Today, I finished DJ Hero 2.
(Yeah, I'm way behind on my gaming backlog, school is utterly demolishing me lately).
It was the best music game I've ever played. When Guitar Hero came out, it was widely loved for how it enables 'power fantasy' - the ability to suddenly be awesome at guitar, without all the work and calluses. I always, always wanted that for turntables, a symbol of the music that more appealed to me, whether hip-hop or electronic. Getting to imaginarily play the part of DJ was as appealing to me as electric guitar is to white people.
DJ Hero came out in 2009 and lived up to the promise, just. It was a flawed game, a 3-out-of-5 in most reviews, but I was just happy that the thing existed. But DJ Hero 2 seriously tightened up the graphics on level 3 - better visuals, yes, but more gameplay depth, more difficulty depth, and much better music. Out of all the tracks I played, I'd only give about 2 tracks less than a 3 out of 5. Most were very good, and a large number were seriously awesome. This game is, objectively, a 4 out of 5.
For me? Subjectively? A 5 out of 5. I'm ready to buy this game for good and keep it on the shelf forever. I love it.
But sadly, today was also the day that Activision put the final nail in the coffin. Its entire music game business is done, as are 500 employees, meaning no more Guitar Hero or DJ Hero. The train stops here. It's only shocking when viewed in light of statements from annual reports and conference as recent as two years ago: that the music genre was one of (only mildly paraphrasing here) "three pillars" of Activision's business.
Not that Activision is some sort of unique bad guy for getting out of the music games business. Harmonix (the geniuses who made this whole thing happen) was put on the block over the holidays and they've already begun shrinking. The only 'bad guy' move here was irrational overinvestment.
Anyway. It was truly a good run. Harmonix wowed and amazed us with the original Guitar Hero during the 2005 holiday season. Let's not forget that sensation of the first time we all played it. And let's face it: Rock Band was the superior product all throughout its fight with Guitar Hero, because it was Harmonix's baby. Activision was just along for the ride.
Want proof? Look at the tie-ins when things started getting skinny. Activision looked at some spreadsheets and came back with some big, mass-market names: Metallica, Aerosmith, Van Halen. Harmonix dug into its heart, looked at the stars and came back with the trump card, the ultimate tie-in: The Beatles.
Activision was just along for the ride... until DJ Hero. Acti dug through its large organization, its celebrity Rolodex, and put together a new and original entry for a whole new set of gamers. And all the muscle that that development exercise built up was fully and satisfyingly flexed for DJH2.
That was for the holiday of 2010. The whole genre has risen and fallen in five neat years. During that time there were some great moments for me, and for everyone I know who's played the genre. The first "oh holy wow, this is cool" moment. The axe battles with friends. The drunken band nights. The stage events.
From here, plastic toy instruments will fade out of use but not out of existence. They'll start going for clearance at game shops, and then stores will refuse to buy used ones, and like the crazy gaming peripherals of our past they'll fade into closets and garage sales. But there are tens of millions of them out there, so they won't become eBay token rarities like some oldies from the 80s and 90s.
So in ten years' time we'll all have old, incompatible plastic toy instruments in our closets and when nostalgia strikes we'll say, "Remember Guitar Hero?"
It was a really good run.