Apparently, the new Game Informer magazine has a preview of the Guitar Hero 4 game and it seems to pretty clearly mention a bass guitar, drums and a microphone. So, Rock Band really is being threatened by the new game in the long running series.

A poster over at NeoGAF has offered a compressed report on what the magazine preview contains. The first and most interesting bullet point is the "Create a song" feature, which lets you make a song from scratch, using all the instruments in the game but without the voice, apparently because of possible copyright issues. You will be able to also make some sort of cover art for your song, give it a name and then you will be able to upload it so that anyone can download the song to play it in their own game.

The game from Activision will bundle with a bass guitar and a set of drums, making it a clear direct competitor for Rock Band. There's also a microphone so that all the components of the band are covered on track. A new guitar will also be there, designed by the guys over at Red Octane and featuring a new and "much" improved mechanic designed to create a whole new level of experience for the players.

There will also be an option to create band members, customizing everything regarding their looks and, supposedly, their abilities. There are no tracks confirmed for the game but the magazine lists bands like Van Halen, The Eagles, Linkin Park or Sublime.

The game is being developed for a big variety of platforms. It will be available on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii and, surprisingly enough, PlayStation 2. All the functionalities of the game will be the same on all the above platforms.

Of course, Activision is not confirming any of this at the moment, but they aren't denying it either. There's no estimated release date for the game, but it really seems that Guitar Hero 4 is shaping up as a totally new and innovative game.