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Evening Reading: Music Games Could Have Killed the Video Star

by Garnett Lee, Feb 04, 2010 6:00pm PST

Today's Rock Band DLC update reminded me once again how abruptly music games fell off in my playing habits. Around the time that Guitar Hero 2 hit if you'd told me there would be new songs available every week, I'd probably have proclaimed that the next World of Warcraft. Neither Guitar Hero nor Rock Band has ascended to such heights, though they've certainly accumulated piles of cash between the two. While the price didn't help, the disappointing Beatles Rock Band sales were a symptom, not a result, of the stagnation in the music video game market.

It was one thing in the PS2 era for each game to be like an "as seen on TV" K-Tel compilation album but in 2010 this continuing trickle of songs distribution just isn't going to get it done. It's the game that's holding these games back from achieving that next level of success. The reason me and at least all the people I know who were into them loved these games wasn't for the intense colored Chicklet pressing action; it was because suddenly there was this new interactive way to enjoy our favorite songs.

You'd think of any, these publishers would see the light too. Who better than MTV to understand the voracious appetite for music and how quickly the audience can move? I guess they already forgot Video Killed the Radio Star (for full effect listen along). And all Activision has to do is look to their favorite cash source. Sure, you have to pay for the World of Warcraft game, but once you have it's the monthly subscription that really brings in the cash (and yes, you have to pay for an expansion but they do a lot of updates to keep you in and the basic subscription model is what I'm getting at).

The door stands wide open for someone to get it right. Stop worrying about the stupid boxed game. This isn't even about the game. I want a music store I can access wherever. One I can feed from Shazam, Pandora, Grooveshark, Twitter, and the rest; from my PC, my laptop, my phone, my iPod...wherever. And one I can as easily share the stuff I'm grooving to. Do that and I'll be back to playing and buying music on a regular basis.

In a board room somewhere a Snuggie exec is screaming at the team "How did we not come up with pajama jeams!"

Go Canada! Rockin' live Vanilla Ice halftime show at a Raptor's game

So, yes, the whole idea of a viral ad was to get me to post it but this Bud Light ad is kinda worth it.


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