On RedHerring.com, in an article titled, “EA, MTV Crank Out Rock Band,” Ryan Olson discusses the advent of how“Guitar Hero developer (will) let gamers form virtual music groups.” Imagine the possibilities…Guitar Hero for the entire crew with a dash of World of Warcraft for rockers. “The company on Monday unveiled Rock Band, a new title that lets friends form virtual cover bands, in the same room or over the Internet, that can crank out their favorite tunes.” The concept is relatively cut and dry, despite the fact that the news has only a few developments in exactly how the game will function and interact with a whole group of people. Gaming devices like Nintendo Wii that depend on physical movement and spacial interation are perfect for Rock Band.
The developer Rock Band, also known as “Harmonix is best known for the rock-themed Guitar Hero and Guitar Hero II. Harmonix creates “games that let individual players strum along to popular music tracks. The franchise has become so popular that Viacom-owned music video channel MTV bought the company last year (see MTV Buys Harmonix: $175M).” MTV Program Enterprises Executive Vice President Jeff Yapp is hoping to create a new medium in which people can enjoy the rock music they love, to a degree beyond karaoke and Guitar Hero I & II.
The video game, Rock Band, by speculation, will incorporate a few guitar heros, a drums hero, a vocals hero, and possibly a bassist hero? It is still in question exactly how many and which instruments will be added to Rock Band. But more importantly, especially with relation to this blog, is outpour of record labels who are willingly opening up their catalogues to EA Games. EMI Music, Hollywood Records, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music Group’s Rhino Entertainment have already offered masters as part of their contribution for the game. Rock Band uses player devices like XBOX 360 and Play Station 3, which are connected to the internet. With this golden door of opportunity, gamers could be lured into online interfaces that would require digital download purchases for every song that gamers wish to play to along the way. George White, senior vice president of strategy and product development at Warner Music Group sees how labels could be “likely to release additional tunes after the game ships,” offering a whole new business model.
http://entertainment.bodogbeat.com/solo-guitar-hero-to-full-rock-band-16553.html
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