OK, first of all, I have Guitar Hero 2, and just got Guitar Hero 3 for the 360. I think that both of them are very good games. However, I am concerned about the direction that they are starting to take with the series. Two specific things come to mind which are taking the series away from what it is supposed to be.

First being the additions of other instruments in the future. I do understand why they are doing this. They are trying to "catch up" to the game Rock Band. However, I think that this is completely pointless. If people wanted Rock Band, they would already have Rock Band. If they don't, and just want a game which is based solely on playing guitars, they'd buy Guitar Hero. That is what was great about the fact that there were two distinct games out there. It gave people a choice about whether they wanted a game based on playing in a band, and one based on playing a guitar. With this new direction, they will be pushing away more fans than they will gain, because, as I mentioned, the people who wanted a game based on playing in a band would get Rock Band, and the majority of those people probably would view this as a lame attempt at copying the original Rock Band.

The second problem I'm having with the new direction that they are taking is the games based on specific bands. They're about to release the game Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, and recently announced Guitar Hero: Metallica. I like both of these bands, and plan to get these games, but only after they both drop down in price. Why wait if I like both of the bands? Because Guitar Hero is supposed to be a game based on a variety of music. We have some stuff from the 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's, and musice from the new millennium. I love that about the series. While not all the songs are ones that I like, at least there's a big variety of them, from different bands and different eras. These new games take away that variety in order to service a small group of fans. And granted, I am one of those fans for both bands, and will end up buying the games, I would rather have a new game, with a bigger variety of music.

Both of these factors are taking away what makes the series so great. I feel as if the series is losing its greatness ever since Harmonix and Red Octane split up and Activision got their hands on the series. If the series keeps going the way it is, I might just stop buying the games all together, because I will have lost all interest in the games.