Harmonix Insists That Music Games Are Not Dead

[Greg Tito]

Harmonix Insists That Music Games Are Not Dead

Despite sales falling in 2009 for music rhythm games, Harmonix CEO claims that the best days of the genre are yet to come.

According to the NPD group, the sales of music games dropped 46 percent from 2008 to 2009. The genre still earned over $1.09 billion in the U.S. alone and trailed only the first person shooter as the best selling genre last year. Those figures, as well innovations such as the Rock Band Network, Alex Rigopulos founder and CEO of Harmonix believes that games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero have not yet peaked in popularity. But will the genre have another hit like second best selling game of all time [http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Hero-III-Legends-Rock-Xbox/dp/B000TGDHW8/ref=sr_1_1?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1280257010&sr=1-1]?

"I absolutely do not believe that rhythm-action gaming has reached its peak," he told Edge magazine. "Of course, 2009 was a tough year with the recession, which especially affects music games given the relatively high price point of instrument bundles. But in the long term, people's passion for music isn't going away, and rhythm gaming will continue to provide people with a deeper level of engagement with the music they love. So, yes, I do think that future music games will exceed the sales success of the last generation."

While I'm not sure that recession woes are the true reason why music games didn't sell as well in 2009, Rigopulos has a point that people's love of music is not diminishing any time soon. He sees growth in opening up the tools which allow artists to create playable versions of their songs as the next big thing.

"User-generated content will be absolutely critical to the ongoing success of the genre, I think," said Rigopulos. "To be clear, though, when I talk about 'users' in this context, I don't necessarily mean end-users or players. I'm talking about a huge community of power-users - skilled music creators - providing their music to the audience. The launch of the Rock Band Network will be our next 'defining moment'."

The mystique of music games has declined but Rigopulos seems to think that the genre will be around for a long time.

We need something to do with those plastic guitars, I suppose.

Source: Edge [http://www.edge-online.com/news/harmonix-music-genre-hasn%E2%80%99t-peaked]

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[uppitycracker]

Peoples passion for music may never go away, and for this I agree. But you can only innovate so much before it gets old.

 

[messy]

Would be good to see a few acts releasing genuine brand new content through rock band etc. Cause you'd get the new songs to listen to and instantly could play along side it; considering it takes awhile to learn words singing along is not instantaneous whereas following coloured buttons is

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Rhythm Action gaming?

Where's the action game part?

 

[Carnagath]

I never "got" these games. When I'm listening to music, I want to focus on doing just that, not on pressing buttons, and if I'm just focusing on pressing buttons... well, that's about the most boring thing one can do. I tried to play them, but I immediately felt that the "game" part of the game was nothing but an annoyance that got in the way of me enjoying the music. Maybe my brain is too tiny and I can't multitask and enjoy the music, press the buttons AND fantasize about being on stage all at the same time.

 

[Gildan Bladeborn]

Rhythm Action gaming?

Where's the action game part?

You press the buttons... or maybe you don't! Spine-tingling thrills await! You paid for the whole seat, but you'll only need the edge!!!!

 

[SaintWaldo]

Some of us don't use the guitars; we use the mics and drums...you know...the nearly real instruments.

I love to perform. I've done it on stage, professionally, it's not a dream. I just don't have the time to pursue it like I used to. However, the desire's not going away, ever. This is why I grew to love Rock Band: I get to perform whenever I want. Same with SingStar. It's _real_ performance if i want it to be. "Performance" or "Rhythm-Action" gaming to me is a passion piggybacked on a passion. BTW, performance isn't imagining you are on a stage. It is its own thing, a reward for the doing; you either must act out or not. That's what makes the performance part fun. This is similar to the need to complete a level in a game perfectly whether you have spectators or not. YOU know it happened, and that's the best part.

So, I'm one of the guys he is talking about. This genre has many levels of play and reward, many types of players, long legs and a convenient hook into past, present and future pop-culture. Even though we are in a bit of a valley ATM, I'd put my money on the long term.

 

[The Last Nomad]

In a truly ironic methaphor, I feel that music games, lived too fast and died young...
They were good, but when it came to the point where there was one every few months... it got a bit ridiculous... and thats what killed them if you ask me... If GH4 was only getting released now I imagine the leaps between games would be more interesting and therefore would casue the games to be still selling...

 

[SaintWaldo]

I imagine the leaps between games would be more interesting and therefore would casue the games to be still selling...

The genre still earned over $1.09 billion in the U.S. alone and trailed only the first person shooter as the best selling genre last year.

You forgot to read the second graf in the article, I'd wager.

 

[PhunkyPhazon]

It really shouldn't be hard to figure out why sales this year were crap. Harmonix came out with Rock Band Beatles and Lego Rock Band. Beatles are practically irrelevant to most of today's youngsters and Lego Rock Band was just a strange idea to begin with.

On the other side of things, Activision is milking things for as much as they can. In just one year alone we've gotten Guitar Hero Metallica, On Tour Modern Hits, Smash Hits, GH5, Van Halen, Band Hero, and DJ Hero. Now there are flaws with each of these, as well. Metallica and Van Halen can be grouped together, as doing a game based off one band isn't going to appeal to as many people as a game that is well varied with its music. Though it also doesn't help that Van Halen got crappy reviews, which means less sales.

On Tour was already a love or hate franchise, and putting out a new game every few months isn't going to ensure the cash flow. No one wants to spend that much money on a single franchise in such a short timespan. Smash Hits...well, it's a game comprived of songs that we've already played. Yeah, it added drums and vocals to them but regardless, we've still played them. GH5 is a little tougher to figure out, but I can list off two reasons why I wouldn't personally want it. First off, I now have a ton of Guitar Hero's. Not many people are going to buy each one you put out, and that goes for me, too. Second, it has an awful song listing. When people play these games, they want to jam to songs and bands that they know. One look at the back of the box is enough to ensure people won't buy it. Band Hero is such an obvious attempt to cash in that it's insulting, and DJ Hero doesn't hold an appeal to mainstream audiences. A lot of people (like me) can't stand the sort of music that would even use a turntable. And while the peripheral may actually be fun to use, it still appears more daunting then a plastic guitar.

So there you have it. I'll continue to support Rock Band since they don't just completely cash in on the franchise and still use good songs, but even then I can't see this going for much longer. The fake instruments were a fad of the late 00's. It's only a matter of time before people stop caring all-together. But it was damn fun while it lasted.

 

[Kinichie]

What they are trying to do now is the same as the Fifa/Madden/NHL. Release new versions far too often (2 in a year) with minor upgrades and no real changes. So the only people buying them are the hardcore series fans.

Don't get me wrong, it WAS innovative and fun when they released the first one. And everyone loves Stepmania, Dance Dance. But these guys milked their innovation too fast. It's had its high, now it's just becoming a standard thing where people are looking at it and just thinking "meh"

 

[The Last Nomad]

I imagine the leaps between games would be more interesting and therefore would casue the games to be still selling...

The genre still earned over $1.09 billion in the U.S. alone and trailed only the first person shooter as the best selling genre last year.

You forgot to read the second graf in the article, I'd wager.

Errr... I did... and I disagree... The resession is not to blame...

 

[Ghonzor]

They are very dead.
Let them rest in pieces...er, peace.

Just accept it and move on to making ACTUAL games.

 

[SomeBritishDude]

It's not that it's dead. It's just that people have enough sense to not buy music games that are just about one band, or sequels when the originals are just as good and cheaper.

I mean, unless someone comes up with something completely new for the music genre then-

[img/]http://www.milkcratenyc.com/blog/images/dj-hero.jpg[/img]

Oh...Yeah.

 

[Jared]

For me it's not really been original enough. You play one guitar hero you played em all really...

 

[dalek sec]

I never "got" these games. When I'm listening to music, I want to focus on doing just that, not on pressing buttons, and if I'm just focusing on pressing buttons... well, that's about the most boring thing one can do. I tried to play them, but I immediately felt that the "game" part of the game was nothing but an annoyance that got in the way of me enjoying the music. Maybe my brain is too tiny and I can't multitask and enjoy the music, press the buttons AND fantasize about being on stage all at the same time.

Count me in for this as well, I just never understood what made these games so popular in the first place.

 

[StigmataDiaboli]

Rock music will never die, it's just there's only such enough good stuff. Rock Band and GH have basically taken all the good stuff, and what did we have then? Band Hero with Taylor Swift?! Who is this woman and why is her pop music with minimal guitar on my scrolling note board!?

In all fairness DLC and all that jazz may give the hardcore something new to full combo with gold stars, but the music rythmn genre needs something epic. And after a full band and DJ decks you can't exactly get bigger?

 

[GamingAwesome1]

Peoples passion for music may never go away, and for this I agree. But you can only innovate so much before it gets old.

I agree with this. Won't stop people from buying it more often than not though.