Will Fewer Music Games in 2010 Reignite Interest, Sales?

2009 was a rough year for the music genre. The stat-tracking nerds at the NPD reported almost a 50% decline in sales from the previous year. It’s easy to guess what went wrong: Activision released about a dozen Guitar Hero titles across multiple platforms, and Harmonix (ironically) couldn’t wrest the stranglehold on consumer mindshare from the franchise they created. But 2010 is a new year. It also marks the beginning of a new decade. What will it take for the music genre to bounce back from its slump?

One of the biggest criticisms about the genre last year was that Activision was flooding the market with Guitar Hero games. And it was. So much so that the release of its new game DJ Hero went pretty much under the radar. Yes, it is getting a sequel this year, but it failed to cause the groundswell of adoration and, more importantly, sales that the company’s other “Hero” franchise enjoyed at its inception. Speaking of that other “Hero” series, Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock was recently announced and looks to try something new with at least the presentation.

The Beatles: Rock Band was a critical darling and certainly a fantastic glimpse at the story behind one of the world’s most beloved bands. That didn’t stop it from underperforming. And it’s The Beatles. If that isn’t a sure-fire sign that something is wrong, I don’t know what is. The next band-centric title coming out from Harmonix is Green Day: Rock Band, which will certainly offer what the music genre is known for: loud, fast, and raucous. But will it strike a power chord on store shelves?

Fewer music games might mean more sales. It might also end up sounding a death knell for many future releases. If only a handful of titles (as opposed to a dozen) can’t stimulate the foundering genre, I wouldn’t be surprised if music games are scaled back even further: one Rock Band title and one Guitar Hero title each year, and that’s it. Maybe then we’d actually see some real innovation in the formula?