14 DAY TRIAL // The music game genre is definitely on an ascending trend at this time of the year, especially because most of the titles allow gamers to play with their friends and family and really get into the Christmas spirit. Titles such as Guitar Hero or Rock Band are certain to have a very happy holiday season, with sales estimated to go through the roof.
But the two major companies, Activision and Harmonix, the ones responsible for the Guitar Hero and Rock Band titles, respectively, aren't resting on their laurels. Both of them are hard at work developing new projects, based on individual bands, with the former already announcing that a special Metallica-branded edition will be launched next year.
We've already talked about the possible tracklist that will be included in this future game, and about the new features employed, like the fact that you can use samples from the band's repertoire or the fact that talented drum players will get another difficulty level and a bass pedal to match. But now, Kirk Hammett, the guitarist for the legendary rock band, comes to talk about this new game.
“It is kind of weird to know that people are going to have an experience that is going to be similar to my own experience playing and performing music,” said Hammett. “It's going to open people up maybe to the prospect of taking the whole thing one step further and actually picking up an instrument. We might be rearing an entire culture of future musicians. That prospect is just super-cool.”
It's really nice to hear that more and more bands are endorsing music games, as they really do have a positive effect on the music industry as a whole. It produces a hefty amount of profits for the groups that offer their songs for the games and it also makes gamers take up real instruments, as shown by a recent study done in the UK.