The End of an Era

     Activision's announcement yesterday really came as no surprise to me, but from the things being released from EA as well, it seems this is the end.  Activision announced that they were no longer developing music titles. The have closed down 7 Studios, one of the studios responsible for DJ Hero, and announced there will be no more Guitar Hero titles either.  EA has sold off Harmonix and MTV Games is no longer an active studio.

     In all honesty, I am a bit saddened that there will be no more Rock Band titles.  EA has not announced that they are canning it, but judging from everything else going on, I'd say it's a safe bet.  To me, Rock Band, aside from Guitar Hero I and II, is the only title to get it right.  Every installment was better than the last.  Rock Band 3, I feel, is hands down the best music game I have ever played.  Though this dissolve of the music genre can be blamed solely on Activision.

     Activision has done everything they possibly could to pump out one shitty title after another with the Guitar Hero label on it.  At least one a year.  And then the even shittier Band Hero.  But that's not all, Guitar Hero: Metallica, Guitar Hero: AC/DC, Guitar Hero: Green Day, I mean, c'mon.  Rock Band did it once, and with the most iconic band of all time, The Beatles, and furthermore, they did it right.  A friend of mine said it right about Guitar Hero, "They should have just released song bundles and albums from those other bands, instead of releasing shitty half games with only their music."

     Activision has encompassed everything I hate about George Lucas, but they have none of the redeeming qualities he possesses.  They are both money grubbing whores, but that is where the similarities end.  They have taken a genre that I once held dear to my heart, and they have destroyed it.  They killed it, raped it, and are now eating it's fucking costume.  Thanks Activision, thanks for nothing.

GG Sony, gg.

     Wow, I love when Sony sticks their foot, or feet in this case, in their mouth.  They did it when they announced the price of the PS3, when Kazuo Hirai said that "people will buy it because it's Sony."  Well, they have really done it this time.  In their new onslaught to destroy anyone who posts the Playstation 3 security key, they overlooked one critical detail, themselves.

     Sony's Kevin Butler, who's real identity is actor Jerry Lambert, mistakingly retweeted the security code this morning.  A nice write up on the incident can be found here.  It will be interesting to see how Sony handles this blunder.