KampfVerein
11-14-2008, 10:46 PM
Taken from my commentary on Kotaku about World Tour selling 2:1 over Rock Band 2 in October (http://kotaku.com/5087716/guitar-hero-world-tour-doubles-rock-band-2s-october-take).
The Guitar Hero franchise is going the way of another Neversoft creation, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater: an originally fun core concept parlayed into a ridiculous amount of sales, then an endless string of meaningless sequels that bury the main concept in silly aesthetic trappings and unnecessary mechanics, and finally a fading into cultural and critical obscurity.
EA's Skate appeals to people because it's concerned with the fluidity and grace of skateboarding and how the player can experience that through the dual analog stick controls. It isn't about Darth Maul doing a liptrick off a giant human skull into a burning vagina.
So it is with Rock Band - about the focus on a fun core activity, not about burning vaginas. It focuses on the music itself and the feeling of playing both classic and modern tracks. The characters, the venues, the art style...all of these things are essentially superfluous. Unlike Guitar Hero, they accentuate the game, rather than become a vital part of it.
EDIT: For those confused or uncomfortably struck by the whole "burning vagina" thing, it's a reference to this Penny Arcade comic (http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/05/05/).
The Guitar Hero franchise is going the way of another Neversoft creation, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater: an originally fun core concept parlayed into a ridiculous amount of sales, then an endless string of meaningless sequels that bury the main concept in silly aesthetic trappings and unnecessary mechanics, and finally a fading into cultural and critical obscurity.
EA's Skate appeals to people because it's concerned with the fluidity and grace of skateboarding and how the player can experience that through the dual analog stick controls. It isn't about Darth Maul doing a liptrick off a giant human skull into a burning vagina.
So it is with Rock Band - about the focus on a fun core activity, not about burning vaginas. It focuses on the music itself and the feeling of playing both classic and modern tracks. The characters, the venues, the art style...all of these things are essentially superfluous. Unlike Guitar Hero, they accentuate the game, rather than become a vital part of it.
EDIT: For those confused or uncomfortably struck by the whole "burning vagina" thing, it's a reference to this Penny Arcade comic (http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/05/05/).
