No Need for an Encore

Music Games Singing its Swan Song

Which one of these franchises will make you a tool this year?

Rock Band, Guitar Hero, SingStar, , DJ Hero, Lips. These are just some of the music game franchises out in the market today. Each year new iterations of these popular games nickel and dime gamers out of millions of dollars...and we actually pay for it without question. Sadly, I think the time has finally come to yank out our lighters from our torn jeans and wish them all farewell.

The latest entry in the popular Guitar Hero and Rock Band games are set to release this fall, beginning with Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, which actually came out yesterday. Quit surprisingly, the game is being met with moderate to negative reviews, and it may be due to the fact that developers are playing the same old song. I'll admit, I'm a junkie when it comes to playing music games. Rock Band 2 was probably the pinnacle of my music gaming festivities, while Guitar Hero had the most memorable setlist with Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock. With many online reviews bashing the 6th installment of the Guitar Hero franchise (not including its many spin-offs like Guitar Hero: Metallica and Van Halen), music games are losing its luster with the crowd.

Rock Band 1 Drums vs. Rock Band 2 Drums...What?!?

Every year Harmonix and Neversoft (The creators of Rock Band and Guitar Hero respectively) release a new iteration of their music franchise that's met with much success. These titles always release in the fall, with the goal of duping millions of mindless parents into buying another fake music instrument during the holiday shopping season. This year, both titles are introducing their "must-have" peripheral in the keyboard and re-designed guitars. Although I personally love bands that implement keyboards into their songs, it's becoming blatently obvious that music game developers are nickel and diming us into whatever they can get their greasy hands on. In the case of Rock Band 3, their new guitar features six strings that will allow gamers to learn basic guitar techniques, chords, and methods, but I think they're getting in way over their heads, and are once again just trying to push another peripheral to sell. I wouldn't be surprised if we see an electric triangle in Rock Band 4. It's becoming a gimmick, and I fear music games are starting to fall into the territory of Madden and NCAA, where it's just the same old game with a new roster.

Besides the peripherals, the new addition to these music games every year is a cheesy gameplay mode tacked on with a new and improved track list. Unfortunately, these developers are becoming a victim of their own success after they introduced DLC (downloadable content). Every week Harmonix and Neversoft release at least 3 new tracks you can purchase for your game, which adds to your game's lifespan and replayability. It's a brilliant marketing tactic, and I'm all for it. Lets face it, if we had the chance, we would play our current music games to our heart's content and buy our extra tracks at our own leisure. The reason you play music games is for the music, not some "new and improved" challenge mode. Unfortunately, publishers want to turn a profit by forcing developers to churn a new game every year, leaving developers no time to come up with fresh ideas, which is the same case of Madden and NCAA. Every year developer EA Tiburon just barely has enough time to polish their game, add a couple of new animations, and update the team roster. It's the same thing happening with music games. The developers are polishing their games aesthetics, adding cheap, gimmick game modes, and changing up the track list. In the case of Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock (with the exception of the "re-designed" guitar) the main addition is a campaign mode that includes a ludicrous story narrated by Gene Simmons. For lack of a better term, it's all for show!

Rock Band also added a new peripheral in the keyboard, as well as minor tweaks to their gameplay mechanics, and a new 'pro' difficulty level. On a side note, if you want to buy more songs through DLC for the pro mode, it'll cost you the regular DLC price, plus an additional price if you want the pro mode version. I understand these games are cash cows, but so is Halo and Call of Duty. The only difference is each of those games bring something new to the table that doesn't cost us an extra $50. I'll gladly pay for 2 copies of Halo Reach before I pay $50 plus a $50 keyboard for Rock Band 3. In the meantime I hope this holiday season is the last we'll see of these music games until a fresh, new idea is brought to the table. I love that Activision took a chance on a game like DJ Hero, which introduced a turntable as a new peripheral. I'm personally not into that type of music, but the game brought a new concept to the table that is being met with moderate success. However I feel Activision didn't really give it 100% support because it knows its money maker lies with Guitar Hero.

Whatever the case, it'll be interesting to see what to come in the music game market. As they say...the show must go on.