IGN and Yahoo both teamed up exclusively to announce the peripheral that would be used to play Guitar Hero: On Tour for the Nintendo DS. RedOctane has created the Guitar Grip, and it may be the future of portable music games to come!

The Guitar Grip will plug into the Game Boy Advance slot at the bottom of the Nintendo DS system. Players put their hand through the strap of the Guitar Grip for a firm hold on the system, and then position the system in its vertical book form. The peripheral has a storage area for a specially designed stlyus pick, which is used to strum the guitar strings on the touch-screen. As the notes slide down the screen, players strum the strings while pressing the corresponding fret buttons, all to the rhythm of the song that’s being played. According to the video released by Activision, the microphone comes into play during songs — we’re guessing it’ll be used as control to activate Guitar Hero’s “Star Power” mode to increase the points multiplier.

“At some point, we hit upon the idea of creating a peripheral that would have the fret buttons plugging into the GBA slot of the DS,” he recalled. “We ripped apart an old GBA cartridge and did some electronics work on it to rig up a prototype device. As awkward and crude as that prototype was, that’s when we knew we were onto something. We figured that attaching a full-size guitar or even a mini-guitar would be too awkward to play on the road, hence the design of the more compact Guitar Grip, which gives you the tactile sense of the fret buttons, with the touch screen depicting the strings of the guitar.”

Despite the new radical control scheme, Guitar Hero: On Tour will remain true to its console counterparts with the single player Campaign Mode; the entire game will be featuring over 20 hit songs from bands such as Nirvana and No Doubt (more will be revealed in the future). There are six guitarists to choose from, four of which were in previous Guitar Hero games and two that are exclusive to the DS game.

Guitar Hero: On Tour isn’t limited to single player as it also includes a two-player cooperative and competitive mode via local-wireless connection. Just like Guitar Hero 3, this game allows players to use power ups which more often than not make the experience more disorientating for the opposite player. For example, one powerup will send the crowd raving wildly and the player has to sign autographs in order to rid the pests away while another sets your guitar on fire and you’ll have to blow it out using the built-in mic.

Activision is looking for a summer 2008 release for Guitar Hero: On Tour and unlike the console games which have a rating of Teen, this will be E10+.

Source: IGN