First*, there was Guitar Hero, and all was good.

Then, we were granted a sequel in Guitar Hero 2, and all was even better than before.

Then, we got Guitar Hero 2: ’80’s edition, and things got shaky. Then Harmonix split with Activision and RedOctane, to eventually make Rock Band, while Activision gave the Guitar Hero franchise to Neversoft, who then proceeded to create Guitar Hero 3, and, surprisingly, the two franchises coexisted quite well. Guitar Hero 3 built on the success of Harmonix’s baby without missing a beat, and Rock Band improved the Guitar Hero formula by giving us the opportunity to form a band with our friends through their drum and microphone peripherals. For a $170 game, it did amazingly well, and continues to live up to it’s promise of being more of a platform than a game, by providing new songs for users to purchase and play every week.

Why couldn’t things simply stay like that? Why couldn’t Guitar Hero place the emphasis solely on the guitar, while Rock Band kept tabs on the whole band? Read on after the break.

First, we get word that Guitar Hero: World Tour (Guitar Hero 4 with a different name, basically) will include a drum peripheral and a microphone. The interviewer’s comment in the beginning of this clip sums up my feelings exactly:

“We have a new product coming out in the fall called “Guitar Hero: World Tour”, which is the first time you’ll have multiple instruments, drums, mic, a base, different guitar…”

Interviewer interjects: “It’s called Rock Band, I think.”

Golden. While Guitar Hero: World Tour does have some nice features, including the ability to create your own music, and all wireless instruments, I don’t see the need for a second full band game. Not only has Rock Band been out on the market for a while, meaning that most people who have an interest in being able to recreate a full band probably already looked into that, but it already has a massive library of tracks available for purchase. Who is REALLY going to jump ship to Guitar Hero: World Tour and be able to afford to buy a bunch of DLC for that game too (not to mention the cost of Guitar Hero: World Tour…$180!)?

It doesn’t stop there, unfortunately. Konami has seen fit to jump back into the music games arena, with Rock Revolution. Again, it has drums, guitar, and bass (no singing, however). Everything I have seen from the press that has had hands on time with the game says that it is uninspired and unneccessary. I personally don’t care if it IS good. I lack the three things that would motivate me to even consider a third Rock Band-like game (I say third because I would buy Guitar Hero: World Tour before this, just based off of brand recognition):

1. Money

2. Time

3. SPACE!

Really, one would think that these companies would have the sense to make their products similar enough to allow us to play each game with one set of instruments, but GH:WT’s drums have 3 drum pads and two cymbal pads, and Rock Revolution has 6 pads on it’s awkwardly shaped drum set. In theory, one might assume that you could play each game’s drum part with Rock Revolution’s drum set, considering the fact that it has the most buttons, but we all know what happens when you assume something…

I was also remiss in mentioning Guitar Hero 3: Aerosmith Edition, and the future Guitar Hero: Metallica. That’s just on the home console side. I also forgot to mention Guitar Hero: On Tour(not the same as Guitar Hero: WORLD Tour), hitting the Nintendo DS on June 22nd. Have you had enough Guitar Hero yet? I know I have.

I feel that we’re nearing a point of market saturation. There is no logical reason for all of these products to exist if they are going to require different peripherals. I honestly have no problem with the band-centric editions of Guitar Hero, as long as they continue to enjoy full functionality with the peripherals currently on the market. The DS version doesn’t even bother me, because it is at least the first time that Guitar Hero will be on a handheld. I DO take issue with Guitar Hero: World Tour and Rock Revolution requiring  different instruments to be played. They don’t do anything gameplay-wise that Rock Band doesn’t, yet they felt the need to reinvent the wheel by creating games that require new Fisher-Price instruments. I understand the need to differentiate your products from those of the competitors, but is it worth it to do that at the expense of increasing the price of playing your game? I guess we will find out this fall, when both Guitar Hero: World Tour and Rock Revolution hit pretty much every game console out there (I’m dead serious, I think they’re all coming out on everything, including Rock Revolution hitting the DS).

*Yes, I realize that Konami actually started the guitar game phenomenon with Guitar Freaks, but only dorks played that game.