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.
Hey guys. I’m back from commenting retirement forced to do so once again by your grim opinions on my favorite console 🙂
@Vita
The Vita isn’t going anywhere. While I already said that I partially agree with Jordan that there is no constant flow of exclusive games, I still can’t say that this means that there is nothing to play on the Vita. Especially now with the cheaper version and the PS4 Remote Play, people will think again about buying one. Heck, if Jonah is considering getting one… maybe… By the way – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:PlayStation_Vita-only_games sure, there is crapware there but there’s at least a dozen perfectly good, big games.
I also think Borderlands 2 isn’t really a system seller but it’s a well-known title that will make people look at the Vita and I believe that once you play it for a while, you realize how good of a system it really is for on-the-go gaming.
@PSNow
Obviously, people will,in general, not pay a subscription to play PS1 games, but PS3… I bet there are many people who would rather sell their PS3 and get PSNow for PS4 than keep the two consoles. It’s obvious to me that Sony shouldn’t be aiming at the latest releases to be available via PSNow. It’s going to be tough but if they play it right, they might be able to pull it off. I wonder if the games people own digitally will be available via PSNow for free… Also the ones obtained from PS+.
@QOTW
I didn’t really introduce anyone to video gaming. However, I convinced two friends to get a PS+ subscription for their PS3. I guess this counts. I also introduces some friend to board gaming and we meet regularly to play but this is easier since it’s intrinsically a more social activity.
Hey guys,
Don’t have too much to add this time but I’ll answer the QOtW.
I think I can say my wife and I introduced our daughter into Gaming. She loves to play Minecraft, Sims, Fable, and some other web based games.
Great show guys and keep up the good work. I also like it when you have 3 man team going with Paul or Dan.