[I broke this newsbit at Bemanistyle.com, but, of course, I want to officially post it here for everyone else - you're all the second collective Web site to know about this news]"Allegedly, sometime very soon, "arcade" Guitar Hero will no longer be relegated to fan-made setups such as the one pictured to the right - no, if these rumors pan out, you'll be shredding alongside a friend via your local arcade location.
Back at the beginning of October, rumors started circulating that Activision-Blizzard's Guitar Hero series would be hitting the arcade scene thanks to the development efforts of Raw Thrills. Today, a very reliable source has told Bemanistyle.com exclusively that this is indeed 100% true and the cabinet is slated to make its grand unveiling at the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions exhibit in Orlando, Florida, beginning this Tuesday.
While Raw Thrills is reportedly handling all of the development and engineering, perhaps the most startling news of all is the development that the cabinet will be published by Konami, of all companies, which, if you're a regular on the site, you should know as the publisher and developer of the long-running Guitar Freaks series (among other things). So far, our source has stated the cabinet is going to feature 8-10 speakers, more than 500 LED lights and a 32" monitor. The cabinet is also reportedly slated to take advantage of Internet connections to provide online cash tournaments sometime starting in 2009.
We're still labeling this as rumor until we see for ourselves on Tuesday, but, believe me when I say this is a very reliable source. Once it's unveiled, however, hopefully, along with new arcade machines from Konami and PM Studios, the U.S. arcade scene will get the kick in the pants it needs to rejuvenate a little."
Source:
http://www.bemanistyle.com/index.php/news/guitar-hero-arcade-1130
