Slashdot Mirror
Music Game Genre On the Decline
After enjoying several years of popularity, music games seem to be drawing less and less interest from gamers lately. Guitar Hero and Rock Band titles have been conspicuously absent from a list of the 20 best-selling software titles in the past two months, and one report estimates that revenue from those games has dropped by almost half. Analyst Jesse Divnich suggests that there's no longer much room for dramatic improvements in game play, saying, "it would be erroneous to assume that any franchise or brand can grow unless it brings something new to the table. After a while, utility to the gamer will diminish and he/she will surely move on." Nevertheless, the companies are happy to continue to rely on DLC sales while working on new releases. Harmonix is showing off a trailer and a partial set list for The Beatles: Rock Band, and Neversoft has detailed a number of new features and tracks for Guitar Hero 5.
The controllers are a barrier to entry to the genre to begin with, but after that you already have them so they don't enter into the equation. Personally, I don't like that they charge full new game prices (40 or 50 bucks a pop without the controllers) for new versions of the games when those new versions are essentially the exact same game with some new songs. I don't know how much more innovative they can get with the gameplay aspect, but charging a bunch of money for what should be an add-on pack just seems like they're milking the franchise for all it's worth, which can be a turnoff to consumers.
Pressing buttons while holding your hands in a similar position as when playing a guitar gives you zero indication of musical ability or any positive benefit for your playing. It only shows you can move your fingers in time with a beat, but thats where the similarity ends.
As a non-musician, let me tell you about one other thing these games have done for me.
I never used to do any decomposition of music before. I listened to the whole piece as if it were one monolithic, inseparable thing.
Playing these games has taught me to decompose music in various ways. For one thing, the game forces me to separate out what the guitar is doing from what the drums are doing from what the bass is doing, and now that has become a part of my normal listening habits. For another thing, I'm more aware of the linear structure of a song, the chorus, the bridging pieces, the solos, et cetera.
It may not be much, but for me at least, there's been some musical benefit.
Also, drumming and singing in these games DOES translate to reality, at least to some extent. Singing greatly does, and anyone that can get 98-100% on the hardest drum level can at least pound out a steady beat with a symbol, snare, and kick with real drums.
I'm not claiming that they'll be Neil Peart, but they make something that sounds like music.
Someone that picks up a real guitar after being a GH badass will sound like crap, period.
Grammer Nazis - I mod you "troll" unless you actually add something on-topic. Yes, I know I have mispellings in my sig.