

Rock Band. Guitar Hero. Why They Are Doomed. - lucumo
http://jeff-vogel.blogspot.com/2009/08/rock-band-guitar-hero-why-they-are.html

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logicalmind
While the games may be declining, I think they have led to a resurgence in
people willing to try to play real instruments. I know a number of people who
play these games who have been inspired to take up real instruments. It would
be interesting to see the impact these games have had on the sales of real
guitars and drums in the marketplace.

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bbx
It may have an impact on drums but not on guitars. Playing guitar on Rock Band
and playing guitar in real are totally different things. But playing drums on
Rock Band gets you to learn how to associate a body part to a seperate rhythm.
I know I've improved in drums while playing Rock Band.

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blhack
Agree 100%. Playing rock band drums is essentially the same as play practice
pads.

I remember going over to my parents house one year...my sisters asked me if I
wanted to play with them. Naturally, being a drummer, I sat down at the drums
(and then went to my car to grab some no-crappy sticks...and into the garage
to steal the drum stool from my old kit that is still sitting at my mom's) and
chose "expert" mode.

My sisters laughed and told me, since I had never played the game before, that
there was no way I would be able to do it, and to choose something lower so we
didn't just fail the song...

They were...kindof correct...it was harder than I had anticipated, but I still
finished with a pretty respectable score.

The hard part about playing the drums on this game is that, as a drummer, the
rest of the band follows _you_. It's really frustrating to have the machine
tell you that you're off with you're rhythm, haha.

One mode I really wish they would add to the game is...like..."free play".
Assign a sound to each of the drums and treat the kit like a midi controller.
I know people that already do this in their home studios (although as more of
a novelty than anything else) and they actually work :).

Point is: rock band is a really fun game, and playing the drums in it is
_very_ similar to playing the drums in real life. Doubly so if you've ever
done any work in sequencing software. Playing rockband is like what I used to
"see" as I was playing the drums after spending hours and hours in a
sequencer.

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stevejohnson
Rock Band actually has this feature. I believe it's called "practice mode" or
something.

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jdrock
I've always felt there is a huge, untapped gold mine waiting in these games:
the ability to upload your own songs and have them automatically converted to
playable tracks in the game.

Of course, this relies on two things:

1\. Automatic conversion actually being feasible.

2\. Record labels allowing this to happen.

Somehow 1. seems more solvable than 2.

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warp
I think you heavily underestimate the skill and creativity involved in
creating a note-chart which is fun to play.

1\. may be solvable, but you'll end up with something vastly different from
the note-charts we have today. A bit like the difference between randomly
generated dungeons in Nethack (or Pokemon Mystery Dungeon :) and a regular
RPG.

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jdrock
Not underestimating at all. But it seems like it could be solved. Maybe a
hybrid auto/manual tweaking approach is the answer? Or perhaps users could
requests songs be converted by the creative team and/or pay for individual
tracks? I'm not interested in buying song-packs, but I'd pay $1 for any given
song.

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chaostheory
Anyone hear of Guitar Rising? <http://www.guitarrising.com/>

In short it's Guitar Hero, except player use real guitars instead just mashing
on buttons

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abentspoon
Unfortunately the project looks dead. They haven't updated their site since
2007.

On a brighter note, there is an open source piano version at
<http://www.synthesiagame.com/>.

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jcl
Well, formerly open-source, at least.
(<http://www.synthesiagame.com/faq.aspx#source>)

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dougp
I disagree with this article on one point. In my experience the casual gamers
always want to either sing or play drums and get easily frustrated on guitar.
I think that rock bands appeal was that it is cooperative rather than who
plays guitar better, dances better, or sings better like every rhythm game
before it.

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roc
The GH-style of rebadging and re-selling retail games will definitely decline.
As will the epic bundles. (They already have, really). And the wisdom of 'Rock
Band"-as-music platform will prove itself.

The biggest real risk I see for the genre, is DLC DRM. If there's a major
platform upset next generation, I think a bunch of the biggest Rock Band fans
are going to suddenly realize the value of their Rock Band library just
tanked.

Sure, they can keep their old console to play Rock Band 2. But they'll still
be pissed. And that will translate to fewer future song purchases.

I hope Harmonix is thinking through a solution that problem. Because it will
happen.

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philh
One possible future I see for the series: migration away from the consoles.
Just buy Rock Hero, plug it into your TV, plug in the instruments, and play.

You aren't limited to four instruments (except perhaps by screen size, but
that's becoming less and less of an issue). A song could use as many of each
instrument as it needs, and probably some other instruments (like keyboard)
that aren't currently provided. There's no expectation that a given song will
use all the available instruments.

Perhaps the publisher strikes a deal with the RIAA, and all newly released
tracks get a version for RH that you can buy and download.

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steveklabnik
As someone who played competitive Guitar Hero...

It's not that it's "Doomed." It's that it got really, really popular all of a
sudden, and that spike is dying down. Rhythm games are a genre that's lasted
quite a long time. It's not going anywhere anytime soon.

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ALee
I would love to hear from everyone who has loved, previously loved, or played
any rhythm music games. Our startup JamLegend.com is focused on innovation in
the space and have a couple of ideas. Would love to get your honest feedback
on the industry in general (your favorite games) or on our site. Rant here or
feel free to email me at Andrew [] jamlegend.com

Completely agree with Steve though that rhythm games will be around for a
while and there is still a lot of room for innovation. GH sales have dipped,
but that's why they're expanding their game selection.

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unalone
Andrew:

You're fighting a losing battle with the "spontaneously generate beats based
on a user-selected tune" thing. A part of what makes rhythm games fun are how
cleverly each song is programmed. I've tried Dance Factory and AudioSurf, and
they are simply no fun without a guiding creative hand.

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steve_mobs
the game is declining, but it made boatloads of money in the process. I think
it will just make those branded games like rockband metallica or rockband
aerosmith, but for a smaller audience and still make money.

