Rhythm Gaming is all the rage, or is it? Turns out Guitar Hero: World Tour didn’t meet or exceed the figures they hit with Guitar Hero III. Where GH3 brought in $115 million in the first week, GHWT brought in $67 million in the same time frame.
Why?
There are plenty of factors that could cut down the sales units, considering those that can purchase Guitar Hero World Tour don’t have to purchase additional instruments to play the game like they played GH3.
- Rock Band 2: This game arrived before Guitar Hero 3 and folks went for this game instead because it was first to launch. Some gamers have to make a choice on which to purchase because they can’t buy both.
- Hot Games: Although Rhythm gaming can be fun, a lot of great games are arriving this season so gamers have to make some big decisions.
- Economics: The economy isn’t exactly thriving right now and retail outlets are already predicting less than stellar numbers.
- Saturation: Since the original Guitar Hero game, we’ve had a number of titles from Activision including their Aerosmith edition and Harmonix pulling out Rock Band and Rock Band 2. There is talk of a Hendrix version and a Metallic release – how much is too much?
We know people love charts, so here is another to toss at you via Kotaku:

Guitar Hero World Tour Sales, via Kotaku
The break down from Guitar Hero 3 to World Tour is obvious, also apparent is the shift in console when buying into the rhythm gaming franchises. The Wii has started taking more market share, odd considering the DLC isn’t there, and the PS3 is showing its lackluster sales of the console by growing in proportion but not excelling to grab huge share (PS3 fanboys attack!). Sony kicked ass by taking control of the share using their PlayStation 2 with Guitar Hero 3, but has lost that lead for the World Tour.
Will these lower sales figure change the future roadmap for Activision in their Guitar Hero franchise or are they satisfied taking home $67 million in the first week of the launch. That is still a lot of money and probably doesn’t even consider any money they could (or will) potentially make on the World Tour hardware.
Luckily, the rhythm gaming content doesn’t get old with age, it just gets more classic. No doubt Guitar Hero World Tour will be landing in homes over the holidays and into 2009.
The best movie based on a video game would have to be “Resident Evil”, just a bit more than “Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within.”
A lesser known game based on a video game is “Cloak & Dagger”, which was pretty meta in that the film was about a kid who loved the game so much that he had an imaginary spy friend (Dabney Coleman!)
There was a French film called “Karate Champ” about a young 13 year old who loves the game so much he pretends to be the character from the game. The squicky part is that he has an affair with a woman in her 30’s.
“Tomb Raider” got okay reviews. “TRON” doesn’t count because it’s a movie that video games were BASED from.
The best movie based on a video game would have to be “Resident Evil”, just a bit more than “Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within.”
A lesser known game based on a video game is “Cloak & Dagger”, which was pretty meta in that the film was about a kid who loved the game so much that he had an imaginary spy friend (Dabney Coleman!)
There was a French film called “Karate Champ” about a young 13 year old who loves the game so much he pretends to be the character from the game. The squicky part is that he has an affair with a woman in her 30’s.
“Tomb Raider” got okay reviews. “TRON” doesn’t count because it’s a movie that video games were BASED from.
@Sony Thinking of Charging for PSN:
That’s why I hate depending on a service. Now here’s what will happen: people will complain, but only a few will drop. So Sony racks in the dough.
@Web Access To WoW Auction House:
Hmm, do I feel a trend here? This is the second service in the same podcast that increases costs.
Rant about subscriptions:
I hate it when the terms of subscriptions change after the user subscribed. It’s like changing a contract after signing it.
Now I know that a lot of banks have a contractual point going like “we reserve the right to change the terms bla bla bla”, but game makers? Since when game makers decided to use the same policies as banks?
@question of the week:
Mortal Kombat. Although Resident Evil was also good, I saw MK first, and that had more impact on me.
@Sony Thinking of Charging for PSN:
That’s why I hate depending on a service. Now here’s what will happen: people will complain, but only a few will drop. So Sony racks in the dough.
@Web Access To WoW Auction House:
Hmm, do I feel a trend here? This is the second service in the same podcast that increases costs.
Rant about subscriptions:
I hate it when the terms of subscriptions change after the user subscribed. It’s like changing a contract after signing it.
Now I know that a lot of banks have a contractual point going like “we reserve the right to change the terms bla bla bla”, but game makers? Since when game makers decided to use the same policies as banks?
@question of the week:
Mortal Kombat. Although Resident Evil was also good, I saw MK first, and that had more impact on me.
I believe the best game turned into a movie would have to be Final Fantasy: Advent Children. The movie is very EPIC. When Square Enix 1st started developing advent children the software wasn’t available to do the task @ the desired standard so as a software company they developed there own. Also the rendering in there PS2 game FF X look better than nearly any shorts I have seen on 360/PS3 games. One of the aspects of game development which is of most interest to me is the Art. I love it when the developers pay close attention to detail. For example HALO 3 is amazing, some of the landscape designs aren’t necessary but are amazing & you really appreciate the effort when you spend the time to notice. My love & appreciation for art is probably due to my old man being such a great artist.
I believe the best game turned into a movie would have to be Final Fantasy: Advent Children. The movie is very EPIC. When Square Enix 1st started developing advent children the software wasn’t available to do the task @ the desired standard so as a software company they developed there own. Also the rendering in there PS2 game FF X look better than nearly any shorts I have seen on 360/PS3 games. One of the aspects of game development which is of most interest to me is the Art. I love it when the developers pay close attention to detail. For example HALO 3 is amazing, some of the landscape designs aren’t necessary but are amazing & you really appreciate the effort when you spend the time to notice. My love & appreciation for art is probably due to my old man being such a great artist.
Any 1 watch D3ATH NOTE or the last Samurai Champloo, not games but epic shows =] (if you do watch Sponge bob death note on you tube just for laughs XD)
Any 1 watch D3ATH NOTE or the last Samurai Champloo, not games but epic shows =] (if you do watch Sponge bob death note on you tube just for laughs XD)
Incidentally, the company EA bought for social gaming is Playfish. They spent $300M on them.
Incidentally, the company EA bought for social gaming is Playfish. They spent $300M on them.
Hey, Thanks for the info on this material. I never knew there was so much in the world of Pc Gamming . This has been really helpful for me to understand the entire concept you have put in this article. Keep it up. I would like to hear more on PC gamming and tis stuff. I shall subscribe to your RSS feeds and keep coming back for more information. Thanks Again
Hey, Thanks for the info on this material. I never knew there was so much in the world of Pc Gamming . This has been really helpful for me to understand the entire concept you have put in this article. Keep it up. I would like to hear more on PC gamming and tis stuff. I shall subscribe to your RSS feeds and keep coming back for more information. Thanks Again