Guitar Hero: An Innovative and Creative Product

A product that I would consider very innovative and creative is the Guitar Hero line of video games. These games practically created a whole new genre in the video game market, the rhythm-based music game, which obviously requires a great deal of innovation and creativity to be successful. This is particularly apparent when looking at the controllers the Guitar Hero team came up. Rather than using a traditional video game controller, which would not have allowed for a very immersive or intuitive experience for the customer, they developed controllers that replicated the actual instruments the consumer would be playing (initially just the guitar, followed by a drum set and microphone in later games in the series). Without such creativity and innovation in developing these unique controllers, there is almost no doubt that the Guitar Hero games would not have become as popular as they are today. The realistic feel these instrument controllers gave to the game added immensely to the customer’s experience, turning even non-musicians into rock stars. The specialty controller was an innovation that very few video game developers had tried before, due to the added cost the consumer would have to endure as a result, but it proved to be very successful for Guitar Hero because of the unique experience it provided.
But the Guitar Hero team did not stop there; they flexed their creative muscles in a number of other areas as well. One factor that I think really helped open the game up to a wider audience was by emphasizing simplicity. There is a good reason that not everybody plays the guitar; it’s not easy to jump from string to string or fret to fret up and down the neck of the guitar. The Guitar Hero team realized this, and managed to find the right balance between authenticity and simplicity by arranging just five buttons to simulate the different string and frets at the top of a real guitar. This intuitive and innovative approach allows users of all skill levels to pick up the game and play. The team further enhanced the customer’s experience by creating a more immersive piece of software. When you play the game and hit your notes correctly, the song you are playing sounds great. However, when you miss a note, the game provides feedback by playing an incorrect note or no sound at all. This simple but innovative idea really helps the player feel like they are making the music they are hearing, both the notes that are good and those that are not so good.
Another innovative idea Guitar Hero uses is downloadable content. Each week, they release new songs that players can download for a small fee. It is here that I feel the Guitar Hero team can really utilize the information presented in “The New, Faster Face of Innovation”. Knowing more about their customers will help them decide which songs to make available for download, and what prices they should charge for these songs. For instance, by looking at my downloading history, the Guitar Hero team would be able to see that I’m a big fan of classic rock and a few other select artists. They could use this data in a number of ways, such as making recommendations for songs I might like or by offering me discounts on songs I’m more likely to buy, or perhaps those that’s I’m not likely to buy to incentivize me. I’m a big fan of a lot of the content Guitar Hero has put out, and there are a number of additional songs that I would purchase if the price was right, so I have to assume that using these innovative data collection techniques would result in higher profits for the company. They could also conduct experiments by offering certain genres of songs at particular price points and seeing how the market reacts. This way they could gain more knowledge about their user base and focus on producing content that is tailored to these customers’ preferences.
The rhythm-based music genre the Guitar Hero team helped create has attracted strong competitors because of its popularity, so they must constantly look for new ways to innovate, foster creativity, and learn more about their customers if they wish to remain dominant in this rapidly evolving market.