Rock Video Games Compete for Top Acts

Gig is over for former hit game

(NEWSER) - Activision's former smash hit has gone from hero to zero. The company says Guitar Hero—which earned it more than $1 billion just 2 years ago—is being discontinued. Members of the Guitar Hero team will be among some 500 Activision employees to be laid off, the Los Angeles Times reports. Activision is also axing the True Crime: Hong Kong game that was in development. The company plans to focus on World of Warcraft and future Call of Duty titles. More»

Popular video game makes its debut as iPhone, iPod Touch app

(NEWSER) - Rock Band has arrived on the iPhone, complete with a Bluetooth multi-player mode that allows four people to jam together. The $9.99 app, also available on the iPod Touch, includes 20 tracks, among them the Pixies' "Debaser" and two Foo Fighters songs; of course, more can be purchased via an in-game store, TechCrunch reports. All four parts of the popular video game—drums, bass, guitar, and even singing—are played by tapping on the screen. More»

(NEWSER) - The album is dead. Touring is on the fade. File-sharing is killing download profits. Adieu, music biz? Not so fast, reports The Wrap, which offers five fixes:

• Drop the price. Ninety-nine cents for a song? Try 10. "Lower the price point, and you undercut the very foundation of illegal downloading."

Real instruments gathering moss, Wyman complains

(NEWSER) - The growth of video games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band means fewer real guitar heros in the future, complains former Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman. Playing the games "encourages kids not to learn, that's the trouble. It makes less and less people dedicated to really get down and learn an instrument," he tells the Guardian. "I think it's a pity." More»

Game is good, clean cross-generational fun

(NEWSER) - The Beatles: Rock Band successfully brings the winning music-game formula to one of rock’s biggest names, writes Elizabeth Landau for CNN. Designed to be played by as many as six, the game "does make for a great time and will probably be a hit at parties." Meanwhile, spectators "can watch animated re-creations of the Beatles rocking out on the TV screen, and enjoy the colorful graphics, while your friends try to hit the notes." More»