How much is too much?
June 2nd, 2008With Guitar Hero: Aerosmith coming out in just a few weeks and Guitar Hero IV/World Tour expected later this year, you’d think Activision would be happy with their current Guitar Hero slate for the year. Apparently not, as Kotaku points out that Guitar Hero: Metallica is slated to hit before the end of Activision’s fiscal year, (by March 31, 2009).
Let’s leave aside, for a moment, whether Guitar Hero: Metallica is a good idea or not. Does this seem like a bit much to anyone else? Not only is that going to be 3 Guitar Hero games within a year (4 in roughly 1.5 years), but with Rock Band continuing to offer weekly content, a likely full-fledged Rock Band sequel almost definitely going to be announced sometime soon (no inside info, just a hunch), and even a THIRD Guitar/Band franchise coming from Konami, is anyone worried about over-saturating this market?
I’m sort of reminded of the days when “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” became such a massive hit that ABC decided to schedule it several times a week. At the same time, every other network tried to replicate the prime time “Game Show” formula by airing shows like Weakest Link, 21, and Greed. Then they were suddenly all gone as people quickly grew tired of them.
It definitely seems like something similar could happen with these types of games. The companies that are producing these games should be careful with how many iterations of the game they want to bring out in a single year, lest they damage not only their own sales, but the future of the entire genre.
Posted in Business, Commentary, Industry, Jeff |
June 2nd, 2008 at 7:19 pm
This Penny Arcade seems prescient:
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/12/5/interesting-choice-of-words/
And yes, I agree. This is way too much and they’re going to destroy the brand.
Funny thing, I’ve noticed. Whenever a big publisher buys a beloved property, several of us say, “Oh god, they’re going to destroy it.” A loud contingent disagrees, and says we should give them a chance, and come on now, really, how badly can such a big, capable publisher screw it up? Invariably, of course, those of us who voiced concerns are proven right.
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:46 pm
“is anyone worried about over-saturating this market?”
Is anyone in the biz ever worried about over-saturating ANY market that is successful?
Honestly, I don’t think I blame them. The buzz over guitar hero isn’t likely to last forever. When the next big thing comes along, guitar hero may really suffer (much like DDR has suffered since guitar hero). It makes sense to squeeze every penny out of it as fast as possible. Now, thats all ignoring whether or not band specific updates is the right way to do it.
IMHO, it’s not.
@Rob,
I’m not sure it’s fair to say that Activision is “destroying” GH. I played 3 and it was a blast, Every bit as good as 1 and 2. The encores and band specific updates are easily ignored for all but the hardest of the hardcore. Honestly, I consider them full price expansion packs. I think, more than destroying the franchise, they just got going a little too early and missed the DLC boat. I think rapid iterations and spinoffs is essentially their answer to DLC. They want to keep you invested so they sell more versions, simply because they don’t, (or didn’t) have the DLC infrastructure in-game from the beginning.
June 3rd, 2008 at 12:57 am
I think if anything the opposite is true–the more the market is saturated, the more of the product the market will want.
Think about how even if you had no interest in these games to begin with, if your favorite band is Aerosmith or Metallica you’re going to have at least some interest. I know I’ll wind up picking up these games someday, but if they ever game out with a Billy Bragg edition or something, you can bet I’d go out and buy that game tomorrow.
As it is I’ve downloaded the free tracks from the Dropkick Murphys that were on Xbox Live a couple of months ago just in case I ever get the game.
My guess is that music is totally different from any other subject for a game. It doesn’t matter how many editions are out there already if they release one that is full of music you love.
In fact, I’d say that the real danger is in not releasing these games *fast enough* while the iron is hot. While these games are popular, releasing a greater variety of music will only keep people interested in playing the game longer. That’s because the games really don’t change the basic gameplay compared to other video games, but they totally change the experience in a way that just isn’t true for any other game, even a Far Cry or a Resident Evil changing up locations.
These games have a chance to be something more than just the ‘next big thing’; these games have the chance to be the music video: i.e., the next paradigm through which people experience music. I think the more they release the better the chance they have of cementing that position.
June 3rd, 2008 at 1:43 am
Anonymous-
Perhaps I’m looking at this in too limited a fashion, but I think the music genre, particularly the “hit the note as it flies by” genre that Guitar Hero, Rock Band, and now Rock Revolution are all following that all use plastic instruments… I think releasing too many of these could be a bit of overkill.
Maybe I’m wrong… I’ve certainly bought a ton of Rock Band downloadable content, which is theoretically like new expansions of a game…
Still, I’ve bought it with the expectation that when they release a Rock Band 2 that includes new features (and music) that the music I’ve downloaded will still work (as they’ve promised). I feel like releasing an entirely new game that’s more or less the same as the original game, except with new music, every few months has the potential to really kill the market. Maybe you’re right and music is different… but I’m just not sure.
June 3rd, 2008 at 6:25 am
I’m not sure it’s fair to say that Activision is “destroying” GH. I played 3 and it was a blast, Every bit as good as 1 and 2.
I disagree very, very strongly, and so do most other people. GH3 was an abortion of a game that was nowhere near as fun as the first two. Neversoft didn’t understand how to make the game fun, with the exception of a few tracks on which they got lucky. I’m glad you enjoyed it, but you need to understand that you’re in the minority.
I think, more than destroying the franchise, they just got going a little too early and missed the DLC boat. I think rapid iterations and spinoffs is essentially their answer to DLC. They want to keep you invested so they sell more versions, simply because they don’t, (or didn’t) have the DLC infrastructure in-game from the beginning.
Guitar Hero III does have DLC infrastructure. They’ve never, ever used it well.
June 3rd, 2008 at 6:26 am
Oh –
I think, more than destroying the franchise, they just got going a little too early and missed the DLC boat. I think rapid iterations and spinoffs is essentially their answer to DLC. They want to keep you invested so they sell more versions, simply because they don’t, (or didn’t) have the DLC infrastructure in-game from the beginning.
Remember that Harmonix developed the first two games; after the IP was acquired by Activision, Neversoft began working on the series.
June 3rd, 2008 at 6:54 am
@Rob,
“I disagree very, very strongly, and so do most other people. GH3 was an abortion of a game that was nowhere near as fun as the first two.”
I have the PS2 versions of 1 and 2. They have metacritic averages of 91 and 92 respectively.
I own the Wii version of 3. It has a metacritic average of 86. I think you’re drastically overstating “an abortion of a game” that was “was nowhere near as fun” that “only the minority enjoyed”.
“Guitar Hero III does have DLC infrastructure. They’ve never, ever used it well.”
There’s no DLC on the PS2 or Wii versions which sold far more units than the 360/PS3 versions. The overall infrastructure just wasn’t there for GH3 (relative to install base) and thats why I think they didn’t bother with it, because the majority of their audience wouldn’t have access to it.
June 3rd, 2008 at 7:11 am
We’re going to have to agree to disagree, as neither of us has a good way to measure it. I didn’t enjoy it nearly as much and neither did most of the people I’ve spoken to about it. We don’t find most of Neversoft’s notecharts enjoyable to play — with the exception of a few gems like “My Name Is Jonas” and “Cliffs of Dover” — nor do they feel as much like actually playing a guitar, and we bitterly resent the whoring for Axe in a game that we paid quite a lot of money for.
June 3rd, 2008 at 7:24 am
Fair enough, but I will say that I think the community of reviewers agrees with me, for what that’s worth.
On a personal note (haveing beaten the game on hard and only lack 2 songs on expert) I only noticed a few small places where the notechart veered a bit from what “made sense” from a guitar perspective (yes I play guitar). I’ll also say that most people I play it with don’t know the developer changed and have never mentioned any different perceptions. I think the fact that the series creators harmonix left is a mental burden that is difficult for some hardcore gamers to bare. I think that knowledge slanted their perceptions of the game even before it was released. I saw huge comment threads about how 3 would suck because it wasn’t harmonix and I think, for hardcore gamers, that mindset was difficult to shed, on a subconscious level. Let a casual gamer play all three with no burden of knowledge about the genesis of any specific iteration and they’ll likely never know the difference, preferring whichever has the songs they like. Some of my “game party” guests have even preferred 80’s edition which I found to be the weakest of the entries.
Also of note, I found the notecharts on Rock Band to be even weaker and less interesting than Guitar Hero 3 so I don’t think that Harmonix exactly “has the magic” when it comes to that. Again, we may agree to disagree here.
Lastly, having the Wii version of 3, I’ve never seen the Axe body spray ads. The Wii has no in game advertising, other than maybe Gibson if you count that.
June 3rd, 2008 at 7:50 am
This would be the same community of viewers that pushed GTA4 as the “best game ever”? You can’t have it both ways.
I play guitar too and I thought most of the notecharts made no sense in that regard. But it’s not just that, they abandoned fun charts in a lot of places. Oh boy, I get to play lots of three-note chords so my hand will hurt when I’m done!
I expressed reservations about Neversoft taking over development, but I took a “let’s-wait-and-see” position on GH3. I just didn’t like the game as much.
The issue with Rock Band isn’t that the note charts are less interesting, per se — they’re just not as difficult, by design, for the most part. That was an intentional choice made in favor of band cohesion. It was discussed in interviews before its release.
June 3rd, 2008 at 8:59 am
“You can’t have it both ways.”
I don’t think this is a conflict in review phenomenon at all. On the contrary, I think it shows consistency in the broken nature of game reviews.
I think the problem with reviews vis a vis GTAIV is largely due to a difficulty being objective because of ridiculous amounts of hype and subsequent group think combined with a fair amount of idol worship. I don’t think these can be said of GH3. GTAIVs arrival was heralded as the next coming by most gaming sites (great game? or greatest game?), whereas GH3 was anticipated by the hardcore gaming community with “reservations” to say the least if not outright disdain simply because of the activision takeover and subsequent loss of harmonix. If anything, I would argue the broken review system environment that lead to GTAIVs sky high reviews is EXACTLY what caused the lukewarm reception of GH3. You get these groups of the hardest of the hardcore and most active (loudest) gamer community members and they inadvertently influence the perception of games. In the case of GTAIV, I would argue this phenomenon raised scores (even if only slightly) and in the case of GH3, I would argue it lowered them (also probably slightly).
All that being said, I respect your right to dislike the game, particularly in light of ad whoring (on the 360 version) and notechart selection. While I don’t think it was vastly inferior to 1 and 2, 3 was certainly a departure in many ways.
June 3rd, 2008 at 11:17 am
Rob-
I think you’re actually in a very vocal minority regarding GH3. It’s sold a shitload of copies, and by most accounts, people seem to enjoy it.
There’s a strong and loyal “Harmonix” crowd that thinks GH3 is terrible. I actually liked the game just fine… but have barely picked it up since Rock Band came out. That’s not because GH3 is bad, it’s because it’s just not as good… there’s just no reason for me to go back to it.
I think most people who picked up GH3 were just fine with it, and even most people who picked up Rock Band AND GH3 were probably fine with it… they just like Rock Band better, for obvious reasons.
June 3rd, 2008 at 11:09 pm
I didn’t dislike GH3, but I did feel that it wasn’t as fun as 1 or 2. That was largely a function of the difficulty, which didn’t prevent me from enjoying the game but did cause quite a bit of finger and arm pain. I also wasn’t as big a fan of the setlist, but you win some, you lose some. (The difficulty here referring not to whether or not I could progress, but how much effort I had to put into focusing on each track, which I felt detracted from my ability to enjoy it.)
I’ll also comment that I like Rock Band with other people, but generally speaking I have almost no interest in playing most of the other instruments and so actually prefer GH. That said, the former is much better in terms of creating an overall experience.
June 4th, 2008 at 12:14 am
“I’ll also comment that I like Rock Band with other people, but generally speaking I have almost no interest in playing most of the other instruments and so actually prefer GH.”
It’s like we were separated at birth.
June 4th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
““I’ll also comment that I like Rock Band with other people, but generally speaking I have almost no interest in playing most of the other instruments and so actually prefer GH.”
It’s like we were separated at birth. :)”
That’s just what people who don’t have the game say.