It’s basically Guitar Hero taken to the next level. You’ll be able to play in a four-person virtual rock band, playing either drums, guitar, bass, or vocals. You’ll be able to play online with other people (we’ll definitely need a Straight Dope band or two). No word on how they plan to handle latency issues, but if they get it right it will be awesome.
Harmonix has BIG plans for this:
These guys don’t just see this as a game, but as the next evolution of how we experience music. We went from listening to music, then with MTV to watching videos of music, and now on to interacting with the music ourselves. It’s no coincidence that MTV is involved - they honestly see this as an extension of what they’re all about - marrying music with other media.
They want to release not just selected tracks here and there, but actual full band catalogs, in multi-channel high resolution sound. You’ll be able to go put on ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ in Rock Band format, and sit on your couch and play guitar along with the album, or play the drums, or sing along.
This is the type of thing the music industry should be pushing heavily. Here’s where they can earn their revenue in the 21st century. Guitar Hero has sold 2 or 3 million copies. Expansion packs of songs for it would become instant million sellers - big hits in the music biz. And this may be the tip of the iceberg. Ten years from now, “Rock Band” format (and other music games) music may outsell traditional CDs. I could see real bands holding virtual concerts or in some other way adding value to their music to encourage people to buy it (or subscribe to it, or whatever the sales format is).
So, what do you think? Is Harmonix right, and we’re looking at a whole new medium of expression? Or is this just another music game?
Even real guitarists love playing Guitar Hero, so I wouldn’t be surprised if real bands end up playing Rock Band together. Also, original recordings of copyrighted music with the possibility of a limitless library? If done correctly and priced affordably, this could save the music industry. Why download a song off of a P2P site if you can’t play along with it?
It’s also going to be available for the Wii. These guys are looking to be on every platform. Sounds to me like they’re really trying to build a new music distribution model.
I’m going to point out that even without games like this, people can interact with the music themselves by actually learning an instrument and playing it. People have been “interacting with music” for centuries.
I enjoy Guitar Hero, too, but I just want to point out that making music isn’t something that just famous people do and that listening to music isn’t a passive experience. Anyone can do it, and it’s not that hard. The way you’ve phrased it, you make it sound like Harmonix has re-invented the wheel.
No, they’ve made a music simulator that lets non-musicians experience the feeling of making music, just as GTA lets you experience racing a car. Of course, you could just go out and race your own car on an autocross course, but most people will not do that.
I play several instruments. But none of them well enough that I can feel like I’m standing on a stage in front of 50,000 people wailing out Crossroads. Just like I can drive my own car in an autocross, but I can’t do it well enough to take the poll position at Indy. Simulators provide some of the experience of the real thing for a tiny fraction of the investment in time and money. And they bring other things to the table, such as scoring, competition, and online play.
Combine that with listening to the actual song in multi-channel better-than-DVD audio, and it could well open up a whole new way to experience music for people who are not professional musicians.
Irrelevant nitpick to start my post: Pole position, so derived from horse racing, where the #1 would start right by the track’s inside pole, an advantageous spot.
To the game:
I have to wonder about the peripherals. From a Gamespot Q&A:
Assuming a pricing structure like the current $40-$70 range for a replacement Guitar Hero guitar (first party wired about $45), that’s going to add up to be a pretty significant initial investment on the hardware. Enough to buy a real instrument.
I am certainly curious to see how the game reveals, because it has a lot of potential to be very, very fun.
I’ve played electric guitar for ~10 years. Can someone explain this appeal to me? I have a couple non-musician friends who play Guitar Hero and they also tell me that real guitarists like the game. I recently played GH for the first (and maybe only) time and could not understand why guitarists would like it that much. From what I gathered, the user has no room for creativity: one cannot write songs or improvise on GH. One jams along to rock songs by pressing colored buttons on the ‘neck’ and moving a switch on the “body” of a video game control that resembles the shape of an electric guitar. Oh yeah, there’s also a tremolo bar of sorts. Please, correct me if I’m wrong about any of that. I can somewhat understand the appeal for a non-guitarist or amateur, but not a real guitarist.
Shit, I’ve been doing that on occasion for over 7 years now especially with Gilmour’s solos in ‘Time’ and ‘Money.’ So again I ask, what is the appeal to a real guitarist to purchase the relevant video game equipment and play Guitar Hero? I’m only 24 years old so there is no a video game generation gap separating me form the majority of GH lovers.
I think the appeal of GH is the same as any other game. To see which one is smarter/better, you or the game. If you think you are a good guitarist, you should be able to beat GH, right? Are you going to let that 10 year-old kid who has never seen a real guitar get a better score than you?
Yes, I am. In my case, it’s a 13 year old that gets a better score. I couldn’t play Guitar Hero if someone held a gun to my head. I’ve been a Cheap Trick fan since 1979, and I couldn’t even play the intro to Surrender. The controller is completely foreign to me; I must be hard-wired from playing in a conventional manner so that the whole control-user-interface aspect is a big whoosh. But that’s just me; YMMV.
For the record, I currently work for a music manufacturer; my employer’s firm is featured in the game.
But sit down and play it? Nope. I’m forced to sit beside my son on the couch, and use one of my own guitars, while my son uses the game’s controller.
Yes. I don’t care if every 10 year old in the world is better at Guitar Hero (or any other video game) than I am.
My time and money is better spent on real guitars…ya know the ones that allow me to compose songs, improvise, apply unique effects, play in front of a campfire, etc.
I totally agree. I used to play guitar, gave it up about 10+ years ago. When I saw GH in the store, I liked it but realized… “hell, if I’m going to fake my way through a game, might as well take up the real thing again.” So I did.
However for those who never took up an instrument, I can see the appeal. And the game is pretty fun.
I haven’t played GH but I’ve heard so many positive endorsements of the game that I think I’m going to get it. I’ve played guitar for more than 25 years so I made a comment to one of my brothers-in-law that I assumed the game would be easy for me. My BiL (who also plays guitar and loves GH) told me that the game is actually harder if you really play the guitar because the interface has nothing to do with what you’d be doing on a real instrument so it’s more counter-intuitive for real musicians than for non-musicians.
I have a birthday coming up and I asked my wife to get me one of the guitar controllers and one of the games. Should I start with the first game or go straight to GH2?
Professional athletes seem to love their sports’ video games, and the principle is really the same. For people who aren’t actually in the game, I think the appeal is a little harder to figure out. I guess it’s just fun or something.
I have been annoyed a few times lately when I saw my little brother playing Guitar Hero instead of his brand new bass.
Sam makes a few good points, but for me, following along with a music videogame (fun as it might be) still counts as passively interacting with music - you’re following along with someone else’s performance and you’re scored based on how well you copy it.
We play GH and GH2 at a friend’s house (Mrs. Urquhart has theorized, and correctly so, that if we actually owned them, we’d be in front of them All. The. Time. Plus, I’m in love with Judy Nails.); GH2 has much better graphics and a more forgiving interface (you don’t have to hit the notes at exactly the right split second), but I kind of prefer the setlist as a whole on the original game. Not that there are no good songs on GH2 – I had fervently wished for Heart’s Crazy on You when GH2 was originally announced, and whaddayaknow, there it is. And it’s a blast to play.
If I had to choose one (and I can’t), I’d go for GH2.
