Was the Guitar Hero Franchise Its Own Worst Enemy?

Activision recently announced that Guitar Hero is going to be discontinued. The once popular music video game has been suffering from a decline in sales. Also on the chopping block is DJ Hero. Was Guitar Hero just a fad or did it ever have a chance to succeed long term? Did over flooding the market make Guitar Hero kill itself?

The Guitar Hero revolution
In 2005, what seemed to be a revolution in gaming started. Guitar Hero was released to much praise from both critics and gamers. Everyone could live out their rock star fantasies in the comfort of their living rooms. The first game sold over 1.5 million. To date, the Guitar Hero franchise has sold over 25 million copies and over 60 million songs have been downloaded.

What may have started out as a booming franchise, with everyone from little kids, hardcore gamers, and grandma getting into the plastic guitar, sales have been slowing down. How long could consumers be expected to shell out anywhere from $80.00 and over for the newest bundle? With more instruments introduced, bundles were easily retailing for over $200.00. Not only did it make your wallet much lighter, it was pretty difficult to keep up with the avalanche of releases.

What went wrong
While the franchise remained strong in its early years, it's hard to deny the over saturation of the gaming giant. According to the official website, there are 18 games for consoles, including Guitar Hero for the iphone. 453 songs are also available for download. With all the releases, it's easy to forget the franchise is only entering its sixth year. In an industry where sequels usually take years to develop and release, Guitar Hero seemed to release a new disc or bundle every few months. In 2009, there was about eight games released, including Guitar Hero 5, Metallica, Van Halen, and Band Hero.

Another problem is the lack of innovation in the Guitar Hero games. There has been different modes, different bands, and plenty of songs, but the game itself has basically stayed the same. In 2009, video games that were geared towards hardcore gamers like Left 4 Dead 2, Borderlands, and Halo:ODST sold well. In that same year, music based games saw a decline in sales, this report blames lack of innovation and over flooding the market as reasons. Besides playing different songs and including more instruments, how much different can one Guitar Hero game be from another?

As a gamer who never understood the hype that surrounded Guitar Hero, I'm not surprised to see it go. It seems it was clear to everyone but Activision that the music game market was too crowded. We will never know if the franchise would of had a longer life without over saturation and with a little more innovation. Personally, I have always viewed Guitar Hero as a fad that would one day pass.

Sources:

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/02/09/guitar.hero.gone/index.html

http://hub.guitarhero.com/

http://www.vg247.com/2010/02/10/actibliz-full-year-financials-2009-60-million-guitar-hero-songs-download/