises. Why do you think they gobbled up the Guitar Hero license after the second game was a phenomenal success, like it’s predecessor?

A Wii Remote/Nunchuk setup may also be seen as nothing more than a gimmick by most. While the setup might be cool to try out at first, I can’t foresee many people welcoming an imaginary air guitar with open arms. Without a proper fretboard, the setup would hinder perfection of any song on expert mode, especially when your arms get tired from swinging the Nunchuk in the air for hours at a time.

If Guitar Hero came with the standard guitar controller, how would it work?

There are several ways the guitar controller could potentially work for the Wii (I’m just guessing with these, so some choices might not be possible):

1. A guitar controller where the Wii Remote could slip inside to communicate with the Wii.
2. The guitar as an attachment for the Wii Remote (like the Nunchuk).
3. The guitar as it’s own Bluetooth device (discarding the Wii Remote altogether).
4. The guitar would plug into the Gamecube’s controller ports.
5. The guitar would use the WaveBird’s RF technology to communicate wirelessly with the Gamecube port.

I’ll admit that I’m not the most tech savvy when it comes to the finer points of Nintendo’s systems, but I think that option number 5 might be a likely choice. The WaveBird Gamecube controller works flawlessly with the Wii, so why not make use of this stellar technology? This also might be the most cost effective solution for Activision, since they could just build off of the wireless technology used for the current Guitar Hero controllers.

Taking the cost of development and production into consideration, I just don’t see options 1 and 3 as being the likely solutions for the controller. Option 2 is a possibility, but the Wii Remote just seems like awkward baggage to the guitar. Option 3 is also a possible scenario, but a wired guitar is SO last year. So once again, I’m placing my money on a WaveBirdesque wireless guitar.

Will the Wii version just be a Wii-make of Guitar Hero 2?

I sure hope not. Since Neversoft took over development of the series last month, they might be working on Guitar Hero 3 already. If this is the case, then Activision might pull off a simultaneous release of Guitar Hero 3 for all three platforms.

Can we play the songs from Guitar Hero I and II?

If Activision doesn’t include the first two game’s songs on the Wii version, I hope they figure out a system for downloading the additional songs. Of course, this would require Nintendo to start rolling out their online plans for games…

I want a Drum Hero, dammit! Any possibility of using the Wii Remotes as drum sticks?

Now that would be an awesome idea! As some of you know, Red Octane registered the names “Drum Hero”, “Keyboard Hero”, and “Band Hero”, and Activision has recently registered “Guitar Villain” and “Drum Villain”. I have no idea if these ideas will ever see the light of day, but a Drum/Band Hero makes sense once Guitar Hero starts getting stale…

“We will double our offerings on the DS and the Wii, including Spider-Man, Shrek, Transformers, and Guitar Hero.” Wait a second, does this mean we will see a DS version of Guitar Hero?

A DS version of Guitar Hero could be entertaining, but it would most likely just turn into an all-out tapping fest. A handheld version would also require an entire team dedicated solely to the development of the DS version, since the entire game would have to be reworked and redone. I just don’t see a DS version happening, but I’ve been known to be wrong in these situations. Heck, I could be wrong about everything I just talked about…

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Hopefully we will get more information about the Wii version of Guitar Hero in the coming months. With Activision and Neversoft taking over the series, it’s hard to tell how future versions of Guitar Hero will perform on any of the consoles. There is no need to worry though, as I’m sure the only major change will be the enormous budget set forth to secure many of the previously unattainable artists. That means you, Led Zeppelin.

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