Uncategorized Dave on 26 Nov 2007 06:24 pm
Battle of the Bands
With last week’s release of Rock Band from Harmonix (the original developer of Guitar Hero), two unlikely competitors hit the ring. Guitar Hero III, published by Activision, takes on Rock Band, published by MTV Games (distributed by Electronic Arts). While both games let users live out their rock and roll fantasies (and also continue to grow the casual gaming market), it is likely that Guitar Hero III will lead in the immediate head-to-head sales numbers. Keep in mind, the same folks who created Guitar Hero now develop for the competitor and the competitor (MTV) has its own multi-channel network to organically market its Rock Band product. This is an interesting battle between a ‘traditional’ video game maker and an entertainment brand who specializes in music and culture. All said, this line blurring of entertainment, music and games continues to get more blurry. We expect Rock Band to catch on as the property works out some issues. In the end, better Wifi capabilities will allow you to conduct band practice (even if your guitarist is living in Shanghai). As for the battle of the bands, MTV vs. Activision, well, get your ear plugs out because things are just heating up.
Photo: via The New York Times
on 03 Dec 2007 at 11:42 am 1.morduun said …
Never ceases to amaze me how hype, loud music and trippy graphics can convince people that something like Simon — http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_(game) — is something visionary, new and interesting.
Kudos to the game team for confounding everyone: living proof that the oldest ideas are often the best.
on 03 Dec 2007 at 11:43 am 2.morduun said …
( your crummy blog destroyed the link to wikipedia — click here instead: http://tinyurl.com/3axvbu )