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Music game sales continue plunge down the charts
If this sounds like a familiar tune, it is: Music game sales have plummeted for a second-straight year. But this year, the tune is way more off key. According to analysis by Gamasutra, which looked at the period from January through October in each of the past three years, music game revenues in the U.S. have taken a phenomenal nose dive from an epic height of $1.6 billion in 2008 to where they've landed today: under $250 million for the year. "Short of a Christmas miracle," concludes analyst Matt Matthews, "music games won't break $400 million for all of 2010." Ohhh ... so that's why Viacom's hawking Harmonix.
Power Gig dev Seven45 confirms layoffs, part of 'natural cycle'
Power Gig: Rise of the SixString developer Seven45 confirmed to Joystiq that it had recently incurred staff layoffs. "With Power Gig already on store shelves, last week Seven45 Studios restructured the company both as a part of the natural cycle of game development and to focus on the development needs of its upcoming games projects," the company said in a statement. One unidentified Twitter account reporting on the so-called "major" layoffs, claimed Seven45 had been "decimated." A source informs us that approximately 20 to 30 people were let go, which included most of the QA team and a bunch of full-time staff. Power Gig didn't strike a chord with us or critics at large, averaging a Metacritic score in the mid-30s. Seven45 has yet to reveal specific details about its future projects. If you were affected by the layoffs or have more information to share on the matter, please feel free to contact us. Seven45's full statement can be found after the break.
Power Gig: Rise of the SixString review: God took rock 'n' roll from you
There's something you need to know up front about Power Gig: Rise of the SixString -- something I wish I had known before I first got my hands on it: It will not, cannot teach you to play guitar. At its heart, it is a Guitar Hero or Rock Band clone; or, to be more precise, a Guitar Hero or Rock Band homunculus, as every single element of Power Gig -- gameplay, control, visuals, progression -- is merely a shoddily reproduced feature of its rhythm gaming predecessors. I want to be completely clear about what I mean when I say that Power Gig: Rise of the SixString is half-baked. I literally mean that it's built upon a fragment of a concept, as if, while pitching the title, Seven 45 Studios was cut off mid-sentence, and forced to create an entire game based on a fraction of a clause: "So, you play the game with a real guitar, and --" %Gallery-87728%
80 percent of Power Gig setlist is new to music games
Here she is: the full Power Gig: Rise of the Six String setlist -- all 70 tracks of it. As promised, Eric Clapton, Dave Matthews Band and Kid Rock are all on board (for the first time ever in a music game, no less), along with John Mayer, Paramore and harder rocking from the likes of Mastodon and Incubus. 80 percent of the tracks have never appeared in a music game before at all -- pretty impressive for an original IP. Power Gig will have plenty of competition this fall, but it looks like the setlist won't be a weak spot. Take a look at the tunes after the break, then scroll back up and answer this question: What's the absolute best song on the list? If you said Bad Religion's "I Want to Conquer the World," you're exactly right.
Power Gig throws fake guitars into volcano, dooms mankind
Hey, Seven45 Studios? We need to have some words about your recent viral advertisement for Power Gig: Rise of the SixString, which is posted just after the jump. Provided the footage therein is real -- and in this day and age of fancy-schmancy video editing software, who really knows -- then we're terrified for the future of Iceland. After all, we think we can all agree that what the April eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull were missing were ballistic, Skittle-colored shards of molten plastic. Check out the edgy (and quite possibly felonious) ad just past the jump.
Meet the members of Clan Rise in new Power Gig trailer
Power Gig: Rise of the Six String director Jack Davis is back to tell us more about the story of the real-life guitar driven music game. It's still not the most original thing we've ever seen -- building a revolution against an oppressive regime isn't new ground for video games by any means. But the new trailer tells us a bit more about the player characters in the game, two members of "Clan Rise" that each have their own personal reasons for strumming and fretting away on the guitar. Learning that C chord is great and all, but avenging your parents in the process is a nice bonus.
Power Gig: the story behind the music
This fall's two big music-performance games each offer an experience new to the genre. Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock adds a more involved storyline, while Rock Band 3 offers real instruments. Power Gig: Rise of the SixString actually combines these two aspects. We've seen its (real, functional) guitar and (less realistic) drum controllers, and now we can learn about that story. In the video after the break, design director Jack Davis introduces the world of Ohm, where music has a "real physical power" to affect the world and its people. The player must unite clans of "rockers" to defeat the oppressive "headliner" who has silenced them. And, of course, that is accomplished through the performance of licensed music. It's reminiscent of Brutal Legend, as is the in-game footage shown in the video.
Hands-on: Power Gig's AirStrike Drum
Power Gig's AirStrike Drum is either a terrific idea with terrible execution ... or just a bad idea. Seven45's drum kit takes a very different approach from the game's defining pas-faux guitar. In fact, the team has done a complete 180, going as far away from a "realistic" approach as possible. The name does a good job of explaining how this peripheral works. Instead of hitting a toy-like facsimile of a drum, you are "hitting" air. The Simon-esque drum pad is equipped with sensors that detect when the specially-designed drum sticks are swung above. It's certainly a novel idea, one that has some immediate benefits: without the need for replica cymbals, this device is incredibly small. For those struggling with plastic instrument clutter, this is a rather clever solution. (Bonus: The AirStrike is also compatible with current Rock Band and Guitar Hero games.) Another perk of the device: it's quiet. Your roommates won't be bothered by the loud sounds of plastic tapping. While the AirStrike offers some improvements over previous drum peripherals, it's significantly more difficult to use. With a physical object to hit, it's easy to determine what's wrong. Here, as I kept on missing a string of notes, I couldn't help but wonder what was at fault: the game, the drums or me. %Gallery-87728%
Power Gig out this fall with music from Clapton, Dave Matthews Band, and Kid Rock
Seven45's Power Gig: Rise of the Sixstring, the guitar game controlled by an actual electric guitar, has been slated for an October launch, where it will compete against other fall 2010 music games like Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock and DJ Hero 2 (so far). The novelty of the guitar controller -- which has, like, real strings and everything -- is definitely one advantage Power Gig has over its peers. Seven45 revealed another today: agreements with Eric Clapton, Dave Matthews Band, and ... Kid Rock to provide songs for the game. "We think Power Gig is a much needed and much welcomed game because, unlike any others before it, it puts a real guitar into the hands of aspiring musicians, and we hope it inspires our fans and others to start playing even when they're not playing the game," the Dave Matthews Band is quoted as saying. The whole band? In unison? %Gallery-87728%
Get into a silly pose for this Power Gig: Rise of the Sixstring trailer
Sure, you saw our impressions from GDC of Power Gig: Rise of the Sixstring -- the first music/rhythm game to feature an actual, working electric guitar -- but have you seen the unbelievably silly first trailer for the game, apparently filmed during last week's developer convention? Now you can, as we've dropped it just a few inches up for your enjoyment. If you were hoping for a better look at the game itself, you're just gonna have to wait for the next trailer, because this one exclusively features people playing the game's peripheral while either jumping or rocking or ... well, you get the idea -- no gameplay. That said, the guitar solo that takes place about halfway through reminds us that this is absolutely a real guitar, so that's something, right? Right? Where are you going?! We brought punch!
