Interview: DS-Wii connectivity redefined with Guitar Hero 5

Every rockstar has a roadie. There's a respect built between the helpful roadie and spotlight-grabbing musician from which Vicarious Visions has drawn in crafting the unique connection in Guitar Hero 5 between Nintendo DS and Wii.

Abandoning the concept that handheld-console connectivity puts the handheld in an inferior role, CEO Karthik Bala divulges a new riff on such connectivity. While such a link up has been done in other games, the way in which the DS is utilised marks a significant departure from previous novel attempts.

Roadie mode, which makes its debut in Guitar Hero 5 exclusively on Wii, features an inventive take on handheld-console connectivity. The mode has you and up to three friends splitting into teams comprising a guitarist and roadie.

Each roadie is played using a DS via wireless connection, while guitarists equip one of the game's guitar peripherals. Roadies back up their guitarist by using the DS touchscreen to fend off attacks from the opposing team, as well as launch their own attacks.

Mini-games include repairing broken guitar strings and amplifier attacks that engulf the opposing guitarist's note track in flames. Since you're unable to instigate attacks while aiding your own guitarist, the role of roadie takes on tactical significance. In other words, the DS is a critical component in this inventive multiplayer mode.

"There's a lot of strategy and depth to it that we think will appeal to core gamers," predicts Bala. Accessibility plays a crucial role in that appeal. "We've been working closely with Nintendo," he explains. "The result is a robust interface on the touchscreen and effortless connectivity."

It might be easy for the player, but Bala points out that the development process was intense. "We had a dedicated team within the development group responsible just for focusing on DS connectivity - it was a considerable investment."

Making the Wii-DS connectivity happen was less about the technology and more about game design, surprisingly. "The base Wii-DS connectivity was fairly easy to do," he says. "Being able to deliver a compelling experience around that, however, is a fair bit of work."

Given the resources and effort required to make it happen, Bala explains the motivation behind the decision to include DS connectivity. "The number of Wii owners with DS handhelds is surprisingly high and we want to capitalise on that." Getting players to link a DS to the console doesn't appear to be much of a challenge given the ubiquity of both platforms.

When pressed on why Guitar Hero: On Tour isn't required, Bala highlights the added complexity of employing an extra game to make the connection happen. "We wanted to open it up to as many people as possible and if we used On Tour, we would have limited the number of people who could have participated."

He laughs when considering the additional work required as a result. "It was definitely a lot more work, but makes the game more accessible as a result."

Beginning today, you can judge just how accessible Wii-DS connectivity in Guitar Hero 5 is with the game arriving in stores today, September 1.