At some point in the deep freeze of February in Winnipeg, Jean-François Brochet ponied up for the mega-hit video game Rock Band and promptly outfitted his basement with his new kit.
This would be just another quotidian moment in the life of any 17-year-old Grade 12 student except for the magic words that come tumbling from young Mr. Brochet's mouth: “I just love classic rock.”
Further warming the hearts of rock fans of a certain age, not to mention Rock Band's makers, Mr. Brochet expresses a particular likeness for Won't Get Fooled Again.
“I didn't know that song before,” he says of The Who's anthemic creation that dates back a full two decades before Mr. Brochet was born.
Jean-François Brochet sings while friends, from left to right, Sam Frechette, Zach Allard and Chaz Beaudette provide virtual music backing during a game of Rock Band. (John Woods for The Globe and Mail)
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For Harmonix Music Systems Inc., creators of Rock Band, and for Activision Inc., which launched Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, last October, Mr. Brochet – and the friends he gathers around to play bass, drums and vocals to his lead guitar – is precisely the target audience they seek.
But the relationship that has now been forged runs deeper than the unlocking of a newfound love of Pete Townshend. By offering up an ever-expanding list of downloadable content, both game makers have tapped into a potentially inexhaustible way to keep the game and the player engaged.
Mr. Brochet searches his own play list to help him recall the tunes he has paid for by visiting the Xbox Live Marketplace. He's keen on Rush, paying for both Working Man and Limelight. Radiohead's My Iron Lung is on there. And Iron Maiden's Number of the Beast. (No word yet on My Sharona.) How does he pay for his music? “I have my mom's credit card in my Xbox,” he says, adding quickly, “I ask her and I pay her back.”
For Activision, the appeal of being able to pump up one's personal play list has translated thus far into the downloading of five million singles for Guitar Hero III; for Harmonix, the latest number is six million, even though Rock Band is newer to the marketplace.
This week, Harmonix released a software update that adds a major feature: a music store that lets you buy new tracks within the game.
For the industry at large, downloadable content offers an exponential amplification of a phenomenon that, says David Reeder, “allows kids to consume this classic catalogue music in the way they are most accustomed.” That is, not by strolling down the aisle of a music store and picking up a CD.
Mr. Reeder, a onetime avid Pong player whose Guitar Hero performance of choice is Guns N' Roses' Welcome to the Jungle, is vice-president of branded content solutions for Corbis Corp., Bill Gates's Seattle-based rights and clearance organization.
Working with Hallmark Cards Inc., Corbis has reawakened such “mature” song titles as Bad to the Bone by implanting sound clips in the Hallmark line of “Say it With Music” cards.
The size of the music archive is only substantially limited by artists declining to participate, notes Mr. Reeder. Hallmark now has access to more than 1,000 select tunes. “Van Halen has expressed little or no interest to date,” he reports.
Earlier this month, Corbis hosted a New York roundtable on the subject of making old products dynamic again by using archival content to drive sales. Hasbro's Tooth Tunes would be a case in point, in which Kiss, or maybe Queen, may actually get a four-year-old to brush for more than 10 seconds.
With rocker gaming, Mr. Reeder observes two trends: energizing catalogue sales for brands previously unknown to today's gamer; and using this ever-broadening music stage as a means to tap into social video game networks.
“The aim is to migrate game consoles from a teenager's bedroom to the family living room and the creation of games featuring content that appeals to a multigeneration household is critical to ensuring this move is successful,” he says.
(Nintendo's not-yet-launched Wii Fit will arrive complete with a balance board that weighs gamers. Nintendo hopes the whole family will be into it.) Foghat's Slow Ride might not be the musical bridge to get a family playing together. As much as the games bring new life to what Greg Johnson calls “the long tail of music titles from our past,” he sees this model of music distribution reinvigorating the industry more broadly.
“I believe new songs will start to come out with Rock Band and Guitar Hero III versions when they hit the radio,” predicts Mr. Johnson, who is chief marketing officer of GGL Global Gaming.
“It makes all music more interactive and accessible on a deeper level.”
At Global Gaming, some of the Rock Band aficionados are into modifying their own setups – making the kick drum harder, for example.
Mr. Johnson anticipates that future iterations of the game will offer a less “toyish” drum kit. Who knows? Maybe a high hat and a ride cymbal are in the offing. And how about a saxophone?
Mr. Johnson sees downloadable titles as an extension of the current gaming revenue model. The add-on revenue stream hasn't translated into huge dollars – at least not yet – but, he says, “it keeps the gamer engaged and in the platform.”
Mr. Johnson expects in-store game title prices will drop as the price of downloadable add-on parts rise, becoming “more of the ‘core' part of the gaming experience and culture.”
For Mr. Brochet, the Rock Band experience has meant customizing his band, and creating a self-profile. The game allows players to identify with a variety of musical genres – punk, metal, rock – and to choose attributes from hair colour and style to weight and height and clothing sense. It sounds as though Mr. Brochet, a.k.a. “Solid Man,” is big and muscular. Tattooing is available upon request.
There's plenty of as-yet-untapped downloaded content should Mr. Brochet find his band growing cantankerous (or if the drummer is threatening to quit.) The Grateful Dead. The Ramones. Black Sabbath. The opportunities are almost limitless.
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