In what should really be of no surprise to anyone, analysis of the music game genre shows that sales are tapering down with a steady decline. Gamasutra gives us a little insight to details of the decline, showing that “U.S. Guitar Hero/Rock Band revenues are down 49% year on year, as discounted hardware and over 20 SKUs flood the market.” according to data from the NDP Group.
Honestly, if the makers of Rock Band and Guitar Hero didn’t see this coming they should have their market research teams go back to school. With the glut of “Band” and “Hero” spin offs, expansions and sequels, combined with all the knock off wannabe rhythm games being passed on to less savvy consumers it was simply inevitable.
Now while I may be content to keep strumming away with my Rock Band 2 disc and all the myriad of songs I’ve spent Micro$oft monies on, these publishers are still insisting that I should spend more of my real world monies on their next sets of plastics and song packs.
Personally I find the lack of cross compatibility of Rock Band’s Beatles edition to be complete and utter bullshit, and I’m of a strong notion that 5 is too many numbers for the Guitar Hero franchise for what little improvements they’ve made. Don’t get me wrong, I have no doubt that they will be quality products for new entrants or Beatles loyalist, but for me the continued support with new song releases is where they’ll keep getting my money.
But take heart faux rockers of the digital world as our horizons are about to be opened up theoretically to infinity and beyond with the new Rock Band Network community site. This new upload system will allow bands both big and small to create and sell playable game content from their recordings using the tools allegedly used by Harmonix themselves. Initially this will be available for Xbox 360 users, with the hopes that it could expand to PS3 and Wii as well. As Apple and Microsoft have shown, user generated game content can work in today’s world outside of the PC arena. Let’s just hope they have a better system for ratings and quality assurance save us from an onslaught of crap to sift through.
p.s. Caramel Pollock!