Harmonix: Rock Band 3 Might Have Stolen Guitar Hero's Thunder

[Logan Westbrook]

Harmonix: Rock Band 3 Might Have Stolen Guitar Hero's Thunder

Bad timing might be to blame for lower than expected sales for the latest Guitar Hero, says Rock Band developer Harmonix.

It wasn't market saturation that led to disappointing sales for Activision's Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock [http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Hero-Warriors-Stand-Alone-Xbox-360/dp/B003N5ZXU6/ref=sr_1_1?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1288490009&sr=1-1], it was competition from other games. That's the theory at least, although oddly, it's not coming from Activision, but from the Rock Band 3 [http://www.amazon.com/Rock-Band-3-Playstation/dp/B003RS8I92/ref=sr_1_2?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1288490036&sr=1-2] project director Daniel Sussman.

Sales for Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock were much lower than anyone had predicted, failing to hit even 100,000 in the U.S. in the first week following its launch. Sussman thought that consumers may have been saving their money for Rock Band 3, which came out the following month, although he admitted that that was based on what he would do as gamer rather than any hard data.

Sussman also thought that Rock Band 3's accessibility would make a big difference in whether the game was successful or not. "Our studio is all about accessibility," he said. "And from game to game we've put a lot of emphasis on respecting the casual player. We've played very close attention to that in respect to the keyboard and making sure that, whether you're playing on regular five lane keys or pro keys, it's accessible to people who don't have any Rock Band experience."

We'll have to wait to see if Sussman's theory is right, as Rock Band 3 only came out a few days ago, so it's a little too soon to tell how it compares with Warriors of Rock. Sussman is confident that there is plenty of life left in the music games however, saying that the genre presented all kinds of opportunities for anyone willing to give it a try.

Source: Eurogamer [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2010-10-29-harmonix-people-were-waiting-to-buy-rb3]





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[Acidwell]

I'd say its more to do with the way people are bored with rhythm games there are 8 guitar games so far between the 2, the tracklist for guitar hero is imho a lot better than rock band but its all down to opinion.

Do you not think this guy might be badly biased, its like asking hitler about whether an aryan race is a good idea or not!!!!!!

 

[kouriichi]

Its because its not "Guitar Hero" anymore. It used to be all about being awesome by yourself.

You could pick any song with an awesome guitar and put it in the game. Now you have to have every position filling in the song for it to be in the game.

Meaning that its "Band Hero" now, and its lost the flair it used to have.

But Rock Band it just what it states. Songs ment towards Bands.

Ive always liked Rock Band over Guitar Hero. Its just a smoother feeling game.

 

[Irridium]

When people look at Guitar Hero, they go "oh look, another Guitar Hero. Aren't there like, 7 or something? I'll pass."
When they look at Rock Band, they go "Haven't seen a rock band game in a while. Think I'll check it out."

Well thats what I do at least. Everyone's different. I personally like Rock Band's tracklist more.

 

[Vanguard_Ex]

Awww...they still think people care about the rhythm games. That's just adorable <3

Seriously, stop scratching your god damn heads and go outside, ask gamers what they want. It isn't the fucking flashy button music shite anymore guys, times a-changin'.

 

[Megacherv]

Goddammit, I want this game so badly for A) The Pro Mode and B) The awesome tracklist (The Power of Love by Huey Lewis and the News anyone?)

 

[The GEL]

Actually I'd blame the fact that, last I checked, Warriors of Rock was a HUGE downgrade from previous Guitar Heroes. It basically throws out the "trying to be Rock Band" stuff (i.e. the Custom Band and whatnot) in favor of bringing back the pre-made characters and trying to have a plot about them...transforming into Rock Gods or something...except they forgot the plot.

Meanwhile Rock Band 3 ADDS a TON of stuff (Keyboard, Harmonies, Pro Mode). So Guitar Hero takes a big step backwards, Rock Band takes a HUGE step forwards, which one would YOU go with?

Not to mention after two sub-Rock Band experiences from Guitar Hero (with World Tour being unplayably abysmal) folks have learned that Rock Band is where it's at. I was personally kicking around grabbing the new Guitar Hero but changed my mind after the demo. I DID, however, pick up DJ Hero 2 and it was awesome.


He's right that there's plenty of life left in the music game genre but the trick is not to follow the leader but to do your own thing. I've got my fingers crossed that DJ Hero 2 will sell better than the original as it is awesome as usual and Konami's Dance Masters shows promise for those (unfortunately?) getting a Kinect. Also, Machatin and Namco need to get to work on a We Cheer 3 because We Cheer 2 was awesome. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KISNiPKFb3M] Seriously. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqGpo2WaBu0] (I can already guarantee it's better than Haromonix's own Dance Central) [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0NSbBMsYf8]

 

[luckycharms8282]

From the reviews I had seen Warriors of Rock looked pretty terrible

 

[Enigmers]

Rock Band has the right idea with the downloadable DLC. Letting the user decide what songs they want to play is a much better plan than dumping a variety of songs on a disc and saying "here, play this" every year.

 

[Electrogecko]

I heard Warriors of Rock is the most difficult Guitar Hero to date, which would automatically make it the best one for me. Reviews don't mean crap for these games. It comes down to how much you like the songs, and what I like in a GH is some hardcore solos.

 

[Just_A_Glitch]

Honestly, I don't really care for either this time around.

I haven't cared about Guitar Hero since Smash Hits, and that was only a little.

I love Rock Band, but Rock Band 3 just fucks up on the little things. They've made some great strides in improving the game and making it feel like a true sequel instead of just an updated song roster, but for everything good they do, they do something wrong to counter-balance it.

Good thing: Instruments have pro modes, and up to 8 people can play now!
Bad thing: Nne of the vocalists count towards the score, and the bassist doesn't get an avatar (though they do still count. Figure that one out). I'd love to love Rock Band 3, but I just can't.

Those are big examples. From about 3 hours of play time, it just didn't feel right. Maybe this will be a Christmas thing for me, but I can't personally support a game that stabs my vocalist-self in the back.

 

[Tartarga]

In other words, people like Rock Band more than they like Guitar Hero.

 

[duchaked]

I just pretend there has only been GH2, GH3, RB2...and now for the "4th" music game that I'll possibly go for...hmmm

oh wait I got The Beatles Rock Band but yea whatev that didn't count really since it wasn't for myself

 

[duchaked]

The secret to success for Guitar Hero would have been to capitalize on digital distribution. They could have struck GOLD if, instead of releasing a rehash with a new band plastered on the label every 6 months (granted, I own GH: Metallica, because I love Metallica), they could have shook hands with record companies and made some sort of a profit sharing system.

In my mind... people could buy slightly more expensive CD's that included GH tracks that you could install on your system's hard drive, OR you could download the songs from Xbox Live or PSN AAAANNNNDDDD if you chose the more expensive version, it would also give you an MP3 copy to transfer to your computer.

Or they could opt to just buy the regular CD without the GH tracks for the normal price, OR the regular GH tracks from the online store sans the MP3 version for the normal price.

This way, they could have stretched out each game a lot further. You could go into the "GH STORE" and choose from a ton of albums or songs, pick what YOU want to have in your game. When you get bored with those, buy more. AND they could transfer over to the newly updated versions of the games that would then come out every couple of years instead of every 6 months.

I bet it would work.

if I could get an MP3 for my computer and the game song track via XBLA/PSN...oh heck yeah I'd go for it

but I'm sure there are many complications and dealings that companies are just too lazy and cheap to bother with...

 

[Loop Stricken]

I had intended on getting Warriors of Rock actually, but Judy Nails had the only good transformation and that wanker Gene Simmons did all the voiceovers with the enthusiasm of a slug working in a salt factory.

 

[Uber Waddles]

Wrong.

Rock Band 1 stole Guitar Heroes thunder. Guitar Hero 1 and 2 were decent, and the third one was pretty good as well, but the third one lacked fun, and instead just went for difficulty. And the peripherals were junk (those Wireless controllers were shit. Period).

Compare that to Rock Band, which offered WAY more content, was WAY more fun, had WAY more music, flexibility, instruments, and even though some of the instruments were faulty, they offered to fix them up for free.

Rock Band has just done what Guitar Hero started. Better. Specially Pro Mode.

 

[DustyDrB]

Hey, uh...I can't tell the difference between these two franchises.

 

[lacktheknack]

Rock Band had "Ballroom Blitz". They have my vote forever.