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Memo to Activision: Nobody playing Guitar Hero cares about Van Halen
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Guitar Hero publisher Activision knows it makes and sells video games, right? What the kids want for Christmas, what you play after school with your friends; you know...video games.
Giving them the benefit of the doubt that they do understand the concept, why would they allow a Guitar Hero: Van Halen standalone title to even exist? I can only come up with two reasons:
- So it can not be bought by Van Halen fans.
- So it can not be bought by Guitar Hero fans.
Still, they're apparently looking forward to creating a game that alienates the substantial demographic of Guitar Hero players that couldn't begin to care about Van Halen. In fact, I doubt many could give an answer of more than "some band" if questioned about the group that originally formed almost 40 years ago.
It was pretty baffling to see Guitar Hero: Aerosmith ever reach daylight--a game that is currently being hawked at my local GameStop by pricing it at $10 and throwing in a wired guitar peripheral for free; or as the GS employee put it: "Get a guitar for ten bucks and a piece of trash that you can throw away in the dumpster outside." The deal suddenly made sense.
Now we must deal with a standalone Van Halen title, meaning Activision somehow gave themselves the idea that this thing will fly off the shelves. Which would make sense, if it were last year when the rhythm-rock genre was a fresher concept and they could sell almost anything because of the fact that there wasn't that much of it out there. Unfortunately it is now this year, and their tireless pursuit of releasing as many games as possible is going to catching up to them as people aren't willing to shell out $60 several times a year for a similar product, you think the Madden franchise would sell if it didn't limit itself to one release a year?
Another question: What percentage of people who play video games would likely have a craving for Def Lepperd?
To give some perspective: At 23, I was born the same year Van Halen's 'second era' started when Sammy Hagar took over in 1985. The David Lee Roth version was beginning to peak almost a decade before, and I can assure you I'm on the older side of the average five button rhythm-rock enthusiast.
If Activision insists on churning out game after game with the exact same gameplay, they need to stop being so damn specific. It just doesn't make sense to run right by genre titles like 'Guitar Hero: Metal'* or 'Guitar Hero: Indie' for these specific titles that immediately say to Guitar Hero fans: "Go away if you don't like this band."
Fine, we will.
*Apologies to GH: Metallica which is discounted from the title by the inclusion of Thin Lizzy, Queen and Lynard Skynard and, well Metallica to an extent.
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