Mobile users hold out for a guitar hero

Published on Saturday 19 July 2008 19:36

GET ready to rock – on your handset.

Addicts of the hit computer game Guitar Hero will no longer be confined to fretting their plastic guitar in their living room.

Soon they will be able to play the rock music game on their mobile phone.

In the international best-selling console game, competitors choose a character, a guitar make, a song and a difficulty level from a vast number of options.

They then have to "play" their chosen anthem by corresponding the on-screen coloured notes to their guitar-shaped control panel.

The mobile version will be a scaled-down affair with players having to use a default Les Paul guitar and being restricted to just two characters.

When notes on the phone screen start appearing gamers must hit numbers on their keypad to match the three colours of the notes.

The mobile game comes with 15 songs, including Carlos Santana's 'Black Magic Woman' and 'Bad Reputation' by Joan Jett, but dedicated gamers can download an extra three every month.

Depending on a phone's capabilities, the songs may not be original recordings but synthesised versions along the lines of ringtones.

In the US, the Activision game is to be offered to subscribers of the four biggest mobile phone networks for around 2 a month.

Guitar Hero Mobile is expected to be made available in the UK later in the summer.

It is being tipped to become the most successful console-to-mobile transfer so far seen.

The original game, along with its sequels, has sold more than 3 million copies around the world since it was released in 2005.

Its success has led to many bars in the US and Canada offering Guitar Hero nights as an alternative to karaoke.