R.I.P. Guitar Hero
02-11-11, 09:26 AM
#1
DVD Talk Legend
Thread Starter
R.I.P. Guitar Hero
Rest in peace, Guitar Hero, though we definitely knew you. In fact it turns out that's why Activision decided to throw you under the bus after a brief albeit meteoric five-year run.
"We simply cannot make these games profitable given the current market," said the publisher in an earnings call, confirming what we've long suspected: Like criticism, overexposure kills a relationship faster than anything.
Activision announced the demise of the Guitar Hero series Wednesday night, making it victim number one. Victim number two turns out to be a game called True Crime: Hong Kong, an open-world law enforcement update to the True Crime franchise by Vancouver developer United Front.
Poor United Front. Activision not only canceled their game, Activision publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg kind of stuck the knife in, too, telling Eurogamer the game "just wasn't going to be good enough."
Back to Guitar Hero, the franchise saw well over a dozen core and spinoff games released between the titular original in November 2005, and last October's Warriors of Rock. Bear in mind that for most of that period, competitor Electronic Arts was throwing Rock Band games at us, too.
Speaking of, it's hard to say whether EA follows suit with the Rock Band franchise or uses Activision's abdication to its advantage to pick up demographic remainders. I'm kind of over the whole idea, myself. Hey, it was fun while it lasted.
Activision's new focus? What else: The Call of Duty series, a new Bungie game, and World of It-Prints-Money!-Craft (nee Blizzard).
http://www.pcworld.com/article/21941...itar_hero.html
-Never cared for the guitar hero series but i loved DJ Hero. Hopefully they make a few more DJ games.
"We simply cannot make these games profitable given the current market," said the publisher in an earnings call, confirming what we've long suspected: Like criticism, overexposure kills a relationship faster than anything.
Activision announced the demise of the Guitar Hero series Wednesday night, making it victim number one. Victim number two turns out to be a game called True Crime: Hong Kong, an open-world law enforcement update to the True Crime franchise by Vancouver developer United Front.
Poor United Front. Activision not only canceled their game, Activision publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg kind of stuck the knife in, too, telling Eurogamer the game "just wasn't going to be good enough."
Back to Guitar Hero, the franchise saw well over a dozen core and spinoff games released between the titular original in November 2005, and last October's Warriors of Rock. Bear in mind that for most of that period, competitor Electronic Arts was throwing Rock Band games at us, too.
Speaking of, it's hard to say whether EA follows suit with the Rock Band franchise or uses Activision's abdication to its advantage to pick up demographic remainders. I'm kind of over the whole idea, myself. Hey, it was fun while it lasted.
Activision's new focus? What else: The Call of Duty series, a new Bungie game, and World of It-Prints-Money!-Craft (nee Blizzard).
http://www.pcworld.com/article/21941...itar_hero.html
-Never cared for the guitar hero series but i loved DJ Hero. Hopefully they make a few more DJ games.
02-11-11, 09:32 AM
#3
DVD Talk Hero
Re: R.I.P. Guitar Hero
Shame, had two really good games in there.
02-11-11, 10:00 AM
#4
DVD Talk Ultimate Edition
Re: R.I.P. Guitar Hero
May the series rest in peace. I still remember how awesome the first two games were before it got deluded out. Those games made me love the music genre of games so much, it isn't funny. Guitar Hero made me love the guitar (while Rockband and Lips made me love my voice again). Especially the ill-loved 80's pack that came out for PS2. Goodness, I adored playing those Glam songs.
02-11-11, 10:20 AM
#6
DVD Talk Godfather
Re: R.I.P. Guitar Hero
RIP? More like good riddance to bad rubbish. 
Even though Activision is 100% at fault for the genre's demise, the competition was good for ideas and advances for both franchises.
Even though Activision is 100% at fault for the genre's demise, the competition was good for ideas and advances for both franchises.
02-11-11, 11:08 AM
#8
DVD Talk Hero
Re: R.I.P. Guitar Hero
Amazon DotD: Band Hero (Wii) for $15.49 (61% off): http://amzn.to/eVGDIh
Hey, if you're playing music games on the Wii anyway, you've already proven you make poor decisions. Might as well put the cherry on top with this dead franchise.
Hey, if you're playing music games on the Wii anyway, you've already proven you make poor decisions. Might as well put the cherry on top with this dead franchise.
Ouch!
02-11-11, 12:38 PM
#11
DVD Talk Legend
Re: R.I.P. Guitar Hero
Activision needs to learn the rule that less is more. The day may well come where the CoD franchise is blown out from over-exposure as well.... nah, forget I said it.
02-11-11, 12:51 PM
#12
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: R.I.P. Guitar Hero
02-11-11, 01:05 PM
#13
DVD Talk Legend
Re: R.I.P. Guitar Hero
The problem is that, IMO, the quality hasn't gone up - it's stayed the same maybe. They've not done anything revolutionary since MW... but the MP is like crack. I'm not even big on MP but there's something about the breakneck speed and rewards for seemingly innocent things that keep me coming back.
02-11-11, 03:40 PM
#14
DVD Talk Legend
Re: R.I.P. Guitar Hero
How many times are you willing to buy new COD titles just to keep going back for the seemingly same rewards. No innovation will ultimately lead to the demise of the COD series. It is just a cash cow right now and I hope that Activision starts seeing losses with the title they're releasing this year. I was really disappointed in the graphics of Black Ops and felt that the Zombie bit was a tired attempt to grab the attention of those that are not warmongers. The loss of DJ Hero is what really sucks out of all of this.
Last edited by dsa_shea; 02-11-11 at 03:46 PM.
02-11-11, 03:55 PM
#15
DVD Talk Hero
Re: R.I.P. Guitar Hero
As long as it's fun, they have my money. Unfortunately the * Hero games have lost their entertainment value.
02-11-11, 04:21 PM
#16
DVD Talk Legend
Thread Starter
Re: R.I.P. Guitar Hero
How many times are you willing to buy new COD titles just to keep going back for the seemingly same rewards. No innovation will ultimately lead to the demise of the COD series. It is just a cash cow right now and I hope that Activision starts seeing losses with the title they're releasing this year. I was really disappointed in the graphics of Black Ops and felt that the Zombie bit was a tired attempt to grab the attention of those that are not warmongers. The loss of DJ Hero is what really sucks out of all of this.
02-11-11, 05:04 PM
#18
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: R.I.P. Guitar Hero
Amazon DotD: Band Hero (Wii) for $15.49 (61% off): http://amzn.to/eVGDIh
Hey, if you're playing music games on the Wii anyway, you've already proven you make poor decisions. Might as well put the cherry on top with this dead franchise.
Hey, if you're playing music games on the Wii anyway, you've already proven you make poor decisions. Might as well put the cherry on top with this dead franchise.
02-12-11, 12:15 AM
#21
DVD Talk Hero
Re: R.I.P. Guitar Hero
Considering DJ Hero 2 sold a lot worse than the last Guitar Hero, it isn't a big shock.
02-13-11, 01:57 PM
#23
DVD Talk Legend
Re: R.I.P. Guitar Hero
Fun series. Though I really stopped enjoying it after GH2.
02-13-11, 02:00 PM
#24
DVD Talk Godfather
Re: R.I.P. Guitar Hero
The genre was going to drop considerably regardless of Activision. Although I could argue it wouldn't have reached such a high peak without them either.