I realize this is a point that may have already been made, but this occurred to me today as I was driving to work. A large budget for the developers of Guitar Hero could potentially hurt the series beyond repair.

I make short films and in my experience the worst thing I can do to hinder creativity is to have an "open mind." I actually set RULES for myself. I make these funny little music videos to songs but I have certain rules when selecting what song to use for a video. First, I don't do songs that have music videos that are good. I realize this is more of a subjective rule but I know what's good and what isn't. Second, I generally don't allow myself to use shots that are longer than ten seconds without some kind of extra added on top of it (font, effect, etc.). Finally, I try to do songs that aren't "flavor of the week" type songs that you love at first but after a set amount of times hearing the song you want to drill your skull in and fill it with chili. As an addition to that rule I pick songs that are rockin', but will probably never be recognized as such by mainstream standards.

All this to say, these rules have helped me make something (I didn't say it was good but it's something). Most people enjoy them anyway. http://trifectaofpower.blogspot.com is where they are if you are curious.

So, as you can guess I see this relates to the future of Guitar Hero in a huge way. I felt that the second GH had a pretty lackluster wahmp-waaah songlist. But, like the first GH, it introduced me to some great songs (Last Child, Who Was in my Room Last Night?) and the occasional gem of a song (Freya...so good). But overall, I mean come on people. I'm guessing a good chunk of the licensing budget went towards getting "Free Bird" and while I've never been a huge fan of the song anyway, I can't help but feel it was put in there from a marketing standpoint (duh right?).

"Play AWESOME songs like Free Bird and You Really Got Me!" I can tell you right now there are better Lynyrd Skynyrd and Van Halen songs to show off the fun-level of Guitar Hero. Panama would have been the prime choice. Runnin' with the Devil would have been another great one.

So, while there are these big name songs in the game, there are also just obscure as hell songs. Bad Reputation, Madhouse, Cherry Pie, and Pyschobilly Freakout are the first to jump out at me. These seem to be the songs that were chosen with the money left over from getting Free Bird. Also, am I the only one confused as to why Girlfriend by Matthew Sweet is in this game...?

Next, we have the songs that are popular but just suck in translation. Rock This Town, Heart-Shaped Box, and Can't You Hear Me Knockin' are what come to mind here. Possible Red Octane Marketing Scenario:

"Hey let's get a Rolling Stones song in the game! They are total legends!"

"Alright but I just looked up "Satisfaction" and it would cost us our entire budget to use.

"Oh, well in that case, put the names of all their songs in a hat, draw one, make sure no one has ever heard of the song, and we'll use that."

Thus Can't You Hear Me Knockin' was born? Probably not but who knows.

Now don't take this as a dissing of Red Octane or Harmonix. If anything I am confused by their bad choices because of their FANTASTIC choices. I could justify buying this game with these songs only: Freya, Jessica, Last Child, Tattooed Love Boys, Message in a Bottle, Woman, and Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight. The classiest picks for songs in the game has to be either Jessica or Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight. I'll go with the Spinal Tap song only because I never would have thought of it and it is absolutely perfect for GH and it's whole "style."

So, my warning for big budgets is that we may end up with a game heavy on big name songs that suck while songs that are more deserving that may take some creativity to think of go to waste. Mr. Fix It, Jordan, Parasite, and Trogdor should also be praised for their inclusion.

I just hope that Activision will remember that this game sold extremely well to a niche group. That is very rare. The success grew to the mainstream and was successful there, but it was already a proven winner, it didn't need pop rock songs to sell.

My fear is only that the game will be taken down further crappy playlist roads and ultimately the fans that made the game popular will turn their backs on it for having terrible songs while the mainstream crowd will stop playing it because they are bored with it.

Harmonix 4 Lyfe though.

-Butmac