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Music games blamed for falling game sales
Author: Joe MartinPublished: 21st October 2009
Music games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band have been blamed for poor game sales this month.
According to GI.biz, while investors were expecting to see double-digit growth for games sales this month, figures released by the NPD Group show only a 5 percent growth in the market - begging the question of whether gamers might finally be sick of rhythm games.
"We expected far higher sales for the month, as we succumbed to much of the hype surrounding the relatively high-profile launches of The Beatles: Rock Band and Guitar Hero 5," said Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter.
"We had expected the former to sell 1.3 million units, and thought that sales of the disc would drive sales of older Rock Band bundles; instead, the game sold fewer than half our estimate, and overall sales came in at $73 million, well below our $140 million estimate.
"Similarly, we thought that the giveaway of a voucher for Guitar Hero Van Halen would have great appeal, and would drive Guitar Hero 5 sales. The game sold fewer than our 700,000 unit estimate, and overall Guitar Hero sales were only $43 million, well below our $75 million unit estimate," he added.
Music games aren't the only genre bearing the brunt though - Microsoft's Halo: ODST apparently didn't get the reception it was expected to either, from fans or critics.
What games have you bought this month? Let us know in the forums.
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Agreed.
As for Guitar Hero 5, I think people have just wizened up to the fact that the guitar hero franchise has turned to **** now Activision took it over. Really, the only thing you need is Rock Band 2 and a load of MS points to download the songs you like.
i agree that is the only music game title you need especially with a the song catalogue is near a 1000 now, but I think that people are generally getting bored with the novelty that GH and RB once had. once you have a played the guitar, drums, bass and had a sing-a-long what else can you really do with it???
its a toy with a limited scope at the end of it.
and a fold up interactive stage. wireless of course
On one hand they sell Guitar Hero and RockBand as 'platforms', you buy the package once and download whatever songs appeal to you. A sound business model.
However they're trying to pair that with annual releases and bundles. It doesn't work and defeats the object of the original platform. Imagine having to buy a new Xbox/PS3 every year.
Add the fact that IMO they severely overestimated The Beatles appeal and demographic. No doubt they still have a lot of fans, but the vast majority have no interest whatsoever in buying a video game for a console they probably don't even own.
And Van Halen? Are you kidding me? At most that should of been a track pack. There was so little interest in that game Activision gave it away for free.
Then there's the most fundamental problem. Musical instruments are truly things of beauty, they look great in your home and say a lot about the owner. Plastic toys with 5 buttons are not the same thing.
Nail and Head
But you have to understand that the market The Beatles RockBand and GH Van Halen would appeal to probably don't appreciate endless plastic instruments cluttering their homes.
They keep releasing more games with less value. Full games should have more songs for the money than track packs do. Lego Rock Band is shaping up to disappoint, though I will probably pick it up just so I can rip RB2 and sell it.
Also, "begging the question" doesn't mean what you think it means.
not with that stupid tony hawk controller though.
Exactly. With RB2 and its extensive music collection there really isn't a need to buy standalone games.
This is the basis of the Corporate C(r)apitalist structure, which died in 2008, enjoy the show as we find another economic system that works and isnt based on a cancer growth system.
The majority of people who like the beatles don't appreciate games in general.
Sports games do very well in that department, especially football games here in the UK.
Edit:
Oh and driving games, can't wait for GT5.
And first person shooters...
*and this one is for the drummer* lol
The novelty wore off, I used to play it a lot, now it's lucky if it gets dusted
+1
That's what GH is starting to remind me of, <Insert Sport Here> <Insert Year Here> games. At least with Rock Band they're gonna leave it at RB2 and RB Beatles.
At least with FPS' you get some variety from the differing stories, settings, etc.