Guitar Hero Live has been unveiled by Activision as the next step in the music playing game series.

Teased last night, the new Guitar Hero Live will focus on making the in-band experience more life like than ever before. Not only can gamers play from the perspective of the guitarist but also in front of a real crowd.

Gone are the cartoon characters of the previous games, replaced by real crowds reacting to your efforts. The crowd is pre-recorded with set reactions as are the other band members.

This move to first-person feels like a step in the direction of virtual reality for the game series. For those that don't need to look down at the guitar perhaps a version that uses Oculus Rift would be a great next step – although Activision hasn't mentioned plans for this.

Guitar Hero Live will debut the new GHTV mode which lets gamers play along to music videos that are updated constantly. So rather than being limited by tracks and having to pay for more update packs or songs you get them on demand. It sounds a bit like Spotify for Guitar Hero in a way - although no monthly charges have been mentioned.

While playing online with GHTV you can compete against friends and rank against other gamers from around the world.

Activision says the game will work on consoles, tablets and smartphones. So presumably you can play a friend on their console while you're on your smartphone.

Guitar Hero Live will go on sale from the autumn for PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Wii U and selected mobile devices.

READ: Guitar Hero to return for PS4 and Xbox One, Rock Band too