Tell Us Dammit

13 years ago

February 10, 2011 at 11:00 am

Dammit we want you to tell us stuff – like how do you feel about there being no more Guitar Hero games? Is the music sub-genre dead? What will take its place?

This isn’t some marketing survey or whatever. It’s an emotional investment in you. Yes, we’re interested in knowing you, Kotaku reader person. You probably know enough about us – more than you even want to, we’re sure. But, hey, we’d like to know about you, too.

Activision seems to have put the final nail in the coffin of the Guitar Hero franchise – do you think the rhythm genre is on its last legs? Will you miss it?

Comments

38 responses to “Tell Us Dammit”

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Jimu Hsien

February 10, 2011 at 11:05 am

There never were any guitar hero “GAMES”
Just karaoke with a guitar…

Reply
1. Plainview
  
  February 10, 2011 at 1:45 pm
  
  Yes, yes, yes. Bravo! I can see I’ve found the man I’m
  looking for. This is really quite something. Profound
  wisdom, old chap. Perhaps even a spiritual
  extension of Dr Phil’s life lesson #6:
  
  There is no reality, only perception.
  
  I think Dr Phil is criticising the notion of raging
  against the machine; instead suggesting it’s better
  to simply press the coloured buttons when the
  machine says to do so – eventually conditioning
  a pavlovian response mechanism and leading to the
  global implementation of a Skynet type scenario.
  
  Don’t play coy with me, chap; you know exactly what I
  mean. I can see you there pressing all the right
  buttons in the correct colour sequence, at the precise
  intervals.
  
  We’re sending an operative back to 1984 to save
  your life – so you can later lead the human resistance
  to simultaneously destroy both Skynet’s defence grid
  and Dr Phil’s daytime television career.
  The operative’s name is Michael Biehn; you might
  remember him from such films as The Rock, Aliens
  and The Abyss.
  
  Never heard of him? Forget about it. In the sequel you
  form a close emotional attachment to a muscle stud
  and 6 times Mr Olympia!!!
  
  Don’t worry, friend, I can see you’re the man for the job. The wheels are in motion.
  Your code name is Eddie Furlong.
  
  Best of the day to you and tally ho!
  xoxoxox
  
  Reply
  1. Jimu Hsien
    
    February 10, 2011 at 5:34 pm
    
    As long as I get to do a sweet prison movie made by Steve Buscemi and starring Willem Dafoe then I am down!
    
    Reply
2. Strange
  
  February 10, 2011 at 4:45 pm
  
  Dear Jimu,
  You suck.
  Love, Strange.
  
  Reply
  1. Jimu Hsien
    
    February 10, 2011 at 5:35 pm
    
    For enough money, I do anything **wink*
    
    Reply
    1. Strange
      
      February 10, 2011 at 6:14 pm
      
      *shakes head and rolls eyes*
      Boys.
      
      Reply
      1. Jimu Hsien
        
        February 10, 2011 at 8:21 pm
        
        *drools a little, tongue hanging out***
        
        WOMEN!
♣TadMod♣

February 10, 2011 at 11:06 am

Goodbye Rhythm games. I won’t miss you! Ta ta, farewell, au revoir, etc, etc…

What will take their place? Unfortunately, flash games. That’s my prediction anyway. I see the indie’s that are most successful on every platform being 2d flash gmaes (see: Angry Birds, Castle Crashers, Cut The Rope, etc, etc, etc).

I can see Activision purchasing a plethora of these small indie studios to make them full-time non-indie, and then firing them all when they’re no longer profitable.

Casual games are the next to go, though. I see people becoming increasingly sick of Zynga’s games, to which I nod my head in approval. I pray they leave us soon so we can get on with actual gaming! xD

Reply
Daniel Bower

February 10, 2011 at 11:08 am

I think the Guitar Hero franchise has had a fairly good run over the past few years, but I’m finding it fairly hard to get interested in any music rhythm game anymore, I’m running out of cupboard space for small plastic instruments.

Reply
Alex Cullinan

February 10, 2011 at 11:12 am

Surprising, a little shocking, not altogether unwelcome, gratifying – all words that come to mind. It’s also nice to know when you were right all along. I don’t really think there’s a way to improve on the genre with Rock Band 3 on the market, either.

Reply
Corey Lee

February 10, 2011 at 11:16 am

Thank god.

Reply
doubleDizz

February 10, 2011 at 11:17 am

I’d be curious to see what they had done so far on True Crime Hong Kong!

Reply
thistler

February 10, 2011 at 11:18 am

I’ve never picked up a plastic guitar. Is it something to be ashamed of? I don’t feel like I’ve missed anything and I noticed that people that played guitar hero were more likely to try air guitar on a pool cue (based on that one guy).

Reply
1. Peter Richards
  
  February 10, 2011 at 11:56 pm
  
  You missed out on a lot of fun, socialising with friends, raw adrenaline and the joy of making a bit of a goose of yourself, and the odd rush that comes with finally nailing something that seemed impossible.
  
  It meant having the guts to step outside yr cynical self, and I’m glad I did, it was way, way more fun than I imagined it would be.
  
  Reply
Tommy Fullerton

February 10, 2011 at 11:20 am

Music & Rhythm died when Guitarhero/Bemani started. Music & Rhythm games (to me) will always be Parappa, Gitaroo Man, Space Channel 5, REZ, etc.

Reply
1. Robert
  
  February 10, 2011 at 12:10 pm
  
  There’s nothing to say those are gone though. I still have those in my library (Ahhhh, Gitaroo Man) and get my Gitaroo Man soundtrack out for a play in the car.
  
  To me, they’re different genres that share the same elements.
  
  Gitaroo Man, Rez, Space Channel 5 – Single player games with a focus on rhythm. Like all the old Bemani games, but without peripherals. And all designed to be played by one person, immersing themselves in the game. (With the exception of the Rez “Trace Vibrator”)
  
  Guitar Hero, Rock Band, Singstar, they’re multiplayer. Sure, you can play them by yourself (and I do, frequently) but the whole experience is designed around playing with friends. Having a laugh at how silly you’re being. Sony got it right when they marketed Singstar and Buzz as “Party Starter” games – that’s exactly what they should be.
  
  So there will always be a space for games like Guitar Hero, and even if this iteration dies, something else will take its place in the “home social” genre.
  
  Reply
Muddy

February 10, 2011 at 11:21 am

DAMNIT, I will tell you.

And it’s – Rockband. Only need one of em! And THE FENDER GUITAR. Glorious.

Reply
The Cracks

February 10, 2011 at 11:21 am

I’m surprised that Activision was able to realise what everyone else already knew, and I’m even more surprised that they stopped trying to flog a dead horse.

Reply
Qumulys

February 10, 2011 at 11:27 am

What will that kid whose parents let him drop out of high school to ‘study’ plastic guitar’s do now! I weap e-tears for him. No, I don’t really give a toss… 😀

Reply
Ross Moir

February 10, 2011 at 11:30 am

After running a promising IP into the ground, I’m a little dissapointed they decided to drop it rather than putting it on hiatus until they had a reason to release a new one.
Still, it may allow Rock Band to survive.
Not that I play rhythm games outside of EBA, Ouendan and Rhythm Heaven, but still a shame to see an IP die from overuse.

Reply
Bish

February 10, 2011 at 11:33 am

Elite Beat Agents 2.
Come on! Make it iNiS!

Reply
Justin Robson

February 10, 2011 at 11:48 am

I’m one of the few proud GAMERS who has never actually owned a music game… I saw it as dead before it really even took off. I.e. it isn’t gaming, it isn’t guitar playing… it’s nothing.

I’m glad people have grown up.

Reply
1. Palstran
  
  February 10, 2011 at 3:46 pm
  
  Why would you say “I’m glad people have grown up”?
  
  How is being given a challenge then performing a series of timed button presses not a game? That is what a the largest chunk of games are.
  
  Just because you didn’t like them you think your somehow better than everyone who did have fun playing the GAMES?
  
  Reply
  1. Justin Robson
    
    February 10, 2011 at 5:55 pm
    
    Shit yeah, I’m superior!
    
    *sigh*
    
    What I’m saying is pushing buttons to a beat is neither gaming nor playing music. It’s just… lame. I knew it would go downhill after the initial gimmick wore off, because there’s nothing to it.
    
    Reply
    1. Palstran
      
      February 10, 2011 at 8:02 pm
      
      please define “gaming” for me then.
      
      Reply
    2. Jimu Hsien
      
      February 10, 2011 at 8:22 pm
      
      KARAOKE…with guitars.
      
      Reply
      1. Palstran
        
        February 11, 2011 at 6:51 pm
        
        hahaha so true.
MrTaco

February 10, 2011 at 12:06 pm

Kind of saddened, especially since I thought that GH6 was their best showing since GH3 (although Metallica was pretty good too I guess, apart from the fact it was a single-band game).

I’ve been a fan of Guitar Hero ever since I started playing 3 at a friend’s place. Picked up World Tour on day one, and was disappointed by it. I mean, it was alright, but… eh. Then I think I played 5 at another friend’s place and was even more disappointed, at least by the setlist. Didn’t get to go into the game itself much. But I found Metallica for $15 on clearance, so figured I may as well give it a shot. And that showed me that there wasn’t so much of a problem with World Tour as a game (although there were plenty of things I picked up on that were wrong with it :P), but that it was mainly the setlist that brought it down. If only there wasn’t a crapload of Metallica in there – a band I didn’t particularly care for, and am now sick of thanks to the game 😛

I really did enjoy GH6 though. The bigger concentration on rock really did seem to bring the series back to where it should have been. Plus it managed to get far fewer complaints from me about niggling little things that were wrong with it. It’s just a shame that by the time it finally came out, everyone was sick of Guitar Hero and I guess nobody was willing to give it a shot. And you can hardly blame them.

One of my friends would always rant on about supporting Activision/Bobby Kotick whenever GH was brought up. But I bought all of mine on Wii, so I was mainly buying in support of Vicarious Visions and the great/extra work they were doing for the Wii, eg exclusive modes like Roadie Battle (great fun!) or opening up the system a bit more and letting us load things straight from the SD card (even if I never used it :P). Basically doing things even Nintendo haven’t been doing with their own games. If only they could have busted out LAN capabilities as well.

As for Rock Band… well, I still don’t seem to know anyone who owns it. Or if I do, they haven’t brought it up and I haven’t had a chance to play it properly and check it out. The only experience I have with it is a custom version of GH3 I downloaded, which had a bunch of GH3 DLC and Rock Band DLC as the songs. I mainly got it because I just wanted to play Devil Went Down To Georgia as a non-boss battle song, but had a go at a few of the RB songs as well. And it was true what people had been saying – even on Expert, the songs felt about the same as Hard does on GH. I would be interested to know whether this is still the case or if maybe that was just them still growing into it, and they’re now cranking out some real challenges.

To me, it always seemed like people went on about the “band experience” of Rock Band, and how that (at least in part) made it superior to the more vanilla offerings of Guitar Hero. That made me wonder if perhaps the two games were actually catering more to separate markets. Maybe RB was more about the music, for the people who want to pretend they’re in a band even if they don’t have the necessary skill, and just play along with the music. While GH was more about the game, about presenting a challenge to be overcome. And/or rocking out 😛 That seemed to make sense to me, because I didn’t particularly care about the music and always bought my GH games despite the fact that I only ever knew maybe two songs on their setlist. I was always more interested in the game, because it was fun and I was good at it.

I could be talking entirely out of my arse with all that, but like I said – just something I pondered on.

So yeah, I’ll probably miss Guitar Hero after a while. Although I guess there’s still a boatload of DLC I’ve never even looked at, so if I could get some of that it could keep things going. And even then, something will probably take its place sooner or later. Besides, it’s just one series, not a whole genre. The rhythm game isn’t dead yet. I’m still looking forward to the next Rhythm Heaven.

Reply
1. Strange
  
  February 10, 2011 at 5:00 pm
  
  I agree with a lot of what you said.
  Having played both Rock Band and Guitar Hero I really think GH is(…was *sniffle*) the music game equivalent of air-guitaring in front of your mirror at home whilst Rock Band is more like getting a bunch of mates to make a garage band with you even though no-one can play and you’re just making noise.
  
  To me, Guitar Hero’s gameplay was more fun than Rock Band’s, which often seemed like work and I really wish both franchises had just slowed it down instead of running themselves into the ground in an effort to compete with each other. For instance Rock Band 2 and GH4 were both completely unnecessary.
  
  I’ll miss seeing what they could do next with GH, as Warriors of Rock was one of my favourite music games. I loved getting through the ‘Quest’ mode, to be rewarded with a bunch of super-tricky fun songs from bands like Arch Enemy and Dragonforce.
  
  But in the end they shot themselves in the foot by releasing pointless games when they should have just been concentrating on DLC because as much as I preferred the gameplay/charting of GH, Rock Band just had so many more songs I liked simply because of the sheer volume of DLC compared to GH.
  
  Reply
Woodrow

February 10, 2011 at 12:20 pm

People saying farewell clearly have never had a drunken rock band night with their mates.

Reply
1. Ndroste
  
  February 10, 2011 at 2:30 pm
  
  Man, give me a drunken battlefield night with my mates anyday over Guitar Band.
  
  Reply
oggob

February 10, 2011 at 2:17 pm

Long live Rock Band! I’ve started getting back into it and bought a bunch of DLC to catch up, but with RB, RB2, LEGO and RB3 setlists on the PS3, there is a great mix of songs to have access to.

I’m simply hoping that the genre is handled better now seeing Activision has stopped trying to milk a cow.

Reply
Jakob Smolinski

February 10, 2011 at 2:43 pm

Drunken (drunk on MEAD) Guitar Hero: Metallica, with my fellow metal-lovin’buddy Ben, was by far THE best multiplayer experience I’ve had in a loooong time!

However, I will tell you (DAMMIT) that the GH franchise has started to become a little stagnant, and the quality of the games has seriously gone downhill (Probably World Tour onwards…). so I’m not too fussed to see it go, at least there is still a legacy of good GH games left behind!!

As to what will take over? I dunno, but I have a feeling the Kinect may play a part in some weird rhythm-type games down the track.. and didn’t I read something about another music game which is actually using a proper guitar instead of the GH/Rockband 5 button set up??

Reply
Michael Barnes

February 10, 2011 at 3:14 pm

I never liked Guitar Hero. I have bad hand eye co-ordination for that sort of thing.

I wonder what those kids who quit school to play this professionally are going to do now… LOL!

Reply
Virus__

February 10, 2011 at 3:15 pm

Damn, I was hoping for one more. Is it the end of the games & future DLC? Or just actual games and they’ll still produce DLC?

Reply
1. oggob
  
  February 10, 2011 at 5:12 pm
  
  DLC is finishing up also…
  
  http://twitter.com/GuitarHero/statuses/35522467820736512#
  
  Reply
Palstran

February 10, 2011 at 3:28 pm

Funny that i’m wearing a guitar hero shirt today that my sister gave me for a birthday a couple of years ago.

I think that the only problem with guitar hero is they got it pretty right first time around. Then they force changes into the game to resell the same thing.

I stopped playing when I moved interstate and left my ps2 guitars with my little brother. He is now awesome at real guitar so he doesn’t play much any more either.

I think if the keep releasing songs people who like them will buy them because it is still fun. That hasn’t changed in the last few years. It is just that some people are bored and everyone is sick of paying for the same game again and again.

Reply
Cerzel

February 10, 2011 at 3:35 pm

As far as music games go, I’m still waiting for more home versions of Beatmania IIDX. It’s been two years since 16 Empress, and short of an announcement on the Bemani twitter a few months back asking what platform people would want a new home IIDX for, there’s been no word of one.
Since then 17 Sirius, bringing DJ MAX-style held notes to the series and 18 Resort Anthem have come out in arcades.

Even worse is that my old controller has broken down from overuse, and I want to get an expensive DJ DAO for my next one, but I’ve been holding off in case the next IIDX is on PS3 and the controller ends up incompatible.

PLEASE, KONAMI! I NEED MY FIX!

Reply

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Tell Us Dammit

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