Let's see, how many Guitar Hero games are coming out this year again? I can't even keep track of the releases anymore. Last I checked, there was GH: Metallica, GH: On Tour 3 (I didn't even know that On Tour 2 was out yet!), GH: On LSD, GH: Jonas Brothers, DJ Hero, Didgeridoo Hero, Groupie Hero... Ugh, when does it stop?

With Rock Band, it's basically like iTunes, only it's a video game, and while it's not as profitable as Guitar Hero as a franchise (yet), consumers get a way better deal. They've got a gigantic catalog of songs that you can pick from, and all of the songs you download to your account can roll over from one game to the next, so you never have to re-buy a song. Best of all, you can even pay a $5 license fee to roll over all the songs from the disc into the next game!

With Guitar Hero though, Activision insists on doing their DLC half-assed, because they would rather release new content as an entire new game. All they have to do is throw in a "new" guitar, and they can sell it for $100. And unfortunately, all the little Jimmies out there who don't realize how crappy Guitar Hero is in comparison to Rock Band are going to put it on their wish lists instantly.

Worst of all though, they don't even have to come up with new content! They've realized that they can simply mix and match songs from the older games and sell them as "greatest hits" titles. I'd bet you a buck that next year, Activision is going to announce "Greatest Hits vol. 2" that has a bunch of tracks they didn't bother using this time around. It's like Activision believes they've stumbled upon a perpetual snowball of wealth, and they're going to keep rehashing it until people stop buying.

Essentially, Activision knows that Guitar Hero makes money, but they didn't learn their lesson from overmilking the Tony Hawk franchise. They are taking the old phrase "make hay while the sun is shining" a bit too close to heart, because they aren't even remotely concerned about what will happen when people get sick of Guitar Hero. If you told them that it's going to happen, they'd laugh at you, but that's because they're a bunch of idiots. It happened with Tony Hawk, and it WILL happen with Guitar Hero. It's only a matter of time.