#news : Split Screen: No more Heroes

February 14, 2011 - 7:37AM

Ache o melhor para seu Play Station no BuscaPé! Jogo Guitar Hero III.

The Reaper has come to claim Guitar Hero. Photo: Rob Boudon

Guitar Hero is no more, taking with it the fledgling DJ Hero series and several other long-struggling Activision properties. It was sad news for fans of music games, but not terribly surprising considering how poorly both have been selling in recent years.

It is funny to think that the entire history of Guitar Hero has taken place over just six years. In that time it went from being a curiosity to a cult favourite, then to a full-blown phenomenon, and then finally a faded star. After the disappointing sales of the final game in the series, Warriors of Rock, the end was inevitable.

The first rumblings arrived on Thursday, with Activision announcing major staff cuts at developer Vicarious Visions. While it had never been officially confirmed, it was believed that Vicarious Visions were developing the next - as yet unannounced - Guitar Hero game.

Advertisement: Story continues below

Rumours began to fly, fuelled by tweets from disappointed ex-employees, that Activision’s cuts at Vicarious Visions meant that the upcoming Guitar Hero title had been cancelled. Finally Activision confirmed on the DJ Hero website that they were disbanding the Guitar Hero and DJ Hero business units.

The decision runs deeper than simply no more new games. Downloadable content for Guitar Hero and DJ Hero will also trickle to a stop now, with both games getting their previously announced new tracks for February, but then nothing else. Existing downloadable tracks will stay available for purchase, but no new songs will be released in future.

With no more future support for either game, it seems unlikely that unsold stock will move easily off shelves.

As sad as this is for fans, industry analysts have praised the decision. Gamasutra obtained comments from several prominent game industry figures, all of whom agreed that Activision had done the right thing. Notorious games industry commentator Michael Pachter described the move as “prudent”, while another analyst said “demand just isn’t there.”

It’s difficult to identify a single factor as being responsible for the downfall of the Guitar Hero series. Activision certainly over-saturated the market, especially with its five separate releases in 2009, but the growing cost of peripherals certainly didn’t help.

When Harmonix, the creators of Guitar Hero, released their competing product Rock Band, the game that added drums and vocals to the guitar action, Activision responded by trying to emulate it. Instead of just one guitar, gamers suddenly needed to spend even more on plastic instruments in order to get the full experience. Perhaps the audience just became peripheral fatigued.

Rock Band is now left with no serious competitors in the music game arena, a fact they must be celebrating. Even so, Harmonix released a diplomatic statement, saying they were sad to hear of the death of Guitar Hero, claiming it was “discouraging news for fans of the band game genre”. Of course, Harmonix has their own financial trouble right now, but with no competition they may find it easier to turn their business around.

I have been a Rock Band player for a few years now, but Guitar Hero was my first taste of the genre and I for one am sad to see it go.

Screen Play readers, do think this is the end of an era or good riddance? What about DJ Hero and the Tony Hawk skating series that are joining it on Activision's scrapheap? And what Guitar Hero songs and games have been your favourites over the years?

Let us know in the comments section below.

- James “DexX” Dominguez

Sphere: Related Content