Guitar Hero Dead?

Professey Chin

Rumours building online the Activision will confirm the GH series dead at a conference call later

UPDATE: Reports are coming in that layoffs have also hit the Activision-owned developer Vicarious Visions. BioWare developer Manveer Heir tweeted this evening to say, "Ugh sorry to hear about the Vicarious Visions layoffs today after Guitar Hero canceled. ****ty. Sounds like Freestyle (DJ Hero) got hit too."
Eurogamer has contacted Vicarious Visions, which created the Wii version of Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, for comment.
ORIGINAL STORY: Activision has hit DJ Hero developer Freestyle Games with severe layoffs and axed the Guitar Hero series, Eurogamer understands.
United Front's open world game True Crime has been cancelled, sources have told Eurogamer.
An announcement is expected tonight ahead of the publication of Activision's financial results.
In December last year Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg said Guitar Hero, and the music genre, had a future following dismal sales of Warriors of Rock.
"It's no secret that not just Guitar Hero, but also Rock Band, and the music category in general, do not have the same mass appeal today that they did a few years ago," he said.
"That said, I think that we would be foolish to not try and build on the strength of the Guitar Hero brand, because as you said, it's a pretty strong brand with great recognition and great likeability, and there's a lot to work with there.
"I think the road to rejuvenating that category goes through innovation," he continued. "The premise of Guitar Hero - that everyone has an inner rock star - it's something that we've all done forever. Some version of singing into a hairbrush, or holding a tennis racket like a guitar, or singing karaoke, or singing into the bathroom mirror - we all do that.
"I think a lot of video game genres that have had tremendous staying power have a fantasy-fulfillment element at their core, whether it's driving the fast car, or participating in professional sports, or going into battle. People don't get to do this in everyday lives.
"So I think the core premise and the core insight at the heart of the Guitar Hero franchise is still very relevant. I just think we need to escalate the experience for people and innovate. I think the genre is still fairly new, and so I think it's probably time for us to really look at what the next level looks like for that genre."
The publisher had confirmed the return of the franchise in 2011.
Eurogamer's calls to UK developer Freestyle Games went unanswered this evening. United Front Games had not responded to Eurogamer's request for comment at the time of publication.
Eurogamer has contacted Activision for comment.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-02-09-activision-kills-guitar-hero

calex71

Much as I hate on the series , I have said on here I genuinely thought GH5 was a return to form, then they go and undo all the good with WOR, and add nothing to the overall formula other than those magic powers to get super high scores.

I wouldn't put money on a RB4 either. WOR was slashed in price only weeks after release. And RB3 priced it self out of the market for all it's innovation etc new peripheral costs and the lack of availability really shot themselves in the foot, the Fender still isn't out and at a $250 price they aint exactly going to sell like hot cakes, hands up who's keyboard is gathering dust ?????

D4RK ONION

/le sigh

I reckon this is the end of rhythm games as we know them. I can only repeat my utter disgust towards activision for milking the genre bone dry and destroying it forever. Pretty much every gamer who isn't a hardcore fan of music games hates them now. And let me tell you, it aint Harmonix's fault. (though RB3 has been an embarrasment, marketing wise. People need to be fired over that one)

calex71

D4RK ONION wrote: »

/le sigh

I reckon this is the end of rhythm games as we know them. I can only repeat my utter disgust towards activision for milking the genre bone dry and destroying it forever. Pretty much every gamer who isn't a hardcore fan of music games hates them now. And let me tell you, it aint Harmonix's fault. (though RB3 has been an embarrasment, marketing wise. People need to be fired over that one)

Even the hardcore RB folk had some thign to say about the numerous glitches in RB3, I would consider my self one if not for the dip sh!t hmx nut hugger tag that goes along with that status

But for me the soiling of the leader boards with scores that were done in no fail pre-patch is a disgrace :mad:

la la la this is a GH thread and all is right in the music game world when Justin Bieber hasn;t made it into the set list as far as I'm concerned .......... though if there where to be a band hero 2 :eek:

johnny_ultimate

For me the Guitar Hero franchise went thusly:

Guitar Hero 1 > Guitar Hero 2 > Rock Band 1 > Rock Band 2 > Rock Band 3.

Let's not forget the glory days of the series, when Harmonix nailed the interface pretty much first time around. Later games have added better features and more instruments, but we're still playing GH in spirit, the Rock Band interface a mere evolution as opposed to a revolution. Not a bad thing of course, given that each Harmonix game has gotten progressively smoother.

So I choose to remember Guitar Hero as an important milestone, the one that really kicked started my interest in music games. The hours of enjoyment I got out of GH1 and 2 won't be easily forgotten. But alas Activision tarnished the franchise, the name no longer representative of the GH spirit while Harmonix continued to innovate and create games I wanted to play. It's a shame GH dies with a whimper as opposed to going out in a haze of glory after the second game, but Guitar Hero 1 and 2 shall remain important games in my eyes, despite what followed.

RIP Guitar Hero. All we can do now is hope that Rock Band manages to push through these troubled times and give Harmonix the success they deserve. Rock Band 4 is hardly a safe bet at the moment, but at least RB3 would be a fitting swan song, whereas GH died withered and alone.

Mr E

DJ Hero dead too.... (no great loss, IMO, but I feel sorry for people stuck with those turntables)

Dermo

Are the servers going to be staying up?
I've never gotten around to getting any of the dlc.

To me it was all about guitar hero world tour. It allowed me to play the drums with my real electronic drum set and that added so much more to the game.

Banjo

This is indeed a sad day, for while Rock Band was always better than Guitar Hero generally, Vicarious Visions always went over-and-above converting the games for the Wii where the RockBand conversions were at best adequate.

If I had a black Wii I'd strap it to my arm now in mourning.
Hope they give us good warning if the servers are going down, I'd always planned to pick up Greatest Hits and Warriors, then export as much as possible to have a tonne of GH songs in one place...

Edit: The BBC report says "It will, however, continue to sell and support its catalogue of Guitar Hero titles."
Presumably, while the development of the games is expensive, creaming money off the public for DLC that already exists is working out just fine. Maybe the servers are safe?

calex71

February DLC will be the last released for GH.

This could have an upside for RB , though I doubt Activision will be quick to give up rights to anything they hold.

iMuse

Im sure they will just churn out two call of duty games a year now instead, It will then go the way of guitar hero. Its a shame cause I still remember the first time I played GH and been hooked instantly but its probably for the best that its stopped because they had hit the wall in terms of ideas.