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Rock Band could return

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I have a cupboard full of fake plastic instruments, and I’m not ashamed of that. I loved the hell out of Guitar Hero, and subsequently, Rock Band. I’ve never been particularly good at music games, mind; my fingers get all twisted and confused.Still, games of that ilk have always been great drunken fun. Pity they fizzled in the last generation. They could make a comeback though!

The reason for their downfall, say many, is because of oversaturation. Activision in particular milked the heck out of its guitar Hero property, with a new game in the series every six months or so. Rock Band developer Harmonix’ Alex Rigopulos doesn’t think all the blame should be levied at Activision.

“I think there’s probably some truth to the notion that Activision ‘over-published’ Guitar Hero. But I wouldn’t agree that the decline of the genre was ‘entirely the fault of Activision’,” he said in a Reddit AMA.

“Reality is always more complicated than this. For example, it didn’t help that GH and RB were the most expensive video games on the market during a brutal recession. I also don’t think that either GH or RB delivered enough (or the right kind of) evolution of the experience in the years that followed the initial releases – something we hope to address at some point in the next outing.”

Next outing? Exsqueeze me?

“Of course I was sad when Rock Band passed its (first!) peak, but one way or another, it will be back,” he said.

“Music games need to evolve just like every aspect of pop culture. The band game boom was followed by a dance game boom, which will be followed by some other manifestation of music games -hopefully some of the new stuff Harmonix is working on.

“Music is a permanent aspect of the human experience, and so is gameplay. It’s Harmonix’s job to figure out new ways for music and gameplay to amplify each other’s emotional power. Stand by.”

Harmonix are the chaps who made Guitar Hero 1 and 2, and then went off to make Rock Band while Activision put Neversoft on Guitar Hero duty. To my mind, Harmonix’s games have always felt best, because it’s a studio made up of musicians, but i;’m sure many would disagree. Harmonix also makes the excellent Dance Central games , and their next game is a Kinect exclusive for the Xbox One based, loosely, on Fantasia. They’re also trying to Kickstart a remake of one of their first music-based games, the excellent Amplitude.

If it does happen..please don;t make me buy a new set of fake plastic instruments.

Last Updated: January 6, 2017

11 Comments

  1. RinceofFuturePast

    May 20, 2014 at 14:04

    Still really want that game where you can actually learn from your real guitar.

    Reply

    • Exalted Overlord Geoffrey Tim

      May 20, 2014 at 14:10

      It’s called Rocksmith, and it exists. And it’s good.

      Reply

      • RinceofFuturePast

        May 20, 2014 at 14:16

        Yeah. Think you said you were going to send it to me but they didn’t cover the post. Dammit. 🙁 Sad panda 🙁 Instead we had to watch video of Zoe destroying some of the most classic songs… TROLOLO!

        Reply

      • Milesh Bhana

        May 20, 2014 at 14:24

        Ironically, RockSmith is technically more expensive that Rock Band if you don’t already own a guitar.

        But yeah, it’s a so much better. I’d love to see Harmonix do something in that vein.

        Reply

  2. Alien Emperor Trevor

    May 20, 2014 at 14:04

    Hopefully they’ll let you play more than just the first 10 seconds of a song too.

    Reply

  3. Kromas

    May 20, 2014 at 14:06

    What broke GH was not GH but rather DJ Hero … I mean seriously!

    Reply

  4. Admiral Chief in Space

    May 20, 2014 at 14:13

    I’d rather play the meh-fest that Umar suggests…
    😉

    Reply

  5. Jedi JJ

    May 20, 2014 at 14:31

    Oh please no. The world has had more than enough of this.

    Reply

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