I’m a big fan of karaoke and music, and by extension, I’m a big fan of music games (because my ability to actually play music is somewhat lacking). A big fan of SingStar and Guitar Hero, I was ecstatic when Guitar Hero World Tour and Rock Band were released, and in fact I own both of them (see Mihoko’s post comparing the two).

And really, with the history of such games, I was optimistic with the new model involving downloadable content – I’ve always thought it was the future of games. Yep… I was certainly looking forward to playing RB (and RB2, eventually), SingStar and Guitar Hero World Tour for many years to come… Downloading songs as I go.

But boy was I wrong. Guitar Hero 5 has recently been announced, and it’s not likely to be a huge step forward for the genre – you can have multiples of any instrument (which I guess is pretty cool), and the music creation tool is going to be tweaked for better performance. There’ll probably be more amendments, but it’s not bound to be much. The format has worked for years.

I should have seen it coming, really. Look at the history of the GH series. Ten games already – 2 on the DS, and several dedicated to single bands – and more on the way. I really shouldn’t have thought that a game company would consider the gamers… No, I shouldn’t have imagined that the games they’ve already released could be patched and expanding (especially given that the format of the game hasn’t changed dramatically since it first came out all those years ago). No, why should they stop and just release tracks? Silly me.

There’s far more money to be made from gamers by making them want to buy a new game AND the DLC. I’m sure the DLC will work across games, but come on – GHWT wasn’t released that long ago, GH5 is already on its way, and I can almost guarantee the next iteration is being brainstormed.

The biggest problem is that these games do not lend themselves well to the sequel format. There’s no new ‘story’ with each additional game, and all people really want is the music. So they are just ripping us off by making us by a disk that’s bound to be 50% full of crap music we don’t like. Just release the songs and let the people buy them. It’s working for Rock Band (but hey – they seem to be taking the same route, with Rock Band: The Beatles coming soon, and Rock Band Unplugged for the PSP).

If there’s one thing gamers are good for, it’s manipulation. We’re easy – because we complain, but we still buy. It’s easy to do something underhanded, because the fanboys will defend you.

Damn you, developers!

That’s enough for now, I’ll go take my calm down pills.