Three Minds On Digital Marketing @ Organic

This month's GameInformer cover story is a preview of Guitar Hero IV, and it looks like Activision and Neversoft are pulling out all the stops...  I'll skip the new instruments, the more freedom in the gameplay, the many more songs. That's to be expected.  The real shift is not the new game, but the new game as a community platform.

This means a few things.  One is there's a focus on personalization.  In Guitar Hero IV, players will have fairly extensive avatar customization tools (care of the Tony Hawk franchise) along with guitar and drum customization.  Players can create an instantly recognizable band look - they'll just need to make sure they bring their game to match their style...  

But more interestingly, the game will include creation modes - Jam Mode and Advanced Studio mode which will allow more avid players to create and share their own songs.  

Now naturally the success of this will rely not just on how good the creation tools are but how creative and skillful the creators are.  But judging on the small group of Guitar Hero hackers that have jumped through hoops to create their own tracks already, there's at least a core group of aficionados looking to showcase their chops. While technology and legal restrictions will not allow for vocals, this does take the rock fantasy to a new level.

GH Tunes, the free song sharing service, will include user rankings, recent additions and the usual filters that will allow the cream to rise to the top.  Neversoft seems to get it - they don't seem to be employing a 'built it and they will come' mentality. They plan on creating their own Showcase on GH Tunes, featuring both community composers of their selection along side compositions from professional acts.

On a related note, the Rock Band, Guitar Hero and SingStar franchises are racking up millions of song downloads.  A mere drop in the bucket against iTunes billions, but with Guitar Hero's putting their toes in GarageBand's waters, I wonder what the folks down in Cupertino think of the competition.

David Lewis