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Kai Huang holds forth on GHIV

We caught up with RedOctane's founder and president to talk Guitar Hero sequels, boss battles, and working with Aerosmith.

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Life is good for Kai Huang, president and founder of RedOctane. In just over two years, he's gone from working with cover versions of famous songs for the first Guitar Hero to working with Aerosmith for its very own game. Visiting London to attend a gig by The Answer, which was organised to promote the newest game in the Guitar Hero stable, Huang met up with us to discuss the possibility of more band-specific Guitar Hero titles, as well as the fourth full game in the series.

When asked about how Guitar Hero/Aerosmith came about, Huang said: "Guitar Hero itself is becoming such a popular game, and Joe Perry's kids were playing the game. So when we approached [Aerosmith] about just having their music in the game, the discussion turned much bigger. It was like, how can we do something much bigger here?"

While the Guitar Hero community has been quite vocal in its reaction to the Aerosmith deal, it could well be the start of more band-specific Guitar Hero games according to Huang. "We would love to continue working with bands," he said. "We'd love to continue working with bands to develop another game like [Guitar Hero:] Aerosmith, where you not only get to see the career progression of these bands, but there will also be other bands in there as well." Referring specifically to GH: Aerosmith, Huang commented, "There are songs in there by people who are friends of Aerosmith, so it will be Aerosmith, but with other things as well. That's something that we want to do with other bands."

Fans may remember that Guitar Hero III introduced many new features to the series, including online play and wireless guitars. Can we expect them to return? And what about the oft-maligned boss battles? "I think all the things that fans liked in Guitar Hero III will be in the next Guitar Hero games. We've tweaked a few things here and there, we've made a few things better from feedback from fans, but most of the features that you saw in Guitar Hero III will be in Guitar Hero: Aerosmith."

We ended our interview on the subject of Guitar Hero rumours, specifically concerning the possibility of new peripherals for the series. "We have a lot of things planned for Guitar Hero IV, but we're not ready to announce any new peripherals. We have very ambitious plans for Guitar Hero, and however we can deliver what the fans want, we're going do it. Whether that's through downloadable content or additional games, we're looking at every possible way to deliver what they want."

The full Kai Huang interview will appear in an upcoming edition of GameSpot UK video show Start/Select.

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