Saturday, February 19, 2011

Activision Axes Guitar Hero

In one of the sadder dark days in the hisory of  videogames, Activision has declared the end to the Guitar Hero series due to declining sales. True, Guitar Hero has been of diminished quality in recent years, surpassed by Rock Band as the premier music-based game on the market, but from 2006-8, it was arguably the hottest franchise on the planet, and deserving of that title.
The immense importance of Guitar Hero on culture can't be ignored, and that may be why two other killed titles by Activision didn't get the notice they deserved. One was True Crime: Hong Kong, the proposed third in the True Crime series after Streets of L.A. and New York City. New York City didn't match expectations when released, and that seems to be the problem with TC:HK, which Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg bluntly stated "wasn't going to be good enough." Still, anyone who had the thrill of playing Streets of L.A. and driving the actual roads and highways of the entertainment capital, racing cars and shooting guns under an awesome B-movie action film plotline, will tell you it's one of the most underrated games ever and a pure joy to play. The other game, though not officially retired, looks that way, and it's the Tony Hawk skateboarding series, which at its peak was only a notch below Guitar Hero in quality and culture influence. RIP to all three classic series...

Activision cancels Guitar Hero franchise, True Crime
Dave Rudden
February 09, 2011
http://www.gamepro.com/article/news/218158/activision-cancels-guitar-hero-franchise-true-crime

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