The Costco Connection - November/December 2008

video
games
Music

ELECTRONIC ARTS

Video game player s trading joysticks for drums ticks

By Steven L. Kent WHEN IT COMES to playing video games, a MTV and Electronic Arts. Promising lot of people are switching their joysticks for players a bigger, broader, more rock-and-drumsticks. It’s not that sports games and roll experience, Rock Band came with a shooters have lost their appeal, but music guitar, drums and a mike. games are drawing gamers to consoles like “We wanted to give non-musicians rock fans to a Rolling Stones concert. the experience of making music, which is

Japanese gamers with Beatmania—a DJ-ing This year the fun will become even wilder.
game with a special controller that included The latest version of Guitar Hero, Guitar Hero
keyboard keys and a turntable. World Tour (available for Xbox 360, Wii,
Beatmania opened the way for drum PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 2), will come Music game players have lots to choose
games ( DrumMania), guitar games with a complex set of drums and a micro- from this year, including Rock Band (top),
(GuitarFreaks), an incredibly popular dancing phone, plus 85 new songs, including hits from Guitar Hero (middle) and Lips (bottom).
game (Dance Dance Revolution) and a game the Eagles and Van Halen.
with maracas (Samba de Amigo). “World Tour has a bunch of new modes, Unlike most karaoke games, Lips lets players
Popular as some of these games became, such as ‘Band Career’ and an eight-player form teams in which one player sings and the
they were only the opening act. “In 2006, ‘Battle of the Bands,’ which are more social other plays percussion by tapping buttons on
music games made about US$250 million,” and get more people involved in the game,” an Xbox controller.
says Kai Huang, founder of Red Octane, the says Huang. “It’s a very social game.” Disney Interactive has thrown its family-
company that develops the Guitar Hero Not to be outdone, Harmonix has also friendly hat into the ring with Disney Sing It,
games. “In 2007, music games made nearly created new and improved instruments for a karaoke game for Xbox 360, Wii, PlayStation
US$1.3 billion.” Rock Band 2 (available for Xbox 360, Wii, 3 and PlayStation 2 in which players sing
In 2005, Red Octane released Guitar Hero, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 2), along with a along with 35 hits from Hannah Montana,
and rock rolled onto the gaming scene. “Last new musical lineup. “We will have 84 new Jesse McCartney, High School Musical and
year, 31 per cent of all PlayStation 2 dollars were songs, plus 20 free download songs available other Disney shows and stars.
spent on Guitar Hero alone,” says game indus- at launch,” says LoPiccolo. “You will The good news for fans is that the trend
try analyst John Taylor of Arcadia Investment be able to add in almost is hot, and we may have heard only the
Corp. “Guitar Hero made over US$820 mil- all of your existing Rock opening notes. Stay tuned. C
lion—more than Mario and Halo combined.” Band songs. By Christmas
What made the difference? there will be over 500 Science-fiction novelist and journalist
“The old music games were more about songs for Rock Band 2.” Steven L. Kent lives near Seattle. See his
straight beat-matching, [while] Guitar Hero And then there are the Web site at www.SadSamsPalace.com.
[makes] people feel like they are playing a new entrants in the music
musical instrument,” says Huang. Guitar Hero field. Microsoft Game
also came with a controller shaped like an Studios is releasing Lips, a The Costco Connection
electric guitar and a hit parade of genuine new singing game for Xbox Costco will feature music video games in the ware-
rock featuring the likes of Ozzy Osbourne, 360 that comes with two houses and at www.costco.ca in November, includ-
Queen, Boston and ZZ Top. microphones, a big song list ing Guitar Hero: World Tour and On Tour, Rock Band
Guitar Hero’s meteoric rise opened the and the ability to let players stream 2, High School Musical and Nintendo’s Wii Music.
door for Rock Band—a tag-team effort between songs from their music collections. Quantities will be limited for some titles.

Contrary to what you may have heard, extremely fun,” says Greg LoPiccolo, vice music games did not begin with the release of president of product development at

Guitar Hero. Sony popularized the category Harmonix, the company that creates the with a 1996 game called PaRappa the Rapper Rock Band games. “We also wanted to let in which players tapped along to the beat of a them make music with other people, which is rap-singing puppy. In 1997, Konami hooked insanely fun.”