Tag archive: Rock Band

How many times have you heard a Guitar Hero-hater declare “It’s just not the same you know? For real musicians, it’s just so fake.” And now that Guitar Hero has had its fun and exited the market, a new contender is here to fill its shoes – and to do so more realistically. The new Ubisoft title Rocksmith will be released for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC later this year and is supposed to “revolutionize” the music game industry. Rocksmith will… Read More

Well, that was fun while it lasted: After nearly six years of faux axe shredding, Activision Blizzard has decided to send its Guitar Hero franchise up a stairway to heaven. “Due to continued declines in the music genre,” the video game publisher said in its December Quarter and Calendar Year 2010 Financial Results release, “the company will disband Activision Publishing's Guitar Hero business unit and discontinue… Read More

In news that should make anyone with a daughter or sister rejoice, playing video games with their parents is believed to benefit young girls. Researchers from Brigham Young University recently studied video games and their effects on children between the ages of 11 and 16, and girls in particular responded well to participating in the activity with their parents. There’s no end of speculation concerning the impact gaming has on children and… Read More

Media conglomerate Viacom—owner of MTV and many other things—has sold off video game maker Harmonix to investment firm Columbus Nova for an undisclosed amount. Viacom has been looking to divest itself of the game maker for some time, noting that Viacom just doesn't have expertise in the video game business. And Harmonix's sale to Columbus Nova reflects that: rights for the Rock Band and Dance Central franchises will be… Read More

Media titan Viacom is getting out of the video game business: as part of its third quarter financial results, the company announced that it plans to sell Harmonix, developers of the Rock Band video game franchise, among other titles. Despite the initial success of Rock Band, Viacom head Philippe Dauman indicated the company intends to get out of the video game business altogether. “The console game business requires an expertise and… Read More

The Kinect and dancing games are a natural fit. The success of Dance Dance Revolution was a clear precursor, and after subtracting those constantly shifting/sticking/breaking mats, and you’ve got a sure winner. So it’s only natural that the creators behind DDR, Konami, have released one of the first games for the Kinect: Dance Masters. Like its predecessor, Dance Masters is a club-centric, techno-dominated experience. The avatars are upgraded… Read More

There's no denying that rhythm-based game franchises like Guitar Hero and Rock Band have struck a big power chord in the video game industry…of course, one reason more mature players sometimes don't adopt the games is that the standard instrument controllers look so…well, toy-like. Gaming accessory maker Mad Catz coming to the rescue by offering a new set of Rock Band guitar controllers for the Xbox 360—and… Read More