Sometimes, it's tough keeping up with all of these music games. You have Guitar Hero 5, The Beatles: Rock Band, DJ Hero, Rock Band 2 and one of the oddest games, Band Hero.

Looks like Guitar Hero. Plays like Guitar Hero, but is it Guitar Hero? Yes, mostly.Click to see more images from the game...

Band Hero? From Activision? Two months after Guitar Hero 5's debut? It sounds bizarre and potentially dangerous (hello consumer confusion), but Activision will roll out another member of its musical family November 3rd, a game that essentially plays exactly like Guitar Hero, but with family friendly music.

To get more info on Band Hero, we fired off some questions to Activision expecting one person to reply. Instead, we received responses from a few passionate Band Hero fans that want to set the record straight on PSP support, plastic instruments and DSi owners who can no longer play portable Guitar Hero games, but can somehow still mess around with the handheld version of Band Hero. On top of that, we have a new video for the DS version.

Why should someone, who already invested time and money in the Guitar Hero franchise, purchase Band Hero?

TIM RILEY, VP of Music Affairs, Activision: Band Hero is a great addition to the Guitar Hero family. It's the first game in the franchise that focuses on Top 40, chart-topping hits from today and yesterday's most popular artists, appealing to a much broader audience with an E10+ rating. It delivers a whole new genre of music to the music gaming space. Band Hero also brings new features to the table, like the game's Sing-Along mode, allowing people to come together to sing and perform songs that they know and love. For those that already invested in the Guitar Hero franchise, songs from Band Hero can be imported into Guitar Hero 5. Band Hero is also compatible with Guitar Hero 5 DLC.

How does Activision plan to market Band Hero and Guitar Hero? How do you avoid confusing consumers?

AMY LONGHI, Director of Marketing, Band Hero: Band Hero brings the biggest music event of the year right into living rooms, and we're so excited to introduce the franchises' first E10+ rated console game to a more broad audience of music fans, including kids and parents. Band Hero delivers the most social and accessible Guitar Hero game to date, and is designed to expand the appeal with 65 of the hottest chart-topping hits, including a set list that's full of music that everyone knows and loves. Headlined by some of the leading names in music as in-game artists and playable characters, including Taylor Swift and Adam Levine of Maroon 5, Band Hero is the ultimate party game for friends and family to enjoy.

Thankfully, you don't need to buy the new instruments unless you're a peripheral fiend.Click to see more images from the game...

There are also several new features in Band Hero that really help differentiate this product from other music games, including the all new Sing-Along mode, which captures the fun of singing and performing elements of the music. Sing-Along mode is a classic karaoke mode where up to four players can sing together with no scoring and no failing for pure singing enjoyment. With all new venues and characters designed to be glitzy, glamorous and to reflect a pop lifestyle, Band Hero will also have a different look and feel than other games in the Guitar Hero franchise.

Can you describe the process that goes into acquiring these artists/songs? What are some of the hurdles that the company faces?

TIM RILEY: The process is a combined effort between the music department in both North America and Europe, as well as the developer and the brand team, to identify the best music for the game. We begin making a master song list by looking at a number of variables, including popularity, variety and gameplay. Another important component for us is pulling together the perfect mix of fresh new bands, powerhouse catalogue and frontline artists. We also look for someone to fulfill that brand ambassador role, and for Band Hero, it's been Taylor Swift. After we assemble a list for a game like Band Hero, we do our best to vet music that appeals to everyone so that there's something for the entire family to enjoy. The Band Hero set list is comprised of songs that everyone knows and loves and sings along to. I like to call them "the shower classics."

Early on in the Guitar Hero franchise, we faced several hurdles because people didn't fully understand what Guitar Hero was or the potential power the franchise had several years ago. Now, things are much easier. Now that Guitar Hero has become a household name and one of the largest entertainment brands out there, there are so many more doors open to us. We've fostered strong relationships with the music labels and publishers over the years and people now have a greater understanding of the power of this franchise and the positive effect it has on the music community. One hurdle that we always struggle with is trimming our set lists because there's so much amazing music out there that we can tap into. It's always difficult to make the decision on which songs end up on the final set list in the game.

Seems like fun, but Activision will need a good marketing campaign to convince parents to buy this over Guitar Hero 5.Click to see more images from the game...

What changes were made to the instruments?

DAVID NATHANIELSZ, Executive Producer, Vicarious Visions: Band Hero is compatible with all previous versions of Guitar Hero hardware, but we also took some time to refine and improve the guitars and drums this year. The biggest change is with the Wii drums. The Wii drum kit controller has been redesigned to be lighter, sleeker and quieter, while also being sturdier and more reliable in hit detection and velocity sensitivity. The kick pedal can connect directly to the bottom rung of the drum kit controller, so you don't have to deal with a slipping pedal as you play. The kick pedal also has adjustable locations to fit many different play styles and foot positions. And my favorite feature is the built in drumstick holder, for easy drumstick storage. It's pretty cool!

Some of us no longer own DS Lites and now have DSi. What is Activision doing for us? Its a shame that we cannot play the Guitar Hero games, for example.

DAVID NATHANIELSZ: With millions of Guitar Grips already out there being used by people who own one of the games in the Guitar Hero: On Tour series, we really felt it was important to maintain that standard for this year's game. We focused our efforts on creating the best experience possible for the largest user base on the DS Lite. Although the use of the Guitar Grip and Drum Grip peripheral is limited to the DS Lite platform, it still is possible to use the face buttons for drumming and the built-in microphone for singing modes on the DSi.

In addition, DSi owners can still connect to the Wii version of Band Hero to control the set list in DS Party Play, battle it out in the hectic Roadie Battle mode and change light shows, camera angles, pyrotechnics and special effects as the stage manager in Mii Freestyle.

Why does Activision avoid the PSP with these music games? Harmonix brought Rock Band to the system. Why not Guitar or Band Hero?

DAVID NATHANIELSZ: From the start of our development on Guitar Hero: On Tour, we focused on using the touch screen, the dual screen and other unique Nintendo DS hardware elements to capture the essence of Guitar Hero in a portable game. The touch screen especially gives us a great mechanism for replicating an authentic feel of guitar strumming that can't be duplicated on other portable systems. We chose to focus just on the one handheld system so we could get the core mechanics and music/rhythm game experience as good as possible, without splitting our design focus across a couple of very different systems.

Good to know. Looking forward to Band Hero.