EA Gets Into the Music Game

Music-based games are the video game industry's current trend.

Just ask ActivisionATVI, which produced one of the industry's biggest hits with its Guitar Hero franchise that lets users simulate playing an electric guitar. The Guitar Hero series, first released in 2005, has sold more than 2.5 million copies.

Surprisingly, video game leader Electronic ArtsERTS seemed content to let rival Activision take the lead. But it's now developing a title that could rival the Guitar Herocraze.

Along with Harmonix, the developer of the Guitar Hero franchise and Viacom'sVIA MTV unit, EA has unveiled Rock Band, a game where users have their own virtual band and perform music using drum, bass/lead guitar and microphone.

Rock Band is expected to be released for Sony'sSNE PlayStation 3 and Microsoft'sMSFT Xbox 360 console during the holiday season.

EA has deals with almost all the major record labels and music publishers including EMI Music, Hollywood Records, Sony BMG, and Universal Musicto make master recordings by their artists available for use in the game.

As with Guitar Hero, Harmonix will brand and sell the peripherals for the Rock Band game.

Racing, sports or shooter games, the video game industry's staple genres aren't going away, but as the industry looks to expand its user base, it's turning towards titles that meld music and games together. In February, EA acquired SingShot Media, an online karaoke community in a bid to step into this territory.