Game publishers clean up titles to lure preteens

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Comments 0
Published: November 13, 2009

Musical video games are already family-friendly.

There’s no violence, and their developers have already weeded out most of the sex and drugs in rock ’n’ roll. And just about anyone can pick up a fake guitar, microphone or a pair or drumsticks and figure out what to do with it.

Multimedia

Photoview all photos

More Info

Music games

The success of a music game depends a lot on what songs you get to play. So, let’s conduct a battle of the bands.

Number of tracks

• "Lego Rock Band:” 45

• "Band Hero:” 65

Special celebrity guests:

• Lego Rock Band: Queen, David Bowie, Iggy Pop — in Lego form.

• Band Hero: Taylor Swift, No Doubt, Maroon 5’s Adam Levine.

Great songs:

• Lego Rock Band: Elton John’s "Crocodile Rock,” Supergrass’ "Grace,” Blur’s "Song 2.”

• Band Hero: Marvin Gaye’s "I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” Santigold’s "L.E.S. Artistes,” the Mighty Mighty Bosstones’ "The Impression That I Get.”

But Activision and MTV Games, the publishers of "Guitar Hero” and "Rock Band,” respectively, want to make sure that even the youngest gamer is on board.

So both companies have introduced more wholesome versions of their rock franchises, hoping to infect preteens with the musical bug.

What are the titles?

Activision’s entry is "Band Hero” (for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, $59.99). MTV’s version for the younger set, published by Warner Bros., is "Lego Rock Band” (for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, $49.99).

Both titles feature the same gameplay as their parent titles, but the gigs have moved out of dingy rock clubs and into more fanciful, all-ages spaces.