Music videogames are struggling

Too much growth too quickly is usually a recipe for trouble, and that seems to be happening to the "Guitar Hero" and "Rock Band" franchises, among others.(Guitar Hero was developed by Santa Monica-based Activision.) Music-themed games fell 36 percent in 2009. That's a drop from over 25 million units to less than 16 million. Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter says the growth spurt was unsustainable. From The Wrap:

Music videogames sales went from $200 million in 2006, when "Guitar Hero II" was released, to $1 billion in 2007, which saw the release of both "Guitar Hero III" -- with its avatar of Slash and online player capacity -- and the first "Rock Band," with its peripherals instruments that allowed players to simulate bass, drums, vocals and guitar. "The great triumph of these games is as 'party' games, and this is a field that has gotten more and more crowded over the last couple of years," Tom Chatfield, author of "Fun Inc. -- Why Games Are the 21st Century's Most Serious Business," told TheWrap.