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Harmonix Placates Grieving Fans Of The Music Genre

Guitar Hero is no more (and nobody knows if it will ever return), but for now the competition presses forward.

The music genre in gaming has taken some big hits: MTV Games shut down its publishing business, Harmonix laid off nearly 15% of its staff, and yeah, the disbanding of Activision's Guitar Hero franchise is the cherry on this depressing sundae. But Rock Band developer Harmonix offers an encouraging update in the face of all this rhythm-based misery: in a post at the official Rock Band forums, John Drake said the death of Guitar Hero was "discouraging news," but Harmonix will continue to support their own franchise with more downloadable content, along with the new Fender Squier Stratocaster Guitar. Added Drake:

"The music genre is one that calls for constant reinvention, and Harmonix is continuing to welcome and embrace that call. In short, the beat of Rock Band marches on. We're continuing to invest in the franchise and the brand that we have built and will do our best to serve all loyal band game fans."

You may notice he doesn't mention anything about Rock Band 4 but that's okay. Even if that doesn't happen, we figure this genre has run its course, and we feel kinda bad for Harmonix and others. They were once atop the world but these days, it seems more about surviving or, as Drake mentioned, "reinvention."

Tags: harmonix, rock band, guitar hero, music games

2/10/2011 8:53:11 PM John Shepard

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Comments (15 posts)

WorldEndsWithMe
Thursday, February 10, 2011 @ 9:37:13 PM
Reply

Why would it be bad news for them if GH died? They should be happy there's no competition.

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PasteNuggs
Thursday, February 10, 2011 @ 9:43:04 PM

I think one of Rock Bands selling points is that Guitar Hero games were compatible with Rock Band instruments so in theory if consumers thought they could get both brands but only buy one set of instruments and Harmonix wasn't developing games out the a$$.

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Lawless SXE
Thursday, February 10, 2011 @ 11:31:12 PM

Because competition also shows them pitfalls to avoid. If GH stuffed something up, then Harmonix knows not to do that. Similarly, if GH does something right, then Harmonix can copy that mechanic, and change it up a bit. Competition is a good thing.
Last edited by Lawless SXE on 2/10/2011 11:31:36 PM

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WorldEndsWithMe
Friday, February 11, 2011 @ 7:45:51 AM

still better to be the only game in town in my book.

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Orvisman
Friday, February 11, 2011 @ 8:17:26 AM

Probably because they created Guitar Hero.

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Alienange
Thursday, February 10, 2011 @ 10:20:59 PM
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There's just no place for a constant stream of plastic instruments. At least RB paces itself a bit. I know devs need money to stay afloat, but hey, why not branch out and make other games too?

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Lawless SXE
Thursday, February 10, 2011 @ 10:54:48 PM
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I was thinking a bit about this, and it occurs to me that the music genre in games needs a complete overhaul. I don't mean a 'Rock of the Dead' styled game, but something like a return to the roots scenario. Make it fun and accessible, but most importantly, make a huge range of songs available.

Imagine having a single disc, and the ability to import the songs on your hard drive, and convert them into being playable for a 20-50 cent fee. Or perhaps the ability for users to create their own songs, based on the tapping out of tunes as you would playing a song. Play, Create, Share of music.

Ah well, let's kick back and see what happens.
Peace.

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Dancemachine55
Friday, February 11, 2011 @ 12:20:53 AM

GH tried the whole "create your own songs" thing, and it didn't work out well. Sound design was MIDI based and therfore, not very good.

Nice to know Rock Band is still around and will always be around, even if it's just DLC for RB3.

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Lawless SXE
Friday, February 11, 2011 @ 12:52:48 AM

I did not know that.

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Dancemachine55
Friday, February 11, 2011 @ 12:28:20 AM
Reply

I'm glad Guitar Hero is finally gone. This means that Harmonix have a better chance of gaining exclusive bands for their own game, and releasing no more than 1 game a year.

No more flooding of the marketplace with the music gaming genre, so hopefully the next Rock Band game coming either late this year or early next year will have a slightly bigger impact.

Rock Band 3 has all the improvements a music game needs. It supports 7 players and has Pro mode for the die hard fans who actually play real instruments or want to learn.

Only 2 features it could use for the next iteration (if perfected) is the ability to import MP3 songs and it automatically place instrument colour button charts over it. Another is to create your own music like what GH did with the GH Studio, but better quality.

Rock Band Network already does most of this, just at a highly professional level where a lot of PC and video game design experience may come in handy, but it is there for the public.

GH hadn't changed or evolved since World Tour though. I believe that was the last of the good GH games. Its demise was inevitable, but I didn't think it would come this quick.

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___________
Friday, February 11, 2011 @ 1:13:04 AM
Reply

:(
i guess there goes my hopes and dreams of getting a GH collection.
really wish we could play the original on the ps3, had by far the best track list in a game ever!!!!!!!!!
see antivision, this is what happens when you milk the sh*t out of a cow.
it eventually shrivels up and dies!
tis exactly what will happen to COD very, very soon!

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main_event05
Friday, February 11, 2011 @ 1:28:39 AM

Why wouldn't a repackaging be possible?

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___________
Friday, February 11, 2011 @ 6:59:26 AM

would be possible, but they said there done with the series which means they wont be releasing anymore titles in the series.
well they did say for now, and if the series was going to go on a break for a while, the worst way to bring it back would be to re release older ones.

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Ignitus
Friday, February 11, 2011 @ 1:34:30 AM
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I enjoy RB very much. Just keep releasing DLC and Harmonix will be fine. There is no need for another disc release.

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Fane1024
Friday, February 11, 2011 @ 5:01:16 AM

I still want to see a RB4 because I (like many other RB fans) miss a proper career mode and can't really go back to RB2 after all the gameplay improvements in RB3.

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