The yearly Electronic Entertainment Expo (more commonly known as e3) is being held this week in Los Angeles, and some new music video games are making a big impact. Say what you will about the oversaturation of guitar and karaoke games over the last few years (Do we really need Guitar Hero: Van Halen and Rock Band: AC/DC?), some of the upcoming games at least take an interesting angle on the game genre:
The Beatles Rock Band: Now here's a band worth making a game for. Microsoft brought out Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and Yoko Ono while debuting footage from the game. Developed by Harmonix (creators of Guitar Hero and current developers of Rock Band), the game follows The Beatles career from Liverpool to Let It Be, and includes digital representations of the band. Existing Rock Band and Guitar Hero instruments will work with the game, but Beatles-themed instrument controllers (including Sir Paul's Hofner bass) will also be available. The game hits Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Wii on September 9.
DJ Hero: Current Guitar Hero publisher Activision continues to beat the franchise into oblivion, but at least this release is unique. Using a newly designed turntable and mixer controller, players can scratch and cut their way through a diverse and unique mix of mash-ups by legendary DJs of songs by artists like Black Eyed Peas, Rick James, and Gorillaz. The game will be released on October 27 for Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Wii.
Def Jam Rapstar: New developer 4mm Games makes its debut with this hip-hop-themed karaoke game which features songs both contemporary (Young Jeezy's "Put On") and classic (Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth's "T.R.O.Y."). The game is scheduled to release during the holiday season for Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Wii.
Other music games scheduled to be release by year's end include Guitar Hero 5, Guitar Hero: Van Halen, Lego Rock Band, Scratch: Ultimate DJ.
These look like great games and it will be interesting to see if people are still excited by all the new music games coming out.
Posted by: Music Games | 06/22/2009 at 11:31 AM