The Death of Guitar Hero and DJ Hero- What happened??

Imaged Sourced from http://gamerant.com

Most people by now have either strummed a plastic peripheral guitar, or scratched on a turntable like controller. Everyone loves bringing out instrument like controllers to entertain a group of guests at a party. But for now we are going to have to stick to what we have, as I'm sure most of you are aware, there isn't going to be any more 'Hero' games being produced.....for now.

Guitar Hero first hit our shelves back in 2005, when rhythm and dance games weren't really big in Western Countries. In Japan however, games such as Beatmania (video below) were a huge success. Probably due to the difficulty of the game, and the non-commercial western tracks it features, is why it never did too well outside of Japan.

Guitar Hero simplified the idea of Beatmania, gave the game more commercially known rock tracks and bundled the game with a plastic controller shaped like a guitar. It became an instant hit and spawned many sequels and spin off's within the next 5 years of its original release.

As much as I thought Guitar Hero was a fantastic game, I was never a huge fan of the Rock genre. I always longed for a good music game based more around the urban genre. To my delight, and many fans across the globe, in 2009, Activision (Publishers of Guitar Hero) released DJ Hero, a game very similar to the mechanics of Guitar Hero, but instead features a Turntable styled controller, with a rotating platter and 3 main buttons. This was the game for fans of Dance, Rap and RnB. It became one of the highest grossing new products in North America that year.

All up, there have been 14 'Hero' games released since the launch of Guitar Hero in 2005. Most likely the reason behind the death of the 'Hero' franchise is due to Activision 'milking' the series, focusing too much on getting new product on shelves rather then focusing on creating new and interesting game play. PaRapper The Rapper creator Masaya Matsurra stated games need to go beyond the idea of challenging the player to mimic the playing of licensed music.

Activision is currently holding off any future development of the 'Hero' series due to weak sales, recognising that the music game genre was not profitable as it once was. 

Though the music game genre still lives, with titles such as Just Dance, Dance Central and Rocksmith showing great results worldwide. Unfortunatly, the urban genre seems to be left out...again...I guess the best we're going to get is Black Eyed Peas: The Experience.....

R.I.P Steve Jobs

This week we have lost one of our greatest thinkers and entrepreneurs in todays day and age of technology.

Steven Paul Jobs, co-founder of Apple, one of the worlds biggest and most successful companies. He is the man we all associated with big Apple product launches, whilst wearing his trademark turtleneck sweater, jeans and joggers. Jobs played a huge part within the computer, music and animation industries.

Most of us will have at least 1 product in our households which has been created or influenced by Steve Jobs. From iPod's to iPhone's, Apple computers, or even Pixar movies, this was all done by Steve Jobs. I personally have about 5 Apple products within reach of the desk I sit at right now.

Steve Jobs was someone who as able to take a very boring product, and turn it into the most sexiest, sought after device across the globe. Computers, Laptops, MP3 players, Mobile Phones, Tablets are just a few products which Apple have made the world crazy for.

The Music and DJ communities utilise many Apple products today. The majority of club DJ's and producers around the world will be using an Apple MacBook due to its stable operating system and ease of use.  Listeners of digital music worldwide have Steve Jobs to thank for products such as iTunes, and the iPod, revolutionising the way we listen to music.

As Apple announce their latest product, the iPhone 4S, what will Apple revolutionise next? With Steve Jobs having a huge influence on the current staff and employee's at Apple, we can only imagine.

Kient Clothing

Hip hop clothing has become a popular fashion trend embraced by teenagers and young adults. The versatile trend can be worn for casual and formal occasions. Unfortunately many popular hip hop brands, such as Rocawear and Baby Phat, only have stores in America, so their clothing ranges are somewhat limited in Australia.

Kient Clothing is an online store based in Perth. The owner Raiz Thawizardofoz, is interested in both hip hop culture and American sports, so he has brought these two interests together in Kient Clothing. He has been using Facebook and word of mouth to communicate with customers which proves to be quite successful as many people log onto Facebook, at least once a day. They provide various products which can be purchased by commenting the photo with the word "SOLD", which is both easy for customer and Kient Clothing.

Kient Clothing provides its customers with items such as, t-shirts, hoodies, sport jerseys and Mitchell & Ness snapbacks. They cater to both men and women, and many of these items are limited in Australia, so if you're into hip hop clothing, check out Kient Clothing.