Guitar Hero Finally Coming for Nintendo DS

If you're a gamer and a Gadget Addict you may have been depressed that the hugely successful game Guitar Hero has yet to be made available for your favorite handheld, whether it's the PSP, Nintendo DS or... uh, the PSP or the Nintendo DS. In fact, it's likely that you never even thought that a handheld version of GH was possible. Well, Activision and the Nintendo DS will prove that theory wrong come June of this year when Guitar Hero: On Tour comes out for the DS.

Why does Nintendo's handy game-device get picked while Sony's infinitely lickable PlayStation Portable is left Guitar-Heroically-challenged? Well, the DS has a (not all that) secret weapon in this battle--the GBA slot (or Slot-2, as it is sometimes called). Into that slot goes a new peripheral Activision is calling "Guitar Grip." The thing is literally a handle that allows you to hold the DS like it's the neck of a guitar. Pretty rockin', huh?

Sorry...

Anyway, the question you're probably asking, assuming you've played Guitar Hero before, is simple enough: How do you strum?

Well, if you've given Jam Sessions a try, you already know how well the DS's touchscreen works for strumming. In fact, it's Jam Sessions that is the closest competition to the DS version of Guitar Hero and Jame Sessions doesn't come with any sort of accessory at all. Not that it needs one. Really, neither does Guitar Hero: On Tour. You could, one assumes, just use the D-pad to hit the four buttons instead of being forced to pay extra for a device with those four buttons.

Yep, you read that right--the "Guitar Grip" only sports four buttons, as opposed to the original GH controllers, which have five buttons. So, there's a bit of a trade-off. However, you have to admit thatthe "GG" peripheral does look pretty damn cool and how awesome is it to take your Guitar Heroism on the road?

Gamestop.com will be shipping Guitar Hero: On Tour for the Nintendo DS on June 22, 2008. The price? $50. Of course, you get a free pair of headphones with the game and "Guitar Grip", which will no doubt make the fact that Jam Sessions costs $30 less seem like no big deal.

...Or not.