Activision: Subscription-based GH Tunes a possibility in Guitar Hero games
by Christopher Grant 
{ Nov 5th 2008 at 7:03PM }
After just one quarter of raking in that World of Warcraft money and Activision's already hooked on subscription fees, eying up its entire portfolio the way a hungry cartoon wolf sees the world in shades of ham bones. But (the currently unlimited) GH Tunes songs? Really? Why not a subscription to the regular DLC tracks (which Activision has sold over 25m units of, for both Xbox 360 and PS3 to date)? Because, really, what we want to blow our hard-earned blogging money on is poor facsimiles of classic rock hits and not the real things. Really.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Shagittarius @ Nov 5th 2008 7:08PM
This is a rotten idea and I'm giving it a dirty Sanchez right now.
Just say NO to subscription based rhythm based services!
Chase @ Nov 5th 2008 7:11PM
I'm so outraged I'm telling Shag's dirty friend, Sanchez, to give it a Dirty Sanchez.
Shagittarius @ Nov 5th 2008 7:18PM
I didn't realize I was just setting myself up to have to clean off my screen after I was done being angry.
Dirty @ Nov 5th 2008 7:19PM
That damn Sanchez is giving all the rest of us Dirtys a bad name.
Levi @ Nov 5th 2008 11:21PM
I'm giving this idea a Cleveland Steamer.
xGeneral DEATHx (Mr ESC Welcome Back Party Ultimate Mega Action Force) @ Nov 6th 2008 8:31AM
I'm filling it up for a nice White Dragon.
Biff_McFresh @ Nov 6th 2008 11:36AM
I, on the other hand, will be space docking this idea.
Chase @ Nov 5th 2008 7:11PM
Actard sure loves their subscription fees.
CLOUD9 @ Nov 5th 2008 7:17PM
Way to fuck up a good thing Activision. Just let it be you greedy bastards. If that happens, I'm boycotting all things Guitar Hero. It'll be no problem for me as MTV has the rights for the Beatles.
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Nov 5th 2008 7:19PM
Funny how you call Activision greedy bastards, and yet you want to buy that "The Beatles" shit.
VaultICEE @ Nov 5th 2008 8:02PM
To be honest, they never said it was going to JUST be a Rock Band or Guitar Hero-esque kind of game. They never even specified to instruments that could be used.
Let's just wait until they release info until we say its just Rock Band: The Beatles, mmkay? ;)
Haggard @ Nov 6th 2008 2:47AM
@Vegeta
Perhaps he's willing to pay for professionally recorded and charted songs - and not willing to subscribe in order to get thousands of crap user songs?
Hoffer @ Nov 5th 2008 7:17PM
Personally I don't really care about user created songs. I downloaded 2-3 songs day one and haven't gone back since.
Jim @ Nov 6th 2008 10:27AM
I returned my copy of GH:WT specifically because of the shitty GHTunes. 3 minute limit? 1200 note limit? I'm renting the game now from Blockbuster and all I see on there is "Custom Song" and "A" and a bunch of midi-sounding crap-fests. I'll buy GH: Metallica and the Beatles but I'm sticking with my Rock Band 2 for now.
Dirty @ Nov 5th 2008 7:20PM
Am I the only one who doesnt believe in this new user generated hype?
Markez @ Nov 5th 2008 8:46PM
Sure, can I answer your question with a question?
Markez @ Nov 5th 2008 8:47PM
Great thanks, how is the user-created stuff actually turning out? Haven't heard any of it...
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Nov 5th 2008 7:20PM
It's shit like this that is making me realize that rhythm based games have worn out their welcome.
CLOUD9 @ Nov 5th 2008 7:23PM
They are greedy bastards because they are trying to make money off of the gamers.
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Nov 5th 2008 7:53PM
You do realize that that's the reason why all game companies exist, to make money off of gamers.
CLOUD9 @ Nov 5th 2008 7:27PM
I forgot to put what the gamers created. People are gonna be forced to pay for something that was essentailly free.
SoCoolCurt (PSN: KillaKornbread - XBL: SoCoolCurt) @ Nov 5th 2008 7:58PM
you also forgot that there is a 'Reply' button. i dont need to see your continuing conversation down the entire page lol.
SoCoolCurt (PSN: KillaKornbread - XBL: SoCoolCurt) @ Nov 5th 2008 8:01PM
oh, forgot to call you a newb......NEWB!
(and i know you've been a member for a month now. congrats and welcome to the Stiq lol.)
Gewurz Man got equipped with... Guitar Hero! @ Nov 5th 2008 7:31PM
Add to the fact that they just pulled a lot of the GOOD user created content (i.e. remixes) and I say HELL NO to a subscription service.
Spirit @ Nov 5th 2008 7:44PM
So.. the gamers make stuff for free, then people have to pay to buy it, and those people who make it aren't payed?
I hope they wont let this happen. I love GH:WT, I think it's definitely underrated, and a better game than RB2.
CLOUD9 @ Nov 5th 2008 7:45PM
That's why I think they are greedy bastards.
SoCoolCurt (PSN: KillaKornbread - XBL: SoCoolCurt) @ Nov 5th 2008 8:00PM
well this is the practice that is going to ruin the user generated content craze before it really even takes off.
Tiptup300 @ Nov 6th 2008 12:08AM
You "love" GH:WT. I don't think that's legal in certain states.
Anthony @ Nov 7th 2008 6:45AM
Does that mean I get paid $1 billion when my song makes them money? Because if so I'm all for it. I could take over the world with that kind of dough.
sqwarlock @ Nov 5th 2008 8:01PM
Subscriptions for ringtones is all they're selling here. If the sound quality were better, and the users creating the songs got a share of the earnings, then this may...MAY...be worth trying.
TheOverlord#2 @ Nov 5th 2008 8:28PM
Fuck that.
Radicoon @ Nov 5th 2008 8:30PM
I love how they brag about their numbers but there's an ACHIEVEMENT for uploading and downloading songs!
FSK405K @ Nov 5th 2008 8:33PM
Give me one reason why user-generated content shouldn't be free, like on PC?
Courtney @ Nov 5th 2008 10:57PM
Profit.
What? You didn't say it had to be a good reason.
Jakka @ Nov 6th 2008 6:28AM
Because PC Gamers have the choice and if you push them too far, they will just pirate it instead.Console Gamers on the other hand can be bent over and fucked in the ass as many times as possible.
Sad, but true.
1234 @ Nov 5th 2008 9:07PM
Are any of the 25,000 songs worth PLAYING AT ALL? If not, who cares how many are made if they are crap?
Tez @ Nov 5th 2008 10:35PM
Not really. Some are neat and people have come up with challenging note charts, to be sure, but the sound quality of the instruments suck, the interface for creating the songs is a pain, and the whole thing is overall fail.
Seriously. The songs all sound like they were made on a MIDI keyboard. From 1998.
DCBlack @ Nov 6th 2008 10:58AM
Some of it is ok. I've saved a few songs, but they all seem to be really short (I'm guessing there's a length limit? I just got the game yesterday). The game itself is decent, not better than RB2 IMO, but if they tack a subscription onto GHTunes, it's going to go from 100,000 songs to 100. I'd have to think long and hard about a subscription to real song DLC (which I don't think I'd ultimately do), but a subscription to the fake stuff? That would be the easiest decision I've ever made.
Mike @ Nov 5th 2008 9:23PM
Activision exec 1: How do we get money out of them even when they're not playing?
Activision exec 2: We'll do what the MMOs do!!!
glassd @ Nov 5th 2008 11:23PM
The only thing they really put work into was the music creator, and now they want to sell other peoples content? This is why I ditched guitar hero. It's one thing to try and make money, and another thing to extort fans into paying money for things that should be free.
Poke4Christ @ Nov 6th 2008 12:51AM
This is horrible. Basically, they'd be selling the songs of others without ever having bought or licensed them. I'm sure there's some type of user agreement that you have to agree to when you upload a song to the site that gives up all your rights to it, but does that really make it right? I don't think so. For user submitted it should be free or nothing.
oolz @ Nov 6th 2008 6:17AM
Ghtunes songs sound like GARBAGE. How do you make a sequencer for ROCK MUSIC and then not spend all your time making sure the guitar and bass doesn't sound like a cheap casio?? STUPID.
The game itself is almost garbage. The UI looks like something a color blind monkey with downs would make. Trying to get four players in one room into a song is a mess. One person failing the entire band is the stupidest design decision ever. The actual process of hitting notes to the music works like its should, but everything else about this game makes it seem almost like a joke. Like they wanted to see just how little they could do and still print money.
murph @ Nov 6th 2008 11:00AM
Acti-Blizzard needs to muzzle this mouthpiece. Everytime he opens his mouth, he embarrasses them. Subcription fees for user generated crappy-MIDI songs? HA! I'm sure Stevie J and iTunes are shaking in their boots.
murph @ Nov 6th 2008 11:27AM
see what i mean? (from GamesIndustry.biz) (bolding mine)
"With respect to the franchises that don't have the POTENTIAL TO BE EXPLOITED every year across every platform with clear sequel potential that can meet our objectives of over time becoming USD 100 million plus franchises, that's a strategy that has worked very well for us."
Boffo the $ock @ Nov 17th 2008 11:22AM
It's like they sit around all day trying to come up with new ways to run this franchise into the ground.
Chris @ Dec 17th 2008 6:58AM
activision sucks so hard. harmonix = gods
METAL HEAD @ Dec 20th 2008 1:28AM
The simple fact is that the songs aren't suppose to be user made, they are suppose to be real songs that people figure out how to made in the song creator. Who the hell wants to play "Raging storm of homos"? I don't, I want to play real metal songs that activision was too cheap to include on the disk.