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Posted: Feb 09 2011 09:19 pm

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110209/ap_on_bi_ge/us_earns_activision_blizzard

Tis a sad, sad day.

Joined: Apr 09 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 3112

Honestly saw it coming. What can you add to a music game sequel? Basically just more music (but then, DLC...), better graphics (that you can't interact with and are usually just looped animations), or more instruments (more plastic shit and a higher price, when everybody just wants to be guitar or drums).

I still have Rock Band 1, and hold onto it because it was fun, well-supported by DLC, and had great tracks/note patterns. It's a blast at group gatherings, but I can see how the genre can get stale after a while, unfortunately.

As on fire as they have been, I can see Activision having serious problems in their future. They just lost one of their biggest superstars, leaving just basically Call of Duty, and they're going to milk that until the udder cracks (If employees don't all leave because of mistreatment). This happened to EA a few years ago, and after some management changes, they've found a good system of getting a diverse portfolio of games out, while somehow both ensuring quality without being overbearing on developers.

Posted: Feb 09 2011 09:50 pm

I'm surprised that the brand isn't going to be sold off.

Also, I'm guessing expensive lawsuits from Axl Rose, Courtney Love, and No Doubt didn't help.

Posted: Feb 09 2011 10:35 pm

Call Of Duty: Black Ops made $1 billion in six weeks.

One billion dollars.

Jesus fucking Christ. I think videogames are getting too big. Then again, I've never played a Call of Duty game anyway.

Oh, and RIP Guitar Hero. Your corpse has been finally laid to rest, but you died long ago.

Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

Bobby Kotick doesn't like games. He doesn't like puppies. He doesn't like kittens. He does however like some things about music and movies. For example, I am pretty sure he likes the RIAA and MPAA. Clearly his favorite band is Metallica.

Fucktarded Kotick aside, I don't see why it is a smart decision to close down a series mid console life when there is no expectation from fans to renew it until the next generation arrives. Make a fucking music store and add songs until you make money. Then slowly, at a reasonable cost, develop the game for the next gen console that will be out in 2-3 years.

Killing a brand does nothing but eliminate future options.

Posted: Feb 09 2011 10:44 pm

I say let it rot.

Posted: Feb 09 2011 10:49 pm

I never played Call of Duty and Guitar Hero was about the only Activision game besides Tony Hawk I think I've purposely owned.

Posted: Feb 09 2011 10:50 pm

What, no Guitar Hero Zappa?

Posted: Feb 10 2011 12:00 am

Guitar hero hasnt been good since 2 anyway, the rest of them sucked

Posted: Feb 10 2011 12:48 am

No big loss?

Posted: Feb 10 2011 01:28 am

I honestly thought the series peaked at 3. I got it on the Wii, I can play the real guitar alright, but GH was always kinda fun.

Joined: Oct 01 2009 Posts: 5316

Black Zarak wrote:

What, no Guitar Hero Zappa?

Never ever played the games, but I would definitely play that.

Posted: Feb 10 2011 04:56 am

Eh, I still need to play my actual electric guitar more than I do, but I second the Guitar Hero Zappa!

Posted: Feb 10 2011 05:56 am

I'm surprised Wii Music wasn't brought up in passing regard to the "weakness in the music genre."

Posted: Feb 10 2011 07:47 am

Yeah Guitar Hero has been on its death bed for a while as Rock Band has always been consistently better and more innovative.

I really love these kinds of games and got into it relatively late (once everyone else was bored of them evidently) so hopefully Rock Band continues to tread water and innovate.

Posted: Feb 10 2011 08:51 am

Guitar hero was destinated to die since the very first copy came out...

I like the game, and I love play rockband with my friends, but due to the very consept of the gameplay, it's evolution was predestinated to end like this...

Let's face it... one grows tired of the same old thing. New songs might come out but it will be the same shit with a diferent stench... they saw this and created rock band with brand new instruments and a multiplayer face that stuned all who saw it... but it became boring again... and as it was said earlyer, it's quite the budget to play this game with all the new instruments and stuff, and not everyone has the moey for that. Piracy and cheap ripoffs also took trier toll on GH.

IDK you guys... but when I was a kid and I got a new game, I was so pumped abaut it that I played it hours straight and grew tired of it faster than I tought... same things happened with most of those who played guiter hero... it just wasent challenging anymore...

Posted: Feb 10 2011 10:07 am

Andrew Man wrote:

I honestly thought the series peaked at 3. I got it on the Wii, I can play the real guitar alright, but GH was always kinda fun.

Yeah. Guitar III was the best. People who think Guitar I or II were better forget that most of the tracks were crappy cover versions. GH3 was the first GH to use master tracks for the majority of the songs. GH6 was also pretty rad, but the brand had been damaged by weak entries like Guitar Hero 4, Guitar Hero 5, and Guitar Hero Aerosmith. I like Aerosmith, but the song selection was weak, and Aerosmith's music can't carry a rhythm game. Joe Perry is a very competent guitar player, but most Aerosmith songs, especially the popular ones, repeat the same hooks over and over, and that doesn't make for a good game.

Rock Band is also in a tough spot. MTV sold off Harmonix to a private holding company backed primarily by top Harmonix employees. The deal included Harmonix keeping all their IPs, so Harmonix can continue to develop Rock Band and Just Dance titles, but unless they can forge a deal with a publisher (such as EA, who help MTV distribute their games because they lacked the resources to do so), they may be done as well.

Posted: Feb 10 2011 11:55 am

I think some publisher will pick up Harmonix now that they are the only rhythm game in town. Harmonix has also shown the ability to innovate and make high quality games that bring more to the table than just the same old gameplay with different songs.

They've just introduced keyboards (which everyone seems to love) and PRO mode (which is dubious to me because I don't know how many people can and/or want to play "Rock Band: You Might As Well Play a Real Guitar") so I find it hard to believe that they are winding down and disappearing anytime soon. There's still a market for this stuff.

Posted: Feb 10 2011 12:03 pm

There is definitely a market. Especially on the Wii. Did you know RB2 and RB3 are the 8th and 9th best reviewed games on the Wii?

1. Super Mario Galaxy
2. Super Mario Galaxy 2
3. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
4. World of Goo
5. Super Smash Bros. Brawl
6. Metroid Prime Trilogy
7. Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition
8. Rock Band 2
9. Rock Band 3
10. Cave Story

Source: GameRankings.com

Joined: Apr 09 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 3112

Oh, and to correct myself, I forgot that Activision now publishes for Blizzard, so add the boatloads of cash they get from WoW expansions and Starcraft 2.

Posted: Feb 10 2011 08:21 pm

Well, that sucks. I definitely loved the series when it was in full bloom, but I haven't played any of the games in forever.

Posted: Feb 10 2011 11:00 pm

I just bought the "GH: Warriors of Rock" Band Set last month and love it. I liked 3, but for the most part, I didn't want to spend a crapload of money on only a handful of songs that I liked, and a mass shitload of stuff I didn't.

Warriors had me at "Rush's 2112 in its entirety".

I have vowed to master all Rush tracks, "2112, Tom Sawyer, and Spirit Of Radio" on drums set to "Expert +".

Posted: Feb 11 2011 01:58 am

Eh, never cared for it.

Joined: Jun 08 2010 Location: Termina Field Posts: 1541

Meh.

Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

In the end, someone will make a music game for the next generation of consoles. It will be better than what exists now, and music companies will want to sell music. So, expect it from a company that isn't as monetarily driven as Activision.