Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Why Band Hero Will Rock Harder Than You Could Ever Imagine

Adam Levine Headlines Band Hero, The Next Instalment in the Guitar Hero Series
Many rockers are awaiting the arrival of the next instalment in the Guitar Hero Series, Guitar Hero 5, which is scheduled for launch this fall. However, feeding off its hype is a very different-natured game, which will also be launched this fall by Activision. The new title, Band Hero, is getting plenty of attention because of its appeal towards teen pop junkies, with a line-up of top-40 tracks. Here's exactly why Band Hero won't be that gimmicky little game the Guitar Hero super-fans are claiming it will be:

Pop is Popular

You can say what you want about how the top 40 songs are all badly formed techno garbage but the definition of top 40 is that they are more popular than not top 40 songs. Therefore, more people know these songs and like these songs. And one of the major holes in Guitar Hero was that, while everyone enjoyed the interactive gameplay, they would have appreciated a few songs they knew as part of the line-up. Band Hero will fill that hole.

Teen Audience

With teens, when something gets hot, it'll spread like wildfire. Just look at Hannah Montana and The Jonas Brothers. And there isn't much of a doubt that with pop sensations like Taylor Swift and Adam Levine headlining Band Hero, that the game will take off. I mean, look at 17 Again featuring Zac Efron; it's not like the movie was any good, it's just that it incorporated something that the younger generation already adored. The same concept will work with Band Hero.

Suited for Novices

It's more satisfying when you're getting 100% on expert than when you get booed off the stage for your lack of ability, even on easy. Hence, the novice crowd who don't actually play guitar or drums, will be able to enjoy the simpler sets of notes instead of desperately mashing buttons.
With this, Band Hero is touted as the family-friendly Guitar Hero, with it's "E-10+" ESRB rating. But I don't believe that for a second since most hits these days are ... inexplicably unappealing to the older generation.

Even Rockers Can't Resist

Maybe DJ Hero (which is also coming out in the fall, no jokes), is going a bit to far but even the Metallica lovers will probably just say, "Hey, what the heck? It's made by the guys at Guitar Hero so it can't be that bad." And how about them game collectors; there's nobody easier to get money from than a hardcore game collector.

With all this, I'm not saying Band Hero will actually be of good quality. I'm saying that it will be popular and everyone will buy it.

3 comments:

David Yun said...

heyo. Ive got to say I enjoy what you wrote. But I disagree. Seriously dude, Band Hero pisses me off. Recently all music games piss me off, even to some extent, Rock Band. There are just too many of them coming out. Especially by those dicks at Activision. Seriously, we have Guitar Hero 5, Band Hero, AND Guitar Hero Van Halen coming out within weeks of each other. Enough already

justthrowit

Anonymous said...

I personally think that's a good thing to have plenty of choice in music games. I am tired of guitar hero smash hits and I can't wait to play GH:5.
When I heard about Band Hero, the first thing that went to my mind was: What's the difference between this and GH:5?? Why not call it GH:6? So I searched on Google and found your blog. Man you're right, this game was made for making money. Teens will want it for christmas, and parents will buy it. It was already the case, but with a new name and pop artists it is now MORE ATTRACTING!

You know what? I dream of a Guitar Hero game with ZERO songs on the disc. Give us 80 songs to download from a big choice of various styles, no? THIS WOULD BE THE SHIT! :)

Jerry Zhang said...

Yeah, that's actually a pretty good idea. Just give us a certain number of songs we can pick for free after we buy the game and we can pick whatever we want instead of being subject to their pre-defined music.
Thanks for the comment!