Rhythm games are the new FPS for a lot of gamers, a broader audience of gamers, and the market is thriving and demanding new titles. Harmonix and Activision are at the front of the battle with Konami following a bit behind but still contending (we think) very soon.
Each company plans to up each other with cooler instruments, tighter controls and new in-game options and multi-player fancies. It’s a business and each competitor tries to gain a lead by whatever means needed to win… or do they?
Harmonix stops short when it comes to purchasing exclusive rights to music artists, for now at least. Harmonix’s Eric Brosious went on blogger record saying, “We prefer not to sign exclusive deals with artists because while it seems like the competitive “business” thing to do, in the long run, it’s really not good for anyone. We think we should be working to get more music out to more people.” (kotaku)
As Marky Mark once said, we need “Music for the people” not for in-game exclusives making us choose between Guitar Hero and Rock Band titles. We’ve seen what EA has done to the football franchise by taking control of the NFL roster, money talks and the best game doesn’t always win.
If Activision decides to buy up a ton of great exclusive content and you’re a rock band gamer, you’ll lose out in a ton of great content. For some gamers, that might mean losing out in some artists you’ve never heard before which also means the artist loses out in new fans. We’ve seen younger gamers fall in love with the sounds of Boston and The Police, bands famous way before the birth of many of the Rock Band fan base.
You can tell Harmonix is a development group with roots in music while Activision is a development group with their roots in business. While exclusive access brings you an advantage, in terms of broadening the culture of music, it does very little. Harmonix may be in the right but will that matter in the end when business deals hit the table?
p.s. sorry about the Marky Mark reference, but it had to be done. Bringing out a bit of my own childhood there…
Funny enough I actually started by looking for podcasts in Google. Yes I was overwhelmed by the number of podcasts I had no idea. Then I started narrowing my results and typed podcasts about games. Yes you were the first one that popped up.
@ question of the week- this question made me laugh because I just watched six batman movies. I was watching my nephew who is obsessed with barman. I also watched the brave and the bold. I think I would have to say Christopher Nolan batman. The catch is he would have to have a big say in the game. I think his view on Gotham City and batman is phenomenal.
Did I hear Jordan’s wife in the background?
@Square Enix exec says long console lifespans “biggest mistake”
… what? So they left for the web and found it a greener pasture than a console? As for profit margins, dunno. Yes, production costs are smaller for a browser. But the competition is …
Question: how many big names (Activision, id and so on) dropped the console totally in the favor of a web browser plug in?
@No fee to be charged for connecting to Wii U network
They have to recoup the costs from some other place. What will that be?
@Michael Fassbender pegged to star in Assassin’s Creed flick
Erm … movies made after games don’t have a great track record …
The main issues with movies made after games is that they deceive the gamer. They have expectations set up by the game and the movie somehow doesn’t deliver.
Both game fans and movie makers seem to forget one aspect that makes the game good and (because of it lacking) makes movies … not so good: interactivity.
@Batman game:
Erm, I don’t like super hero games that much (my way of saying I wouldn’t play one … well, except the NES games).
Dunno. I’d go for Christopher Nolan, the atmosphere in Dark Knight was good – less super hero-y stuff, more realism.
Keep the bloopers coming 🙂
@Square Enix exec says long console lifespans “biggest mistake”: You already covered every argument on this subject so I’ll just say this: I think that Sony and Microsoft are making a mistake by letting Nintendo get a year or more head-start in next-gen consoles.
No fee to be charged for connecting to Wii U network: Completely agree with the opinion that they had no other choice in this matter.
Next Rocksteady Batman game will feature Silver Age Bats: I’m hoping they can pull this off after the amazing Arkham series, it can be a nice change of pace.
Michael Fassbender pegged to star in Assassin’s Creed flick: Have zero expectations for this, hoping to be pleasantly surprised.
@QOTW: I already have enough of my Batman fix (cartoons, movies and video games), so I don’t really care what version they use at this point.
Hey!
@ass ass in Creed movie
I hope this movie is better than other movies based on games… Mario comes to mind right away 🙁
@QOTW meh.. Not my kind of comic… But ill go with adam west batman, he was funny in a kinda sad way
Thanks for the code!! (but i still have not got it) :p
@Square Enix and lifespans
That’s a difficult one to answer. For money consious gamers this generation was the best. However, the gaming industry is slowing down. Most of the upcomming titles are sequals or reboots. A new generation might bring back some originality. Regarding iOS and WEB game turncoats, you covered an item a few weeks back where Epic games stated that their iOS game brought more profits than Gears of War. But I don’t think that big names like, Activision or EA, will go purely iOS/WEB. The console market is highly monopolistic. It’s difficult and costly to make a console game. It’s much cheaper and easier to programm for an iPad.
@WiiU and free network
The 3DS has a free network. But you cannot benefit from it if there are NO GAMES THAT USE IT. Satoru Iwata released a statement at some point, that they will not concentrate on on-line, like Xbox 360. Which means that WiiU users will be stuck with crap network, like the Wii (2 minutes to get to the Wii Shop screen).
@Batmans QOTW
I am not sad enough to know what guy made what Batman. WIKIPEDIA!!! I CHOOSE YOU!!!
Tim Burton’s Batman could be fun, if they would bring back the actors that played villans (Danny Devito, Arnie, Jim Carrey). The recent comix emo Batman would make for a nice 18 rated game. But I think the animated series would be the best choice. It was a very good representation of Batman.
PS: they had Batman: Brave and the Bold game on Wii and DS. Might want to check it out.
@Arthur V – console lifespan
I’m afraid it’ll be just the opposite: new hardware? No cool new software available yet? Quickly, do a high definition version of Mario and sell it as Mario U! Or a high definition of Halo and call it Halo-rango!
“It’s difficult and costly to make a console game. It’s much cheaper and easier to programm for an iPad.”
Not sure about that in term of immediate costs. XNA is free, there’s a free version of Visual Studio.
If I’m not mistaking, all compilers for Apple are not free, and there’s a developer fee you have to pay.
The Terry McGinnis Batman from Batman Beyond, is awesome and it’s a from a Batman age that haven’t been explored much so developers would have great creative freedom and few restrictions.