The Demise of Guitar Hero

As a reaction to an article on playfire.com about the sales slump with the Guitar Hero franchise I posted a reply. Here it is.....

I will get this out up front before I say my piece. I hate Activision with a passion, but I will try to be objective with this. I loved GH3, my first venture into the music game market on the PS2. I purchased Guitar Hero:Metallica for the PS3 (my last Activision purchase) and the game was great. However the online was horrendous when trying to hook up with people on my friends list. It wouldn't allow three of us to play together. Two or four of us was fine but not three for some bizarre reason. This problem had a knock on effect with online trophies within the game. My real gripe with this franchise began when I contacted their Customer Service with regards to this issue and I was told if I wanted to do the band trophies, get my mates around the house. So unsympathetic!

Rock Band all but killed the GH brand because they took the GH model and improved it. Online works perfectly, apart from the dodgy comms which puts the audio through the tv rather than the headset. They have a fantastic, diverse selection of original songs. This is where GH fell short, they had too many cover versions on their running list. RB is also cheaper for songs and song packs. In the UK RB charges 99p for a track compared to £1.49 for a GH song. The track packs (normally about 5 songs) are in the region of £4.79 on RB whereas you will pay about £1 extra for the GH equivalent.

Overkill will ultimately be the downfall of GH. Activision are churning out a variation of this game about 1 every 10 months or so. It has been two years since the core Rock Band game has been released. And the improvements with Rock Band 3 are simply electrifying. The new game engine, the improved career set up and the vast advancements in the instruments show that Harmonix are not taking anything for granted. Yes, they could easily have just churned out RB2 v2.0 but, as we can see with the reported demise of GH, they realised that they have to keep their audience, old and new, coming back for more. Not more of the same, they want MORE from each game. The Beatles:Rock Band brought us the first three part harmonies in this genre on top of the most beautifully presented music game ever, when Harmonix could easily have just stuck with the existing RB set up knowing that The Beatles would sell this game on its own

I don't want to see the demise of GH, even though I will never touch the franchise again. Any game that can encourage kids to get in to real music is a good thing. My children (aged 6 and twins of 5) recognise The Ramones, Pearl Jam, The Beatles and Smashing Pumpkins if it comes on a radio which is so heartwarming. Sadly, Activision have dropped the ball with GH by concentrating on the fast buck rather than not taking their once loyal following for granted