By Scott Hillis
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -
Activision Inc on Friday unveiled
a new "Guitar Hero" video game focusing on the rock band
Aerosmith, taking the billion-dollar franchise in a new
direction.
Called "Guitar Hero: Aerosmith," the new game will arrive
in stores this summer, a surprise to many analysts and fans who
had expected the next title to come out closer to the year-end
holiday shopping season.
Aerosmith, known for hits such as "Dream On" and "Sweet
Emotion," is the top-selling American rock band of all time,
with sales of 66.5 million albums in the United States alone.
The game will feature about 30 Aerosmith songs as well as
others from various acts that have opened for the band. The
price has not yet been set.
"The premise is that it's going to cover the 30-plus years
of the band, from high school all the way through the rock
superstardom of today," Kai Huang, head of Activision's
RedOctane unit, which guides development of the franchise, told
Reuters in an interview.
In the "Guitar Hero" games, players try to press colored
buttons on a guitar-shaped controller in time with notes
cascading down the screen. If the notes are hit, the song plays
properly, and the player earns points.
Since the original "Guitar Hero" was released in late 2005,
the series has gone on to sell more than $1 billion. Depending
on the version, a bundle including the game and a controller
costs from $80-$100, while the stand-alone game costs $40-$60.
When Activision reported quarterly earnings last week,
analysts grilled the company on its plans for the franchise,
expressing concern that sales would slow this year because many
players who bought earlier versions with guitars would opt to
buy the lower-price stand-alone game disks.
Huang said Activision had not yet decided whether it would
offer a special controller with the Aerosmith game.
NEW DIRECTION
The focus on a single band marks a new twist for the
franchise, whose three main titles featured dozens of artists
spanning classic rock, grunge, metal, punk and other rock
subgenres. Last year, Activision also released "Guitar Hero
Encore: Rocks the 80s" with songs from that decade.
"It's just a completely new way to interact with this music
and with Aerosmith, and we think there's more opportunity to do
that in the future," Huang said.
By spotlighting a single band, the company has also come up
with a way to counter rival music game "Rock Band" from Viacom
Inc unit MTV and Electronic Arts Inc, Activision's top
competitor.
"Rock Band," which includes drums and a microphone as well
as a guitar, each week has offered new songs that can be
downloaded to consoles like Microsoft Corp's Xbox 360 and Sony
Corp's PlayStation 3.
The music industry is eyeing "Guitar Hero" and "Rock Band"
as a way to revive flagging sales. "Rock Band" and "Guitar Hero
3," both launched last fall, have together sold millions of
songs at about $2 each via download.
Speaking of Aerosmith's willingness to work on the project,
Huang said: "They recognize that it can deliver their music in
an innovative and new way. It's a new distribution platform for
them."
To recreate the sense of attending an Aerosmith concert,
developers held motion-capture sessions with band members,
including energetic frontman Steven Tyler and lead guitarist
Joe Perry.
"As you play," Huang said, "you're going to be seeing Joe
and Steven doing their moves onstage."
(Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
0 comments:
Post a Comment