Retailers Sick And Tired Of Plastic Instruments

First it was microphones. Then guitars. Then guitars and drums. Now it seems half the showroom floor of a games store - not to mention your living room - is devoted to piles of the plastic instruments required for today's music games. Which doesn't leave you, or you mother (who has to clean up after you) happy. Same goes for retailers. Speaking with MTV, XS Games have said that, when originally pitching their game Popstar Guitar to retailers, it was intended to come bundled with a guitar controller. But retailers - Wal-Mart in particular - were having none of it, complaining of "the problem of every single publisher coming out with a new, big controller." So X Games released their abridged peripheral instead. Of course, it could just be a sign that retailers are sick of seeing crummy games with large peripherals, but as self-serving retailers, they've got a point; you could fit a dozen copies of Madden in the same spot you put one Rock Band bundle. Lack Of Space In Stores Threatening Proliferation Of Instrument-Shaped Controllers [MTV]