Guitar Hero Reaching Critical Mass?
Source: Tom's Guide | Keywords: Activision, Guitar, Hero, Sales, November
All good things must come to an end, and sales for Guitar Hero: World Tour may have reached their zenith.
For the last several years, Guitar Hero has dominated the console gaming scene. Selling millions of copies over five different consoles, the Harmonix-developed franchise (now developed by Activision's Neversoft and RedOctane) , has brought many who were not considered "gamers" into the gaming world.
However, with the newest offering Guitar Hero: World Tour now seeing less than stellar sales figures, many are predicting that the Guitar Hero franchise has reached its zenith, and may be at the top of a downswing.
According to Electronic Entertainment Design and Research analyst Jesse Divnich, unit sales of the newest offering are expected slide more than 50 percent in November, on top of sales that declined 60 percent in October. Originally, sales of World Tour were hampered by supply issues, but now the game and its hefty $189 price tag (which includes a microphone, guitar and basic drum kit) , is selling below its MSRP on eBay and similar sites.
While sales may be down, don’t expect Guitar Hero to disappear anytime soon. "We expect Guitar Hero and Rock Band releases for the next 10 years as they will always have a large and loyal market base, " said Divnich. "Just as Dance Dance Revolution is still today a very profitable franchise for Konami, even though that series reached its peak a long time ago. "
While Activision’s golden egg may be losing its luster, Electronic Arts is in an even worse position. With sales of Mirror’s Edge and Need for Speed: Undercover not meeting expectations, many are expecting another round of layoffs from the gaming giant. THQ is also in dire straits, with its big fourth quarter title, WWE Smackdown vs. Raw, expected to post disappointing sales figures. In any event, it seems as though the gaming industry is temporarily trapped in the shadow of a global recession.
-
Previous News Article
Wal-Mart Readies "thousands" of... -
Next News Article
800,000 Wiis Sold During...
19 photos
19 photos
18 photos
9 photos
All I can say is its about time
I totally disagree with the recession 'threats'
Mirror's Edge is short and somewhat repetitive, making it more of a rental choice than a purchasing choice
NFS:U is just plain bad
Make good games and people will buy them. Fallout 3 sold like hotcakes on all 3 platforms, despite the recession and piracy.
It's about time game companies should stop blaming everyone but themselves.
"and its hefty $189 price tag (which includes a microphone, guitar and basic drum kit) , is selling below its MSRP on eBay and similar sites. "
i doubt that's effecting the actual sales, there's also a guitar kit for those who can't afford the whole thing... but yeah with rockband, i'm some what not surprised... im pretty sure it has reached it's zenith, but only cause another franchise came up, but i doubt the sales will go down too much from now and next year's version
Guitar Hero isn't really a very good game. It gets old really quickly. It was fun for a while, but people are getting bored with it and moving onto newer shinier games.
As for the rest of the games mentioned, the news seems to that crappy games sell crappy? Companies can't expect that just because a previous iteration of a game sold well that future version will too.
it's more of a drinking game really
I love all the children give negative rep to people who dis GH. As they should, it's not a good game and this was bound to happen.
A game like GH gets boring, it has no story, nothing.
Or maybe it's because Harmonix (original developer of GH) is now developing Rock Band and EA/Neversoft just aren't keeping up with Harmonix.
I don't really want to simulate a real guitar anyways. Guitars are really complicated. How about they make a really simple guitar simulation game, such as you play a guitar with only one string and five frets? I would play that.
Fallout 3 sold like hotcakes on all 3 platforms, despite the recession and piracy.It's about time game companies should stop blaming everyone but themselves.
Exactly, and Fallout 3 was good at best. Think what would have happened if it was great.
I figured buying expensive plastic instruments with every new game would get old eventually.
Now, bringing the game to arcades, that's the perfect place for such a game. I really enjoy playing GH4:World Tour and rock band at my local best buy every time I'm there.
I pick up the guitar or sit down to play the drums along with a buddy playing another instrument thinking we'll just play one song and well... that quick trip to BB for a $10 item turns into a one hour gaming session. Or until the employees decide to kick us out. Haha.