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.
@Netflix drops Qwikster
Usually such a split is done if one of the divisions is doing bad (financially). If they dropped the plan, it means that the DVD rental was not doing that bad.
So, you announce a split that is not needed, then drop it. In Dilbert’s world, his CEO would get promoted 🙂
@Xbox 720 popping up on LinkedIn resumes
Here comes the DX11 console!
@320GB hard drive announced for Xbox 360
I see little point for that. I didn’t do any management for my games (on the PC) and I still didn’t piled up 250 GB.
@Bethesda: We were “forced” to sue Mojang
… Forced? Really? That’s the best apology they can come up with?
I personally liked how Mojang treated the issue: challenge them to a Quake 3 match.
Not publish in NA? That’s pretty hard now, considering that a lot of NA customers bought the game since in alpha stage. As I said previously, as an indie you can’t have both: IP ownership or money.
Jonah, your voice didn’t sound that bad.
I don’t have much of an opinion on the news this week so I’ll just say this: I miss hearing the voice of Paul whenever he’s not around, he makes the podcast so much better.
Just wanted to say that even without the great audio quality, it was still a great show. Just want to thank you guys for putting out a show every week, it is always entertaining, as well as informative, and I thank you for filling me in on the latest video game news. Now for the hate mail.
Paul, I was filled with joy when I heard you were gone for this recording. For one week I was able to avoid you and your whiny, pretentious attitude. They had said that you were at Disney World, but I assume that was to cover up your real reason for missing this podcast. Why you really missed the podcast must have been because you had grown tired of your miserable, meaningless life so you decided the only thing to do was go out with a bang. You grabbed a pair of stockings, threw them over your head, and guaranteed your mother that you would be home before ten. You drove to the nearest bank and handed the teller a note containing the chicken-scratch writing that kids made fun of you for in grade school. She took one look at it and asked what it said, which brought you back to grade school, and the time when you were giving a report on the Monarch Butterfly, which you referred to as Butterfree. You began to spell out the word “Monarch” on the blackboard, only to be stopped half way through by Molly Germain, the girl you had been “in love” with since Pre-K. She yelled out, “My baby sister writes better than you!” Obviously this insult wouldn’t affect most grown people, but your eight-year-old heart was shattered. Then, you were brought back to present day, where you were in the process of robbing a bank, now even more enraged with the memory in mind. You had told the teller to put the money in the bag, and she complied. You began to walk out, thinking that you were going to live a better life, and use this money to set your mother up with a better house, and maybe even find a wife to settle down with. However, you were unaware that the teller had pushed a silent button and alerted the cops, inconveniently located just a few blocks down. You pushed a young boy off of his bike and began peddling away from the police. After many warnings, they had no other option than to shoot out your training wheels. That’s when you remembered you never got passed the training wheels, and the fear rushed over you. You kept peddling and peddling, until you noticed something. You had finally learned how to ride a bike, and you finally felt free. But as soon as your luck came, it had left. They placed two well-aimed shots in your spinal cord. You tried moving, but to no avail. You were paralyzed. You now are spending four months in jail for two counts of robbery, one for the bank, and the other for the bike. You will remain paralyzed and nobody, not even your mother will take pity on you. You are a disgrace to your nation, and when you die, you will not be remembered as the amazing game-designer you see yourself as, but as a low-life scum that had nothing to offer to this world.
Or I’m pretty sure that’s what happened. Are you happy now Paul?
QOTW – I am only 17, so I do not remember too many controllers, but the current PS3 controller is horrible in my opinion. It’s too small and I feel like I could break it at any time.