MUSICIANS are coming around to the fact that video games can be their lifeline in a waning music industry.
How else do you explain the unprecedented support Activision received while developing its upcoming Guitar Hero World Tour (GHWT) music game?
Not only are the 84 songs from the game master tracks performed by the original singers, but several of them also agreed to share their likeness for in-game characters.
They include guitar legend Jimi Hendrix, British rocker Ozzy Osbourne, Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan and Grammy winner Sting.
"Ozzy was aware of the Guitar Hero buzz and he wanted to be a part of it.
"We got his likeness, motion-captured his moves and even put a version of Ozzfest into the game, which was huge for us," explained Alan Flores, Neversoft's lead designer for GHWT.
Neversoft is the current developer of the Guitar Hero console game while Ozzfest is an annual tour founded by Osbourne that has performances by heavy metal and hard rock acts.
The most difficult person to include in the game though was Jimi, who died in 1970.
"He is rock 'n' roll royalty, so we had to work closely with the Hendrix estate to make sure we were doing something that was respectful of Jimi's legacy," said Alan.
"I think we managed to do that."
Another notch the franchise scored is getting acts to debut songs on the game before they go on sale via CDs and digital music sites.
G.L.O.W., the new single from The Smashing Pumpkins, will be available for purchase via the game, before it goes on sale in stores.
Downloadable content for the game in Singapore has not yet been finalised, although Joel Graham, Activision Asia Pacific's media relations manager, said it will be available.
According to data from researcher Nielsen SoundScan, sales of Guitar Hero and its competitor, Rock Band, brought in more revenue in 2007 than digital music downloads from services like iTunes.
The two video game franchises made their respective publishers US$935 million (S$1.3 billion), while digital music sales came in at about US$835 million.
"I think music artists now view video games as a viable way to get their music out to the public. We've seen artists like Dragonforce have their album sales more than doubled the week after Guitar Hero III: Legends Of Rock was released," explained Alan.
While the new Rock Band 2 also features exclusive music tracks, distributor Electronic Arts declined to comment on the trend, as there are no plans to release Rock Band 2 here yet.
The good news is that developers for both games are working to ensure that instruments are compatible, so gamers need to buy only one set of instruments to enjoy a double dose of musical wham.
Guitar Hero World Tour Music game
$299 for Super Bundle (with guitar controller, drum kit, microphone)
Launching next month
This article was first published in Digital Life, The Straits Times on Oct 22, 2008.
