I know I know, it surprised me too. In a year with a new Halo, a new Bioware game (Mass Effect), the latest Call of Duty (Modern Warfare), and the best Mario in years, a “silly rhythm game” stole the show. To me, Game of the Year isn’t necessarily about graphics, story, or innovation. It should be simply this: Of all the games released in the past year, if you only could have one, what game would that be? Rock Band is the easy answer.
For those of you who don’t know, Rock Band is made by Harmonix, the original developer of Guitar Hero and Guitar Hero II. GH and GHII were each games packaged with a guitar controller where you play along with music by tapping out notes as they appear on the screen. Both GH and GHII were huge successes and by all reviews, very fun to play. Harmonix left Activision’s control and joined with EA and MTV to start making the next logical step in music games, a full band-based rhythm game called Rock Band. In Rock Band, up to four players can now play together combining two guitars, a microphone, and drums. You can buy the whole package (which includes a guitar, a drum kit, a microphone, and the game) or just buy a GH guitar or two (much cheaper and the route I took).
The genius in Rock Band is not just adding more instruments, it is how Harmonix perfected the genre they invented with terrific song sets, the promise of hundreds of downloadable songs, a smooth learning curve, deep character customization, and excellent integration of online play. When I first tried Rock Band I was hooked. It is just a blast to play alone or with friends. Of course Halo 3, Mass Effect, COD4, and Mario Galaxy were awesome experiences too. The difference is how emotionally engaging it is to play Rock Band. Just try not to bob your head and tap your foot when the crowd starts chanting along with your favorite song while you rock out.
That and Rock Band takes character design to a new level. You design how you Rock avatar looks, name them, choose their style of play, deck them out, choose their band name, and then get to help them go from garage band weenie to rock God. And once you start playing, you’ll always want to play "just one more song" whether it be to get them money for new gear, to open up a new song set, or to hit a new venue. The good news is, you don’t have to play alone. With separate selectable difficulty for every player, anyone can pick up a controller and rock out with you. This really is the ultimate party game. How many games are addictive, appeal to both hard core gamers and casual players, and support up to four players at a time? This is the only one I know of.
Harmonix promises hundreds of songs from all your favorite bands available for download throughout next year and the possibility of development kits for bands and fans to generate their own content and make it downloadable to everyone. Oh and did I mention within a couple months you’ll be able to go to the Rock Band site and order customized hats and shirts with pictures of your player and your band name? Pure marketing genius. Personally, I can’t wait to order a shirt with a picture of my little guitar dude, Max Rok, and his band Boober Fish. Congratulations Harmonix, you made a super addictive, amazing game and well deserve my Game of the Year. Now get out there and rock people…
For those of you who don’t know, Rock Band is made by Harmonix, the original developer of Guitar Hero and Guitar Hero II. GH and GHII were each games packaged with a guitar controller where you play along with music by tapping out notes as they appear on the screen. Both GH and GHII were huge successes and by all reviews, very fun to play. Harmonix left Activision’s control and joined with EA and MTV to start making the next logical step in music games, a full band-based rhythm game called Rock Band. In Rock Band, up to four players can now play together combining two guitars, a microphone, and drums. You can buy the whole package (which includes a guitar, a drum kit, a microphone, and the game) or just buy a GH guitar or two (much cheaper and the route I took).
The genius in Rock Band is not just adding more instruments, it is how Harmonix perfected the genre they invented with terrific song sets, the promise of hundreds of downloadable songs, a smooth learning curve, deep character customization, and excellent integration of online play. When I first tried Rock Band I was hooked. It is just a blast to play alone or with friends. Of course Halo 3, Mass Effect, COD4, and Mario Galaxy were awesome experiences too. The difference is how emotionally engaging it is to play Rock Band. Just try not to bob your head and tap your foot when the crowd starts chanting along with your favorite song while you rock out.
That and Rock Band takes character design to a new level. You design how you Rock avatar looks, name them, choose their style of play, deck them out, choose their band name, and then get to help them go from garage band weenie to rock God. And once you start playing, you’ll always want to play "just one more song" whether it be to get them money for new gear, to open up a new song set, or to hit a new venue. The good news is, you don’t have to play alone. With separate selectable difficulty for every player, anyone can pick up a controller and rock out with you. This really is the ultimate party game. How many games are addictive, appeal to both hard core gamers and casual players, and support up to four players at a time? This is the only one I know of.
Harmonix promises hundreds of songs from all your favorite bands available for download throughout next year and the possibility of development kits for bands and fans to generate their own content and make it downloadable to everyone. Oh and did I mention within a couple months you’ll be able to go to the Rock Band site and order customized hats and shirts with pictures of your player and your band name? Pure marketing genius. Personally, I can’t wait to order a shirt with a picture of my little guitar dude, Max Rok, and his band Boober Fish. Congratulations Harmonix, you made a super addictive, amazing game and well deserve my Game of the Year. Now get out there and rock people…
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2 comments:
I am ashamed. My post only beat USA Today's awarding of "Game of the Year" by one week. I am slowing down in my old age.
On a happy note, so far EA is sticking with almost a song a day available for download and say they will be releasing entire albums in early 2008. The second a Strokes album hits I am calling in sick.
Well written article.
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