This is almost old news, but as you probably know, Activison (or should I say Activision Blizzard) has released a statement confirming the development of Guitar Hero IV and Call of Duty 5.

Now, I'm not the type to complain about video games (unless it's REALLY bad), but the industry is turning into overkill. Seriously, do we really need Guitar Hero IV? Can't the industry move on to different IP's?

OK, before you spam up the comments list below, I know that it's not the whole industry that is making ten of the same game, and I also know that the publishers just want more money. But if you are going to make an upwards of 4+ games (I consider 3 games in a series to be fine, as that's a good amount of story, game play, and tolerance level for a few years), at least add something new to the game play. Case in point: while Guitar Hero 3 is a great game, did we really need it? What new concepts did it introduce? All it did was update the graphics and add new songs. Couldn't we just have added the new songs? Neversoft didn't have to make an entirely new game to have the same concept behind it. They could have just released all of the new songs in a pack for $20 or $30. Harmonix was really smart, and added the whole band experience in Rock Band onto what they had already built in Guitar Hero. I wouldn't complain as much if more games actually did change something major in between games.

Going back to Call of Duty, it all depends on how they approach it. If they add some awesome multiplayer (like CoD 4's) and have some really cool features, then I won't ramble on about it. But if it seems as if they just made some maps and stuck them into the same engine with better graphics (Call of Duty 3), then yes, I will bitch and moan about it. Who wouldn't?

What I would like to see the industry do is to have an unwritten limit for the number of sequels you can create in a particular series. Look at the Final Fantasy games. They are on game 14. 14! They are good games, but don't you think that Square Einx should put it down and put all of their efforts into their new projects?

I think of an excellent example of keeping a game alive without dragging it out, but at the same time adding something new each game (Episode) is the Half-Life series. It adds at least one new thing each game, and every time it is fun.

One example of a series that has been pulled out over the 4 limit is the Elder Scrolls series. But those don't really feel like sequels, or even the same game. They are so different, that it's a completely new experience each time.

I argue that releasing episodes or changing gameplay, or even releasing song packs would be a win-win situation for all. Publishers and Developers could still make money from the packs/episodes, and the gamers wouldn't have to pay as much all at once.

Well, that's enough rambling for tonight; I have to wake up at 6:00 tomorrow for school and it's already 11… *sigh*