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Let me take a crack at armchair publishing:
First, we don't count the Harmonix games, we start at GH3.
Guitar Hero 3
Drop this title as it went down. Had some acclaim, people dug it.
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith
I'll give Activision the benefit of the doubt here. They're excited, they have a new franchise, let's try one off-shoot.
Guitar Hero: World Tour
We gotta compete with Rock Band. Full band set, broader range of music, music creation mode. GH3 DLC, made for a different engine, may not work. I'll accept that. So far so good. MOST MUSIC TO BE FUTURE PROOFED AS EXPORTABLE DLC, WE KNOW WE'RE MAKING ANOTHER ONE.
Guitar Hero: Metallica
It's a big band, with a big price tag. Lot's of people wanted Met on a music game. No exclusive instruments, smart move. Accepts Death Magnetic DLC, good. Cross-compatible with music creations, also good. ADD OPTION TO EXPORT MUSIC TO GHWT. People would have to buy the game anyway. License issues, well at least allow WT DLC for this game. No, James Hetfield wouldn't be playable for The Touch.
Guitar Hero: Smash Hits
THIS WOULD NOT EXIST. All music (master tracks no doubt!) would have been DLC promoted as Smash Hits DLC, sold separately. Game was a waste of production, waste of printing, waste of shipping, etc.
Guitar Hero 5
The new engine. I can get that. Nice adjustments to interface. Great party play mode. New instruments, although past instruments are compatible. LEAVE MUSIC CREATION ALONE, JUST ADJUST INTERFACE - NO GALAXY BULLSHIT. Past music creations are compatible, in fact the platform is expanded to a whole new hub. If DLC strategy still sucks at this point, the music studio 'DLC' will be the trump card. Put a lot of effort behind this.
Guitar Hero: Van Halen
What? No. DLC pack. Save a lot of stress. The rendered band could have been DLC.
Band Hero
No, another DLC pack. And as far as reaction is concerned, it would have proved to be a popular pack. Rendered celebs would have also been DLC.
Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock
Desperate cash-in. Would not exist in it's current form. Would have been Guitar Hero 6, touted as a return to rock orientation. Rhythm guitar play returns. Back-DLC compatible. Expanded music creation tool to include crowd reaction effects and camera angles. Basically remove any sign of WoR's design.
If it all still fails, blame consumers and Harmonix.
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