Guitar Hero Didn't Die A Natural Death, But Was Killed By Myopic Greed

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Kudos to Activision for doing exactly what so many people had been predicting for years now. The world’s biggest video game publisher said yesterday that it was going to “disband Activision Publishing’s Guitar Hero business unit,” citing a decline in interest in the music game genre. And what could possibly be the reason for that, hmm? Maybe releasing sequel after sequels after sequel in such a quick succession that you don’t give gamers any room to breathe? Gotta maximize short-term profits! The future? That’s someone else’s problem.

The last game in the series, Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, was the sixth “main” game in the series, having been released last September. It only met with so-so reviews, currently hovering around 72 (out of 100) with the critics; users were still less kind.

Perhaps this is why people lost all interest in the franchise:

Guitar Hero: November 2005

Guitar Hero II: November 2006

Guitar Hero Encore Rock The 80s: July 2007

Guitar Hero III Legends of Rock: October 2007

Guitar Hero Aerosmith: June 2008

Guitar Hero World Tour: October 2008

Guitar Hero Metallica: March 2009

Guitar Hero Smash Hits: June 2009

Guitar Hero 5: September 2009

Band Hero: November 2009

Guitar Hero Van Halen: December 2009

Guitar Hero Warriors of Rock: September 2010

All the while, from late 2007 on, competing with all those Rock Band games. Games, which, incidentally, were better received critically. Let’s not forget the DJ Hero franchise, either.

My question is, how long will people keep supporting the Call of Duty franchise? When will folks realize that they’re paying $60, year in, year out, for what amounts to Quake III mods? And buggy ones at that.