Leveling Down

Is this the final round for Guitar Hero and Rock Band, or just this 3-part feature?

So I’ve come to the end of our look at Guitar Hero and Rock Band. We’ve taken a side by side look at Guitar Hero: World Tour and Rock Band 2 in Part 2 of this series. In Part 1, I wrote about some of the best innovations in last year’s music genre releases. With Guitar Hero: Metallica and the Harmonix Beatles project right around the corner, there is a lot to look forward to for music game fans this year. I’m not sure, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Activision put out another Guitar Hero game this year.

So where can the music game genre go from here? The great thing about having two horses in the race now is that they keep trying to out-do each other. Here in Part 3, I’ve listed my top 5 questions concerning things I hope to see in music games in the future.

5 Things to (Hopefully) Look Forward to in Guitar Hero: Planetary Tour and Rock Band 3*
(*note – not real games…yet)

1. Will the deluge of fake plastic instruments cease?
Living rooms and big box stores across the country have become literally littered with fake, plastic instruments. The other day I was in Best Buy and there were huge stacks of Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero: World Tour full band kits. I wondered to myself, what worthy products used to live in this space? We’ll never know. Anyway, I think we have enough instrument peripherals. Right now, I personally have two drum sets (though I’m going to get rid of one), three guitars, and two microphones. I love video games but I don’t love my living room looking like a toy factory. So please, as cool as Piano Hero, Saxophone Hero, and DJ Hero (note: that one is real) sound, Activision and Harmonix: Just say no. Unless you’re gonna make Cowbell Hero. Gotta have more of that.

I think we have enough instruments already (note: drums not even pictured!)

2. Will Neversoft (Activision) and Harmonix swallow their pride, learn from one another, and improve the quality of their games by taking ideas from one another?
One of my biggest problems with Guitar Hero: World Tour was that it tried to be different just for the sake of being different. There is no reason not to have the drum fill to activate star power, but instead of using that tried and true method from Rock Band you have to hit both cymbals to activate it. In practice it’s pretty difficult to pull this off without losing your multiplier because if you miss then you are back to square one. An optimist can say that Activision was trying to be innovative, but the cynic in me says they were just trying to differentiate themselves. There are plenty of other examples that I won’t go into here. Now Harmonix and Rock Band have a chance to learn from what was done in GHWT. My hope is that each product takes good ideas from the other, while continuing to be innovative, not just for the sake of being different, but to try to make a better product. That would require both companies to admit the other does some things well…

This is great right now, but will we see any new and innovative gameplay this year?

3. What’s next for Rock Band and Guitar Hero as they keep trying to out-do one another?
So besides sharing good ideas, where else can Rock Band and Guitar Hero go? Obviously, there is the attempt by each company to release better and better music content. Guitar Hero has improved its DLC, but generally it’s tried to increase content by doing “special” products like GH: Aerosmith and GH: Metallica. Rock Band’s DLC is rock solid right now (they just signed SNOOP DOGG), but will it continue to be this way? So there is that battle that is being fought.

Other than that, I wish I had ideas about how these games can continue to innovate. But really, if I had these ideas, I could work for these companies. I think the two companies could afford to continue to up the difficulty level in these games. I also would like to see some new ideas about how to play through the game. I like how Rock Band allowed you to unlock songs from anywhere and play World Tour alone; at the same time, I had no idea whether I had unlocked all of the songs (I had to go online to find a list). Can’t these companies find a more organic way to play through the game?

It would also be great if one or both of these games could expand on the Battle of the Bands idea. Perhaps bands could square off online live, or there could be more unique challenges. I don’t know, but something definitely needs to be done to keep the genre fresh so sales keep moving. These games haven’t peaked yet, but I think we may be reaching a saturation point.

A Beatles game sounds very exciting, but what will it look like?

4. What will the Harmonix Beatles Project look like?
I’m pretty excited about the Beatles Project. And Harmonix is promising that it will be something that feels different and unique from Rock Band. What exactly does that mean, though? Will they be introducing new peripherals? Will it look exactly like Rock Band but just not be called Rock Band? Will it follow the career of the Beatles much like GH: Aerosmith did?

Other questions I have are about the difficulty of the game. I haven’t listened to the Beatles for awhile, but in my Beatles obsessed days I don’t remember too many finger shredding guitar solos or even super difficult drum beats. I remember appreciating how the music was so simple yet so well put together. So will a Beatles game have a difficulty that will feel worthwhile for more hardcore players?

The other big question would be whether a Beatles game will continue to expand the user base of music games or end up being a niche game. I can see it both ways. On the one hand, maybe more and more parents and people of the older generation will end up buying consoles and peripherals just to play the music. On the other, the younger generation might just be like, “I don’t see what’s so great about the Beatles” and pass (that would be very sad, IMHO. And it’ll make me feel old). My guess is, if it has “Rock Band” on it, people will buy it. If not, I still think people will buy it, but a lot of times it’s about the name (see: ridiculous numbers of GHWT sold).

Scratch: The Ultimate DJ looks interesting, but can it compete with DJ Hero?

5. Can DJ Hero possibly be fun?
Just like Guitar Hero and Rock Band aren’t completely new, Activision’s announced DJ Hero is not a new idea either. If you’re interested in all of these games humble origins, this is a pretty good summary. Not only is DJ Hero eerily reminiscent to Konami’s Beatmania, it’s not even the only DJ game coming out in the near future. Genius Products (whose name is…genius) is releasing Scratch: The Ultimate DJ which promises to allow you to “re-imagine” songs on the fly. I’ve got two big questions for these upcoming DJ Games.

The first is in regard to gameplay. I think I can imagine how it could be cool to scratch to hip hop songs in some sort of rhythm (Kanye West, Beastie Boys, and Black Eyed Peas all have songs on Scratch, no word yet on DJ Hero’s potential tracks). But DJing is all about fading tracks in and out, mixing things together, and really just feeling the flow of the music. In one word, DJing is all about creativity. How will a standard rhythm game format work then? It’s almost like the entire track should be one huge freestyle section or something, but of course it’s practically impossible to score that. So how are they going to create a unique game that doesn’t feel like PaRappa the Rapper with humungous turntables instead of four buttons.

My second question directly concerns Genius Products’…genius product. Will Scratch manage to challenge DJ Hero and break into the market? Konami’s Rock Revolution was a major flop, and it’s tough to see any company outside of Harmonix and Activision getting any type of foothold on the market. I’ve got to admit, I am totally intrigued by the tracklist so far for Scratch, which granted is only 5 songs but looks promising. Also I assume it will be out before DJ Hero since we haven’t heard any details about DJ Hero. So it should be interesting to see another horse try to enter the race.

Of course, despite the lame name, DJ Hero has “Hero” in it so I’m sure it’ll dominate sales (if the market for a DJ game truly exists).

Bonus Question: When will demand finally slow down?
That’s a great question. My guess is that sales will begin to slow, especially for instruments (we’ve seen that already), but the discs and DLC will continue to sell like hotcakes. The advantage these music games have over DDR is that they are a lot less work. You don’t have to lay out any mats, you don’t need to clear tons of space (especially if you forgo the drums), and you don’t have to break a sweat or burn any calories (though that is the fun part). Also, you are “playing” music you know and love, especially with all the quality DLC out there. It’s been almost 4 years since the release of the original Guitar Hero and demand has only increased since then. If we assume a semi-bell curve, these games will be around for at least another 2-3 years or so.

Prediction: I will be teaching my children how to play the triangle in 15 years using Activision’s hot new game: Miscellaneous Band Instrument Hero!

So I’ve come to the end of this Guitar Hero/Rock Band comparison. It was a lot of fun thinking about these games, because they are both a lot of fun. Generally after I finish one of these articles, I feel immediately compelled to go play one or both of these games, even though I’ve pretty much finished everything I want to finish. In these achievement driven days on Xbox 360, that says a lot about the quality of these games.

Feel free to comment about any other things you are looking forward to, or some of your favorite songs to play in Rock Band 2 or Guitar Hero: World Tour. In fact, I’m going to end this series the only way fitting: my “ultimate” setlists for the two games. Then I am going to go rock out until my fingers bleed.

cmfl3x’s Ultimate Guitar Hero: World Tour  Setlist
“Hey Man, Nice Shot” – Filter
“Crazy Train” – Ozzy Osborne
“Hotel California” – The Eagles
“Spiderwebs” – No Doubt
“What I’ve Done” – Linkin Park

ENCORE: “The Wind Cries Mary” – Jimi Hendrix

cmfl3x’s Ultimate Rock Band 2 Setlist
“Carry on Wayward Son” – Kansas
“Nine in the Afternoon” – Panic at the Disco
“Come Out and Play” – The Offspring
“Shooting Star” – Bad Company
“Alive” – Pearl Jam

ENCORE: “More than a Feeling” – Boston (DLC. Kinda cheating, but it’s my favorite song to play…ever)

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