Shack: Any exclusive features or content in the PC and Mac edition?

Jay Gordon: Gamers will find the same great content and tracklist in the PC and Mac versions as they'll find in the console versions. Other than the keyboard/mouse options listed above, one unique feature will be the ability to compete online across both the PC and Mac platforms.

Shack: Are you aiming at a simultaneous release with the console versions?

Jay Gordon: We're definitely aiming for a simultaneous release, and we'll be able to talk more accurately about our ship date soon. We're certain you'll see Guitar Hero III for PC and Mac before the holidays.

Shack: Are you concerned that the PC and Mac editions won't provide the same social experience of gathering around the television as the console editions?

Jay Gordon: Well, more and more PCs are making it into the living room every day, and those machines are often hooked up to big, fancy TVs - so those people who have integrated their entertainment systems will get the same experience. But yes, Guitar Hero has a magnetism drawing people together in front of the TV and kicks a party into another gear.

I don't think it's realistic that we can completely recreate that experience with a PC and Mac version, but I think we can create different kinds of social experiences around this powerful franchise. For example, a young child may not be able to grip a guitar controller. But young kids are so used to keyboards and computers these days, they could play the game on their keyboard and jam on some co-op while an older sibling or parent uses the guitar controller.

The game is also more "dorm friendly"--not every college kid has a game console, but they all have a PC or Mac. And now that Guitar Hero III is more portable, there will be gamers showing it off to their family over the holidays or even taking it on the road to pass time on long plane rides or in a hotel. There is tremendous flexibility with this game and we believe that Guitar Hero III for PC and Mac is only going to make the franchise bigger by enabling even more gamers than ever before.