April 21 3:26 P.M.
What do the LEGO video game franchise and the Guitar Hero-Rock Band dynasty have in common?
Not to put too fine a point on it, they're both ideas that are stretched a tad thin. LEGO: Star Wars was a best-seller, and a fine game to boot, but like so many breakout hits it's diverged to eyebrow-raising lengths. LEGO: Batman? LEGO: Indiana Jones? LEGO: Harry Potter? Give us a break.
Two great tastes that taste... stale together?
In contrast, the Guitar Hero-Rock Band genre, first conceived by Boston-based developer Harmonix in 2005, is...stretched even thinner, if anything. Even though it's divided, embryo-like, into two very similar series from two different publishers, it's likewise continuing to turn out spin-off after spin-off, from Metallica to the Beatles. Breakout hit turns into licensed-fueled cash-in bonanza? Where have we heard that before?
So whaddaya do when you have two tired franchises to rejuvenate? Apparently you take a lesson from Youtube, and mash 'em together. The result, unveiled today and due in stores by December, is LEGO Rock Band. It's a predictably family-friendly proposition boasting customizable Lego figure stars and a collection of crowd-pleasing songs like Blur's anthemic "Song 2", Carl Douglas's "Kung Fu Fighting", Europe's "The Final Countdown", Good Charlotte's "Boys and Girls", and Pink's "So What".
And yes, it'll support your existing instruments, although doubtless it'll launch with some sort of garish LEGO-themed guitars and microphones. Who knows, maybe the instruments will actually be made out of Lego. Color us skeptical -- although maybe if they can get the rights to "Another Brick in the Wall"...
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Posted: 21 Apr 2009
