A year ago, there was no hotter genre in video games than music. "Guitar Hero" and "Rock Band" had been embraced by gamers and non-gamers alike, and the future seemed unlimited.
Flash forward to today: Despite a plethora of new music titles hitting the market, the music genre is down nearly 50 percent, and analysts are wondering how and if its second act will play.
By mid-August, revenue from music and dance games was short of 2008's pace by $390 million-and no publisher is more likely to feel the impact than Activision. The publisher will release eight titles in its "Hero" franchise this year (including six different "Guitar Hero" games). That follows four "Guitar Hero" releases in 2008.
Toss in competition from "Rock Band," produced by Electronic Arts and Harmonix, plus similar games from Disney and other publishers, and what was ground-breaking less than three years ago has become commonplace.
