After enjoying several years of popularity, music games seem to be drawing less and less interest from gamers lately.
Guitar Hero and
Rock Band titles have been conspicuously absent from a list of the 20 best-selling software titles in the past two months, and one report estimates that
revenue from those games has dropped by almost half. Analyst Jesse Divnich suggests that there's
no longer much room for dramatic improvements in game play, saying, "it would be erroneous to assume that any franchise or brand can grow unless it brings something new to the table. After a while, utility to the gamer will diminish and he/she will surely move on." Nevertheless, the companies are happy to continue to
rely on DLC sales while working on new releases. Harmonix is showing off
a trailer and a partial set list for
The Beatles: Rock Band, and Neversoft has detailed
a number of new features and
tracks for
Guitar Hero 5.