As autumn nears and the air begins to get slightly crisp in the mornings, competitive people the world over anxiously prepare their minds for the approaching season. Fans have been studying up on all of the latest information about their favorites from both reporters and spies alike. They scour the internet searching for the most recent rumors and expert speculations, allowing the marketing pros to whip them into a frenzy of expectation.
That's right, it is almost time for the new video games to be released and this year promises to deliver an extraordinary head-to-head competition two games in the interactive music category. It will be fun watching the upcoming Battle Royal between the latest versions of Guitar Hero and Rock Band.
A Little History
Guitar Hero was initially developed and introduced by two companies, Harmonix Music Systems and Red Octane in 2005. In 2006 Red Octane was acquired by Activision and Harmonix was bought by MTV Networks. Harmonix stopped producing games for the series in 2007 when production was shifted to Neversoft, a subsidiary of Activision.
In 2007 Rock Band was released software company Electronic Arts by, you guessed it, Hormonix and MTV Networks. Do you see where this is going?
Activision had the world by the tail in 2007 because they owned the interactive music video game market. Guitar Hero II had been a fantastic success and Guitar Hero 3 was promising to do even better. Then came Rock Band.
What has always made Guitar Hero stand apart from other games was the peripheral controller, it looked and felt like a small guitar. It was originally modeled after the Gibson SG, an instantly recognized hard rock instrument, and even came complete with a strap so it could be worn in true rock show style. The game is played by pressing buttons on the "guitar neck" and simultaneously "strumming" the control switch as you play along with the game.
Rock Band took the concept a step further and introduced the inclusion of multiple instruments including, more guitars, microphone and drums to bring it from an individual performance to a "band" performance.
New for 2008
The multi-player "band" concept of Rock Band must have made a significant dent in the Guitar Hero market because it has been completely integrated into Guitar Hero 4. Although many of the specifics of Guitar Hero 4 are still secret, enough has been released or leaked to have a good idea of what's coming. In what seems to be an obvious case of, "Me too, but better!" the GH4 set-up will include a drum kit and microphone. The Guitar Hero drums will be a definite improvement over the original design of the Rock Band set; they will be sturdier, a fair amount more realistic and (most importantly?) quieter. (In fairness, word is Rock Band has improved the durability and quietness of their kit this year.)
This year Guitar Hero will also allow "bands" to use the system to actually record their original music and release it to the entire community to have it voted on. The particulars of game play for Rock Band 2 are not very well known yet so it will be interesting to see if they try to rest on their laurels or take it up another notch again.
For gamers, the decision between games is going to be very difficult and I highly recommend not making your decision based on an experience from the past, even as recent as last year. Things change that fast.
I really believe, other than a couple of features, the games are going to be very similar. The set lists are both very strong with several instances of the same artist with a different famous song on both lists. I think it is just going to come down to making a choice based on your own preferences and desires.
Conclusion
The true beneficiary of all of this one-upmanship and competition is the consumer. The harder companies work to outdo and out offer each other in the quest for your entertainment dollar, the better it is for all of us. So, in the end, it really doesn't matter which game sells the most copies or wins the most awards. The real winners will be you and I, the gamers and consumers of the world.
Enjoy the competition and reap the rewards.
Let me tell you the story of two companies who make very similar products, and sell to the same customer base. Both make excellent products that provide a huge benefit to their customers. One of them is incredibly successful at lead generation, and closing the sale, while the other is sailing without a sail. Which do you think is the more respected leader in their industry?
Both the companies I'm talking about make tool vending machines and inventory management software to drive the machines and keep track of inventory. They both sell to manufacturers in the aerospace, automotive, medical, and general machining industries. Both companies' products offer huge cost savings to their customers through better control of tooling inventory. In many cases each companies' products save up to 30-40% in annual spend on tooling.
Shouldn't they both be doing bang up business, especially in a down economy?
I won't mention the companies' names because I have worked with one of them. Guess which one?
Well, one of the companies does well enough, and has grown sales about 2-3% per year in the last 3 years. Not bad.
The other company has increased sales an average of 20% each year over the last 3 years, and just had to move to a new 80,000 square foot facility to handle their amazing growth.
In fact, the more successful company sells a tool dispensing machine made by the other company, and does a better job marketing the machine. They sell the machine for 10% more than the company that makes it, and they blow the actual maker of the machine out of the water. How do you explain it?
Simple. The more successful company utilizes an ongoing article marketing strategy that keeps them in front of their current, and more importantly their prospective customers. By using articles published in trade magazines, and industry web sites the successful company has built their credibility and positioned themselves as the hands-down leader in their industry.
The less successful company has relied on distribution, and paid advertising to generate quality sales leads. By relying on distributors they have essentially placed their marketing efforts in the hands of other companies who also have 100+ other product lines to sell to their customers. That strategy insures they will only get about 1/100th of their distributors' marketing effort. That's a pretty poor ratio, and doesn't lead to massive sales growth. Plus, who knows if the distributors have any clue how to effectively market their product?
There is nothing wrong with paid advertising, but it costs the less successful company a fortune, and the results don't really justify the expense. The very successful company puts the emphasis on article marketing, and uses sporadic paid advertising as an accent to their article marketing strategy.
In addition, the very successful company has a web site that entices their prospective customers even more with an easy to navigate design, and lots of free information. They even offer a free trial of their software via instant download. All you have to do is enter your email address, and you get a free trial for 60 days. The company also gets an opt-in sales lead they can follow up with a few days later, and in email newsletters forever. The articles bring prospects to the web site, and the web site continues the sales process.
The less successful company has a bulky web site design with little information, and no free downloads, in fact no free anything. There is nothing to really entice their prospects to want to learn more, and eventually buy.
So, the moral of the story is to build credibility, and grow sales by leaps and bounds you must have a consistent article marketing campaign.
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Both James Laney & Ted Hebert are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
James Laney has sinced written about articles on various topics from Make Money Online, Speed Reading and Blogging. When he's not playing video games, James Laney spends his time finding and writing about and. James Laney's top article generates over 3600 views. to your Favourites.
Ted Hebert has sinced written about articles on various topics from Facts about Barack Obama, Environment and Environment. Ted Hebert is an Article Marketing Specialist helping companies of all sizes grow their business through article marketing. He can be reached at Ted@Atunga.com or visit. Ted Hebert's top article generates over 27100 views. to your Favourites.