Newsmaker: Why 'Guitar Hero' is rockin' the game charts

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How much of Guitar Hero's heritage comes from earlier games like Dance Dance Revolution?
Welch: Certainly, I think games like Dance Dance Revolution, Karaoke Revolution, Donkey Konga, and a few others really paved the way. Guitar Hero started out really as an opportunity to play that perfect marriage between the hardware and the software. On the software side, it was about that promise that you deliver of being the musician--in this case the lead guitarist--or about really becoming a rock star, and I think that fantasy is primal.

It has been heightened in the last five years by the popularity of iPod and iTunes, getting your music anywhere, anytime, any way you wanted, and it is important that music and your participation as a fan can play in that interaction.

What does it mean for the market that there is both Guitar Hero and Harmonix's Rock Band now?
Welch: I think it speaks volumes in terms of the interest that consumers have in music-based gaming. And certainly success breeds competition. I believe that there is room in the space for multiple products to exist. As I've said, Dance Dance Revolution, Karaoke Revolution, those products existed in the marketplace before Guitar Hero. But the Guitar Hero franchise now has much greater than an 80 percent market share, so competition has existed, and competition will continue to come out, but we are very confident that a franchise like Guitar Hero will continue to dominate the music space.

How will you win over fans who see Harmonix as the authentic developer and want to stick with them by buying Rock Band?
Welch: Consumers are really looking for this perfect marriage between the hardware and the software, and I think that's really a unique competitive advantage that Activision has. I think Activision and RedOctane have really proven and demonstrated that we have a tremendous advantage in this area, as RedOctane pioneered the hardware, but we also have tremendous expertise built up over the last several years in our manufacturing capabilities.

What's in store for the Guitar Hero franchise?
Welch: Well, I wish I could divulge all those plans, but I can't. But I will say that we are actively engaged in dialoguing with the audience, both today's current consumer and tomorrow's future consumer who could be anywhere from age 8 all the way up to the end of the scale, male, female, in every walk of life, in every territory in the world. And where there is music, there is Guitar Hero and there are very unique opportunities on multiple levels to engage this franchise with consumers.

Will there be any kind of user-generated content element, where maybe users can upload their own music, or something like that?
Welch: I am not aware of that opportunity today. I think that's an interesting concept. I think that there is probably some legal challenges that have to get resolved if you are talking about using master tracks or music that you own at home, but I think that ultimately, probably there is some type of user involvement from the community.

I think we are starting to see the tip of that now by building out a community involvement site that goes beyond blogging and talking and putting information together. It will really allow the audience for Guitar Hero III to have a good experience in the game, to go online for tournaments, to understand their ranking in a leader board, form up teams through the leaderboard and then go and engage and play each other. I think that is a natural progression and a leadership position that the Guitar Hero franchise is bringing to bear that is allowing users to really participate in the experience and help them to find the experience. 

More Newsmakers

[JLBer]

Making money from defective products

Yeah, it makes a ton of cash yet Activision can't seem to find the time/effort/money to have the developers fix the damned "Dolby Pro Logic That Isn't Really There Even Though It Says So On The Box" problem for the Wii. Yeah, great quality control there, guys. Glad to see that you're making tons of money on a faulty product.

[Tinman52]

Uninspired

I bought GH3 because I loved GH2 so much. The note charts are generally boring and the songs lack those fun riffs that were in Wayward Son and Sweet Child. GH3 is disappointing and flawed. It's a solid 7.5/10 ... if you really enjoy console rock games, get it. For everyone else, wait for something better.

[trey.hutcheson]

Worst Product Launch Ever?

Welch touts the "perfect marriage between hardware and software", yet the hardware was implemented poorly for the ps3, and has been the subject of countless claims of faulty pick-ups for both the ps3 and 360. Just check the guitarhero.com forums, or google it.

The software effort, at best, was inadequate. Notecharts are different from previous versions, there are lag issues on the ps3(not related to HD), there is no way to play online with a buddy, and the in-game leaderboards behave differently each time I check them.

Couple a shoddy piece of hardware with a poor effort by a rookie team(Neversoft), and marry that to joke of a launch for the portal by yet another party, and I have to pose the question: what went right for Activision/RedOctane/Neversoft, besides raking in $120 million?

I posted feedback to RedOctane the day after launch, and haven't received any feedback. No surprise.

I've blogged a few entries about this pathetic product, beginning with my review here: http://treyhutcheson.wordpress.com/2007/10/29/review-guitar-hero-3-on-the-ps3/

[trey.hutcheson]

GH3 Issues the subject of many google searches

I forgot to include in my previous comment that my blog post reviewing GH3, was viewed over 200 times on November 12th as a result of GH3 problem-related searches from google. That's right; over 200 people using google to search for GH3 related issues arrived at my blog in one day.

We read about the product launch, the buzz, the money earned during the first week, and even increased sales for songs used in the game. But where has the established media been during this spate of product issues?

[bblande]

Quit the movie comparisons already!

I can't believe a professional journalist doesn't have the sense to see the apples/oranges differences between games and movies.

Sure, Guitar Hero III made more than most movies do in a week. Let's look at the price breakdowns:

GHIII avg. price w/guitar: $100
GHIII avg price w/o guitar: $50
Movie ticket avg price: $10

See where I'm going with this?

If you really want to compare it to a movie, see how many people bought GHIII vs. how many people paid to see Spider-Man 3 or Transformers in theaters.