Music Video Games Account for 32% of Industry Growth in '08

It seems that everyone dreams of the fame and fortune of being a rock star. Even as a young boy and adult I use to take guitar and even trumpet lessons looking to embrace those dreams of being on the road, carefree and playing to thousands of fans.

As I got into video games I acted out the dreams of being a hero in games like metroid,starfox,legend of zelda just to name a few. Then all of a sudden comes guitar hero and rock band. These games have become so popular you would think that it was the beatles first trip to the United States playing on the Ed Sullivan show.

Every major department store that you go into these days you will see a video game display with 3 or 4 kids playing with a virtual guitar throwing down on the many different standard rock songs that these games have to offer. Who knew that being a rock star in your own living room would become so popular.

clipped from www.gamedaily.com

We all know that Guitar Hero and Rock Band are huge, and now
other game companies are joining the music act, such as Disney with Ultimate
Band, Nintendo with Wii Music, and Konami with Rock
Revolution.

Just how important is this growing sector of the industry? According to UBS
analyst Ben Schachter, music games have been a "key driver" this year, with
"sales of music-themed games responsible for 19% of overall industry software
dollars in July (15% YTD) and 44% of y/y industry dollar growth during the month
(32% of growth YTD)."

Total dollar sales in the U.S. games industry hit $9.47 billion through July,
according to the latest NPD data. That's 35 percent ahead of 2007 at this point,
and Guitar Hero and Rock Band have no doubt