Guitar Hero: Arcade and Arcades

Considering I was the first person to break the exclusive news that an official Guitar Hero cabinet was being developed by Raw Thrills, you would probably expect that I’ve had a go or two on the towering rock coin-op. Judging by my choice of words, though, you’ve probably figured out by now that isn’t the case. My vacation to the Grand Rapids over the weekend brought me to the nearby entertainment center Craig’s Cruisers, where I finally decided to start on the personal cabinet catalog I’d wanted to start for quite some time now. Firmly tucked away in the rear of the building, across from the DanceDanceRevolution SuperNOVA cabinet, was the embodiment of what many deemed as questionable speculation when I first reported it. It seems kind of timely that I recently did a piece on “Arcade Envy,” games that used to splash arcades only to come home on the earlier home systems in crappy fashion. Perhaps, now, though, the tables have turned as, really, with multitudes of versions available at home (such as Aerosmith, which you can buy, to keep and play endlessly, from some online outlets at the price of playing three songs on GH: Arcade), is anyone really interested in paying a dollar to play one song from a version of the game that is going on two years old?

I suppose it is understandable, really. Today, the U.S. arcade industry is a gamble no matter how you look at things. Crafting an arcade version of a home game that has proved its worth in sales creates a little bit of a safety net for companies who can bank on the fact that there are some players who will buckle down and drop some change every time they see familiar names such as Guitar Hero or Madden. It certainly makes business sense, but at the same time, it fails to evolve arcades (although, potentially, it’s what keeps them in business right now) and it certainly overshadows upcoming original efforts such as Will Brierly’s Get Outta My Face and Galloping Ghost’s Dark Presence.

People would run up to Guitar Hero: Arcade like it was a celebrity, having no qualm pumping in a dollar to play one meager song when classic games such as Ms. Pac-Man, Galaga, NBA Fastbreak (pinball), The Ocean Hunter, Time Crisis and more offered potentially longer game play at 25-50% of Guitar Hero’s price of admission.

I don’t blame Raw Thrills, though, as the team took what they had to work with and tapped it to 100% of its potential with heavy, durable guitars, an excellent high-definition screen, eye-catching lighting and thunderous speakers. The cabinet design is everything you could ask for from a music title even though the team was handed over a crusty, two-year-old software to work with. I hear the title is selling quite well, however, with Raw Thrills openly reporting the cab has pushed more than 2,000 units at the beginning of June and who am I to argue with the college campuses having a ball with weekly competitions? I suppose that is the one grace I have, though – even though I don’t think Guitar Hero: Arcade is necessary at all, people are having fun with it and it gives arcade owners a little bit of hope that they can actually score a little bit of money. That’s what video games are all about. You can talk about crashes and recessions all you want, but it won't be until the day that video games lose their fun and community that the medium truly dies.