As GameDaily BIZ has noted on a few occasions, Guitar Hero felt like a game facing an uphill struggle when it first released. It was expensive, large and from an unproven publisher. The game turned into a consistent seller and RedOctane wasn't able to keep the game in stock, making Guitar Hero into more than a sleeper hit; it was a phenomenon.

As you should be well aware, however, the original developer Harmonix isn't working on Guitar Hero anymore, and is instead pushing the music genre forward with the even more ambitious title Rock Band. This game not only includes more game modes, but it also has challenge of having a higher price in an even larger package than Guitar Hero (not to mention direct competition with its predecessor). However, Harmonix has a few things on its side this time, including additional repute as a game developer, a proven model for demonstrating how their game works to potential licensees and all the power of MTV Games. We take a look at Rock Band's success so far.

That's rockin'!
According to the NPD, Rock Band was in the top six best selling games for both Xbox 360 and PS3 during the months of November and December. The Xbox 360 version of the game was thirteenth during both November and December. Rock Band sold roughly 380,000 units in its debut month and has sold over one million units in total.

The ultimate party game?

Now, these results might seem somewhat disappointing for those that expected Rock Band to compete neck-and-neck with Guitar Hero. After all, the latter franchise placed both fourth and eighth in the rundown of NPD's top selling titles of 2007, selling over 4.6 million copies between Guitar Hero II and III. In reality, this brand new franchise did a good job of holding its own against a much better known property, managing over $180 million in sales and breaking into the top 30 title list for the year.

"This is exactly the kind of title that has great potential to continue to grow sales since it's a social experience. Once someone tries it out with their friends, they're more likely to want to go purchase it for themselves. It didn't unseat Guitar Hero, but it certainly held its own," NPD analyst Anita Frazier told us.

Another contributing factor to Rock Band's early sales was the somewhat limited initial shipments, which helped stir up further hype about the game selling out at retail. This is not to mention the high MSRP, averaging over $160 for the package including all three instrument controllers. The franchise still has a chance to break out in a big way, between the positive word of mouth, a launch on the PS2 and with the game and instruments starting to become available separately.

Rocking out never felt so good
Rock Band, like most rhythm games of its sort, features gameplay that is incredibly easy to describe. In the vocal parts, you match pitch while singing lyrics, in the drum parts you strike the appropriate drum pad, and the guitar parts feature fret pushing while using the strum bar (like Guitar Hero). Like any good rhythm game, however, it takes hours upon hours of practice to master any of these instruments on the highest difficulty level.

While there's a certain appeal in mastering each instrument individually (and there's certainly nothing stopping players from doing that) the real draw for most people is Rock Band's co-op play, particularly Band World Tour mode. Players can make their own musicians, customize them, and rock out. With the ability to "save" other band mates after they've dropped out and the truly complementary nature of having everyone performing well at the same time, it's an experience that's unlike any other in gaming.

A large part of what can make or break a rhythm game is the quality of the songs, and Rock Band has a top tier list of licensed songs. Between classic songs like the Rolling Stone's Gimme Shelter to modern hits like The Killer's When You Were Young, there's a wide variety of hits and many of the songs are the master recordings. While the original list of 45 licensed songs is exceptional, what's really helped to extend the game is its constant release of downloadable content. MTV Games has seen nothing but success with these downloadable tracks, recently reporting sales of over 2.5 million pieces of content. And they're just getting started; more songs and even full albums are expected in the near future.

Rock Band has been a true critical darling, averaging over 90% on GameRankings.com. Only the (relatively) short list of licensed songs and high price tag have been cited as notable criticisms. "In fact, these nitpicky complaints still can't touch the fact that [Rock Band] is, bar none, one of the coolest games to hit stores this year," said GameDaily's 9-out-of-10 review by Libe Goad. "It celebrates rock, bands and video games that appeal to people who've never heard of an FPS, RPG or MMORPG. Is this game better than Guitar Hero III? This reviewer says, yes definitely. Then again, value-conscious shoppers and brand loyalists might stick with the $99 Guitar Hero III package. That just means more Rock Band for the rest of us."

Rock Band vs. Guitar Hero Battle Ongoing
While Guitar Hero has become a focal point for numerous mainstream promotions, Rock Band has done a fair job of penetrating the mass market as well. The game's TV campaign featured spots with a band singing Deep Purple's Highway Star on top of various automobiles. The implied progress between various touring vehicles and the emphasis on all of the band members, and not just the guitarists, really does a good job of conveying the "essence" of Rock Band.

Although it hasn't been quite as break out as certain people might have predicted, Rock Band is undeniably a hit. 2008 is just getting started, and the game has all the makings of a title with very long legs. We fully expect the franchise to make an ever stronger showing when the inevitable Rock Band 2 hits the market, maybe even for Holiday 2008.