RedOctane's Founder Talks Guitar Hero Future News

Music titles such as Guitar Hero and Rock Band have had their fair share of bad press recently, amidst suggestions that the genre's appeal has waned and sales are slipping.

However RedOctane's Kai Huang believes there's plenty more scope for Guitar Hero to continue growing, particular with the introduction of new technologies such as Project Natal, different genres such as Latin and Classical music, and the potential of an online music store service.

"We're really just at the beginning of music games," Kai Huang told The Seattle Times.  "There are just so many different genres of music and instruments that haven't been tapped into yet."

Following the fallout from Kurt Cobain's ill-fated appearance in Guitar Hero 5, Huang revealed that the lawsuit issued by Cobain's widower Courtney Love is currently ongoing and prevents him from talking about the situation.  "As long as we can continue to work with artists ... and put them into the game," Huang however claimed, "that's what we'd love to do."

Despite a perceived slowdown in sales, Huang mentioned Guitar Hero 6 and talked about the opportunities that the likes of Project Natal will bring.

"Track your movements and maybe have your characters on the screen do certain things you're doing," Huang revealed.  "Or personalize it more so it can look more like you on stage rather than just be an avatar."

Another potential area for expansion rests with the idea of an online music store, which would allow Guitar Hero players to download songs from a vast back catalogue of artists.  However, the idea is thwarted by the constant licensing issues that currently prevent such a concept and the ability for plastic guitar wielding gamers to import their own tracks.

"That's definitely one of the things we would love to do," Huang claimed when talking about an online store.  "There are a lot of issues around music licensing. Consumers want it; I know I want it. We're trying to make that happen."