Music games built around a single artist can be a tricky thing to plan for, because while you'll attract fans of that single artist, many others just won't give a toss. Especially, it seems, when that artist is Van Halen.
According to retail analysts The NPD Group, Activision's Guitar Hero: Van Halen has been a bit of a disaster, with only 94,000 copies sold since the game's launch in December. To put that in perspective, here are the sales figures for other Guitar Hero or Rock Band games built around a single band.
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith — 2,741,000
The Beatles: Rock Band — 1,296,000
Guitar Hero: Metallica — 1,001,000
Guitar Hero: Van Halen — 94,000
Ouch. Yes, copies went out free to people picking up Guitar Hero 5, but still. And while The Beatles: Rock Band sold 12x as many copies, when you consider how much it must have cost MTV for the rights - not to mention their advertising spend - it too doesn't look like the smartest of business decisions either.