Guitar Hero franchise cashed in

You'd have hoped that Activision would have been a bit more creative with the way it killed off the Guitar Hero game - rather than just mumbling out an announcement at an earnings call, couldn't they have said that the franchise had been found floating in a swimming pool after a heavy party? Isn't that how guitar heroes are supposed to go?

Following on from the news that MTV had decided Rock Band was a declining proposition a few weeks back, it's looking a lot like those music business executives who thought that selling music to be hit small plastic guitars to was a long-term safe bet were about as with-it as Lunar Jet Man.

Viacom splits from the RockBand

Having realised that there wasn't really any synergy between MTV and the RockBand game franchise, Viacom have flogged off their games studio, Harmonix.

But, hey, it isn't a humiliating climbdown - they made $25m over what they paid, and are able to push out a press release with a bit of dignity:

"Harmonix has and will continue to create terrific video games, but for us, it is about focus. The console games business requires an expertise and scale that we don't have," chief executive Philippe Dauman said.

Of course, we could have told them that back before they bought in.

Bill Wyman doesn't hold with all these computer games

Somewhat ironically, considering he was talking at a charity Beatles event piggybacking on the hoopla around Beatles Game, Bill Wyman has been grumbling about Rock Band style games:

[He claimed] they will lead to fewer young people taking up real instruments.

"It encourages kids not to learn, that's the trouble. It makes less and less people dedicated to really get down and learn an instrument".

"I think it's a pity," he said, speaking at Abbey Road studios while recording a charity Beatles song for Children in Need.

Yeah, young teenagers shouldn't be playing computer games; they should be enjoying their time dating elderly rock stars, eh Bill?

Nick Mason - who was hanging about - nodded:

"It irritates me having watched my kids do it. If they spend as much time practising the guitar as learning how to press the buttons, they'd be damn good by now".

Naturally, the makers of Rock Band style games deny they're a bad influence:

But Alex Rigopulos, co-founder of Harmonix Music Systems, which created the Rock Band series, refuted the musicians' claims.

"We're constantly hearing from fans who were inspired by Rock Band to start studying a real instrument," he said.

It's true. After a couple of months using the guitar-style button keypad, many young people progress to the three-button joystick or the fully-programmable trackpad.

Pretending your games machine in an instrument: Game Over?

Worrying news from the world of computer games. No, this isn't about that advert for Wii with Louise WhatusedtobeinEternal in it, where she's using her Wiimote to vacuum up virtual dirt, although the idea of a piece of electrical equipment which you can use in your living room to, erm, hoover up the dirt on the floor does sound a little like they're running out of ideas of things to simulate - presumably 2009 is going to see a Wii game where the remote can be used like a remote control, turning over TV programmes which will be shown on your TV screen.

No, the news that will be worrying people in Gamesland is that the Guitar Hero / Rock Band boom is over:

Electronic Arts, publishers of Rock Band, has issued another profit warning, and reports "disappointing sales figures," while Guitar Hero is expected to see a 50% drop in unit sales.

If you need any evidence that a mildly-diverting idea has now been throttled, Metallica have just turned up at the party with their own version of Guitar Hero.

Beatles scramble onto games bandwagon

In something of a strange move for such digital refuseniks, the Beatles are rushing to have their precious, precious music slapped into a video game format - the Rock Band franchise, to be precise.

Given they took their time coming to CD and are still dragging their feet over downloads, the rush to get built into Wiis and PSPs is eyecatching and curious. Why so rushed, Macca?

“The project is a fun idea which broadens the appeal of the Beatles and their music,” McCartney said in a statement. “I like people having the opportunity to get to know the music from the inside out.”

Ah. The 'broadening appeal' comment makes more sense than the 'inside out' one - after all, if McCartney really wanted people to know music from inside out, wouldn't there be lots of remix-y bits and pieces available online for them to do just that?

The rush to Rock Band is an early sign that Apple Corps is starting to try and cope with a declining franchise - the Beatles might still be gods to Oasis, but to a younger audience, they're starting to look a little bit like your Grandad's favourite band (and the Cirque Du Soleil hook-up hardly helped). The Beatles need Rock Band more than Rock Band needs the Beatles.