Inspired partially by Mike’s Guitar Hero posts (1)(2) and endorsements, I had been searching for a Guitar Hero III for my Wii for weeks, when finally last week, I was able to find one at an Electronics Boutique in downtown Toronto. 

I resisted playing the game for a couple of days as I knew I would get pulled in, but once I cracked, boy did I have fun.  While I’ve only played for a cumulative three or 4 hours, I have had a blast doing so.  Being the ”hero” I knew I would be (sarcasm noted), after defeating Lou, the boss on Easy, I was ready to move on to the next bigger and better challenge, which I my case was Rock Band. 

I had played the popular Harmonix game at a friend’s house on PS3 and was blown away when mid-way through a song, a friend suggested they wanted to hear an Oasis song, and lo and behold, to my astonishment, the owner of the game grabbed the PS controller, went online and purchased “The Oasis Pack” and within minutes, we were butchering the popular cover Wonderwall.

I was blown away by the level of interaction and immediate customization that Harmonix had built into the game (which has lead to six-times platinum sales from songs sold through the game since its release in November) and I couldn’t wait to go through the same madness of waiting weeks to finally get my hands on a Wii version of Rock Band, which had yet to be released.

That was until today – when Harmonix revealed that they would be releasing Rock Band for Wii on June 22nd, without it’s greatest feature – the ability to download your own tracks to deepen and customize your gaming experience.

I echo the statements of many on the blogosphere today in saying that as geeky as it sounds, my excitement to wait in line for Rock Band has been crushed by the breaking news.  Forums on the press release on the game’s site have been closed for comment, but the deluge of feedback ensues on numerous other sites. . .and much of it seems to point to the feeling that Harmonix has just taken a huge step in the wrong direction, back to static-content video games 1.0.

Any aspiring “heroes” out there with an opinion?

This story also carries two important side notes:

1. I am very impressed by the ability for games like GH to bridge the generational gap and make games a family experience, as I witnessed both parents (who would definitely otherwise never play video games) and their children, my mom and I included, playing GH together this weekend and having a blast.

2. I find it harder and harder to sympathize with an industry that is “in decline” while now selling millions of songs through previously unheard of and impossible revenue streams.  Bravo to the innovators of these games who have unlocked an entirely new market!