The Plastic Guitar War Resumes? Guitar Hero May Also Make a Comeback

[Steven Bogos]

The Plastic Guitar War Resumes? Guitar Hero May Also Make a Comeback

A new Guitar Hero title is reportedly in development for current-gen consoles.

Earlier in the year, we heard that the Rock Band simulator: Rock Band would be making a comeback [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/140018-Harmonixs-Rock-Band-4-Launching-In-2015-Will-Support-Past-DLC] following a rather lengthy hiatus. Fans were cautiously optimistic, as while the games were fun, a kind of plastic instrument arms race between Rock Band and rival Guitar Hero caused the genre to self-destruct fairly prematurely. Now, not to be outdone by it's old enemy, a report is suggesting that Activision will be bringing Guitar Hero back from the dead to square off against Rock Band once again.

Eagle-eyed NeoGAFer's [http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1015810] first spotted the report on European magazine Gamereactor, which described a Guitar Hero press event for German journos. Obviously, someone hit the "publish" button way too early, as the site quickly pulled the article. The internet, as always, never forgets, and the text of the report in full was as follows:

Activision seems to be ready to present a new Guitar Hero prior to E3 (plenty of rumors of a reboot have been circulating). At least this is what is being suggested by an invitation that was sent out by Activision to media representatives in Germany. The mail states that an event is scheduled for April 1st 2015 taking place in "Hamburg Rock City". Among other things, the publisher would be happy if the journos would "rock the shack with us!" - a pretty clear indication that this is to do with a new music game and given the rumors of a new Guitar Hero.

While the game is not specifically mentioned, given the wording of the invitation combined with the immediacy of Rock Band 4's release, it would seem that Activision is indeed prepping a new Guitar Hero.

Let's just hope they have more than a year between releases, and that there isn't a new plastic thing to buy with each one...

Source: NeoGAF [http://www.gamereactor.eu/news/301694/Guitar+Hero+for+PS4+and+Xbox+One+announced+early+April%3F/]


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[Sight Unseen]

God damn it.

Activision, why won't you let us have nice things? You better not fucking run the whole genre into the ground again...

 

[Hairless Mammoth]

Yeah, let's hope neither publisher gets more cash grabby than just bringing back their series. I think this is one of the rare situations where DLC should be where the "meat" of the game is at. Since both consoles have (sort of) decently sized hard drives, they should concentrate of adding new songs, and the occasional new feature/graphics to the list, instead of trying to sell a $60 game and even more expensive plastic instruments every few months.

I still think there's a good chance the "rock band simulator" market will crash again in maybe 3 years from now. Unless the executives get out of the quick cash-in mindset, it probably will happen. Now, though, they have a good idea on what the market will look like when it is about to go under. Them being armed with that knowledge is what scares me.

 

[Callate]

Really hope this is the nonsense it sounds like. We need a market glutted with music games again like we need an ENT version of Dr. Mario.

(That joke could have been a lot more gross and/or vulgar, but I restrained myself.)

 

[FPLOON]

Ah... Nothing like the good ol' guitar hero taking on the rock band in the "Battle of the Plastic Bands" to bring in the next generation of rhythm-based Band [Member] Simulation games... Nostalgia may be coming sooner than we expected, it seems... and it doesn't look like this Comeback Tour's coming in as nicely as we all hoped...

 

[Sight Unseen]

Yeah, let's hope neither publisher gets more cash grabby than just bringing back their series. I think this is one of the rare situations where DLC should be where the "meat" of the game is at. Since both consoles have (sort of) decently sized hard drives, they should concentrate of adding new songs, and the occasional new feature/graphics to the list, instead of trying to sell a $60 game and even more expensive plastic instruments every few months.

I still think there's a good chance the "rock band simulator" market will crash again in maybe 3 years from now. Unless the executives get out of the quick cash-in mindset, it probably will happen. Now, though, they have a good idea on what the market will look like when it is about to go under. Them being armed with that knowledge is what scares me.

This is what Harmonix said that they will be doing with Rock Band 4. RB4 will be the only Rock Band for this console generation. They will be keeping it alive through the typical song DLC, as well as occasional free and/or paid for expansions that may add new features or a new theme or whatnot.

Source: http://forums.harmonixmusic.com/discussion/257724/rock-band-4-rumors-and-facts-unofficial-updated-mar-19#latest

There will be no more ongoing sequels, no yearly releases. The arms race is dead. Rock Band 4 will launch Rock Band as a platform, and Rigopulos told us to expect continual updates, some of which will be paid, and some of which will be free.

We think that there?s an opportunity this time around, given the technology to interact directly with our audience and also to react to the feedback that we get directly from our audience to sort of expand upon a core game of Rock Band 4. So Rock Band 4 will expand through title updates, through content updates, over the long span. We view Rock Band 4 as the Rock Band for this console generation, and it will continually evolve through a dialogue with our community.

"We can do a lot of things that will sustain Rock Band 4 over five to seven years," said Sussman.

As for Guitar Hero... Let's just pray that Activision doesn't do what Activision always does...

 

[Hairless Mammoth]

Yeah, let's hope neither publisher gets more cash grabby than just bringing back their series. I think this is one of the rare situations where DLC should be where the "meat" of the game is at. Since both consoles have (sort of) decently sized hard drives, they should concentrate of adding new songs, and the occasional new feature/graphics to the list, instead of trying to sell a $60 game and even more expensive plastic instruments every few months.

I still think there's a good chance the "rock band simulator" market will crash again in maybe 3 years from now. Unless the executives get out of the quick cash-in mindset, it probably will happen. Now, though, they have a good idea on what the market will look like when it is about to go under. Them being armed with that knowledge is what scares me.

This is what Harmonix said that they will be doing with Rock Band 4. RB4 will be the only Rock Band for this console generation. They will be keeping it alive through the typical song DLC, as well as occasional free and/or paid for expansions that may add new features or a new theme or whatnot.

Source: http://forums.harmonixmusic.com/discussion/257724/rock-band-4-rumors-and-facts-unofficial-updated-mar-19#latest

There will be no more ongoing sequels, no yearly releases. The arms race is dead. Rock Band 4 will launch Rock Band as a platform, and Rigopulos told us to expect continual updates, some of which will be paid, and some of which will be free.

We think that there?s an opportunity this time around, given the technology to interact directly with our audience and also to react to the feedback that we get directly from our audience to sort of expand upon a core game of Rock Band 4. So Rock Band 4 will expand through title updates, through content updates, over the long span. We view Rock Band 4 as the Rock Band for this console generation, and it will continually evolve through a dialogue with our community.

"We can do a lot of things that will sustain Rock Band 4 over five to seven years," said Sussman.

As for Guitar Hero... Let's just pray that Activision doesn't do what Activision always does...

That's good news. Though, indeed let us pray Activsion doesn't pull an Activsion. If they did, I still fear EA might force Harmonix to retaliate with similar practices. I'm not really a Rock Band/Guitar hero fan, either. I just hope for the fans' sake that doesn't happen.

 

[smithy_2045]

Fuck off Activision.

 

[Evil Smurf]

The first one to release guitar simulator on the WiiU gets my money. It's a race, go, go!

 

[Sight Unseen]

If they did, I still fear EA might force Harmonix to retaliate with similar practices. I'm not really a Rock Band/Guitar hero fan, either. I just hope for the fans' sake that doesn't happen.

Just FYI, Harmonix is a completely independent development studio now. A year or two after RB3 came out they bought themselves out from under their publisher which was Viacom/MTV Games. EA was never the publisher of Rock Band, they merely helped with distribution of the game.

Madcatz is going to be helping Harmonix with publishing and distribution (and peripherals) this time around, and Harmonix has full creative and business control over their IP.

 

[Nazriel]

God damn it.

Activision, why won't you let us have nice things? You better not fucking run the whole genre into the ground again...

Sentiments seconded. The music game genre only reached the over-saturated "consumers are sick of this" point because Activision had to pump out a new Guitar Hero title every 8 months or thereabout...

On the one hand, Harmonix might not have gotten going with the genre if Activision didn't back them on Guitar Hero. On the other hand...guh, never mind. I just wish the brand didn't have to stay with Activision when Harmonix went and did Rock Band elsewhere.


Meeeemoorieeees.

 

[Nooners]

Harmonix makes a good point, though. After two guitars, drums, keyboards, and harmonized vocals, what other instruments could really need to be added? Keep all those working, add in new content and songs (LED ZEPPELIN) and you'll likely never fatigue the market from over-saturation.

 

[Sight Unseen]

God damn it.

Activision, why won't you let us have nice things? You better not fucking run the whole genre into the ground again...

Sentiments seconded. The music game genre only reached the over-saturated "consumers are sick of this" point because Activision had to pump out a new Guitar Hero title every 8 months or thereabout...

It was actually worse than that. I actually looked up Activision's release schedule for Guitar Hero a few months ago. Here's my summary that I made:

This was what the 2008-2009 Guitar Hero Release Schedule looked like:

June 22, 2008- Guitar Hero: On Tour (Nintendo DS)
June 27, 2008- Guitar Hero: Aerosmith
October 26, 2008- Guitar Hero: World Tour
November 16, 2008- Guitar Hero: On Tour: Decades (Nintendo DS)
March 29, 2009- Guitar Hero: Metallica
June 9, 2009- Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits (Nintendo DS)
June 16,2009- Guitar Hero: Smash Hits
September 1, 2009- Guitar Hero 5
October 27, 2009- DJ Hero (Not technically guitar hero but it included guitar compatibility for its songs)
November 3, 2009- Band Hero
December 22, 2009- Guitar Hero: Van Halen

That's ELEVEN games in just over a year and a half. That's fucking ridiculous.

On the one hand, Harmonix might not have gotten going with the genre if Activision didn't back them on Guitar Hero. On the other hand...guh, never mind. I just wish the brand didn't have to stay with Activision when Harmonix went and did Rock Band elsewhere.

Meeeemoorieeees.

This is technically incorrect. Guitar Hero 1, 2 and "Rocks the 80's" were developed by Harmonix and published by Red Octane. After the success of the young genre, Activision bought the rights to the franchise from RedOctane shortly after GH2 was released and kept them on as the peripherals people. They kept Harmonix on to develope an Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero 2 and to finish Rocks the 80's (I believe they had an existing contract already in place for it) They didn't think Harmonix was worth keeping after that and so they basically abandoned them and put Neversoft onto the Guitar Hero franchise instead.

Then Harmonix got picked up by Viacom/MTV Games and made Rock Band.

The Guitar Hero franchise started its rapid descent into mediocre cash grabs with Guitar Hero 3, which was the first one officially published by Activision (unless you count the Rocks the 80's spinoff) and developed by Neversoft.

 

[Ulquiorra4sama]

There will be no more ongoing sequels, no yearly releases. The arms race is dead. Rock Band 4 will launch Rock Band as a platform, and Rigopulos told us to expect continual updates, some of which will be paid, and some of which will be free.

We think that there?s an opportunity this time around, given the technology to interact directly with our audience and also to react to the feedback that we get directly from our audience to sort of expand upon a core game of Rock Band 4. So Rock Band 4 will expand through title updates, through content updates, over the long span. We view Rock Band 4 as the Rock Band for this console generation, and it will continually evolve through a dialogue with our community.

"We can do a lot of things that will sustain Rock Band 4 over five to seven years," said Sussman.

As for Guitar Hero... Let's just pray that Activision doesn't do what Activision always does...

All i need now is for Activision to be Activision and I'll stop caring that I never owned a Rock Band game before (that "all your previous DLC songs will be available free of charge" thing is amazing). I'll drop Guitar Hero like a hot potato and rush over to Rock Band instead, because holy shit is that a way better deal.

Only way I'll keep on the GH wagon is if there's an announcement that we can get the track lists for every previous GH game packaged in with the new one, and somehow I think the sun will die before that happens.

 

[FPLOON]

Harmonix makes a good point, though. After two guitars, drums, keyboards, and harmonized vocals, what other instruments could really need to be added?

Uh... A turntable?
*remembers DJ Hero*
Damn you, Activision... You might have actually beaten Harmonix to the punch on that endeavor...

 

[Nazriel]

It was actually worse than that. I actually looked up Activision's release schedule for Guitar Hero a few months ago.
[snip]
That's ELEVEN games in just over a year and a half. That's fucking ridiculous.
.
.
This is technically incorrect. Guitar Hero 1, 2 and "Rocks the 80's" were developed by Harmonix and published by Red Octane. After the success of the young genre, Activision bought the rights to the franchise from RedOctane shortly after GH2 was released and kept them on as the peripherals people. They kept Harmonix on to develope an Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero 2 and to finish Rocks the 80's (I believe they had an existing contract already in place for it) They didn't think Harmonix was worth keeping after that and so they basically abandoned them and put Neversoft onto the Guitar Hero franchise instead.

Then Harmonix got picked up by Viacom/MTV Games and made Rock Band.

The Guitar Hero franchise started its rapid descent into mediocre cash grabs with Guitar Hero 3, which was the first one officially published by Activision (unless you count the Rocks the 80's spinoff) and developed by Neversoft.

Awesome. Thanks for the clarification and refreshers. I remembered as much as GH1 & 2 being good and then Activision taking over and simultaneously failing at making GH3 live up to them while banking tremendously on the name and good will Harmonix built.

 

[CrazyCapnMorgan]

No. No no. Nononononononononononononono.

*headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headtruck**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headbomb**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headoncomingtraffic**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk**headdesk*

Ugh, just what this generation needs - another moronic rivalry between publishers using developers with similar ideas. And, with Activision known for their usual greed tactics, I'll just get this out of the way right now:

Spoiler: Dear Activision

 

[Glaice]

Can we just leave the [Instrument] Hero / [Genre] Band franchises dead and not dug out of their sarcophagus?