I’ve been thinking about this whole Guitar Praise thing too much!

So it looks like Tycho of Penny Arcade agrees with my thoughts on Christian Rock DLC for Rock Band/Guitar Hero: World Tour. And I don’t even talk to the guy!

But seriously, I think it would be a really good idea. Guitar Praise is going to have a few hurdles to jump for it to do well. Mostly the first is going to be by it’s very nature it’s a tad excludatory. Some people are going to dismiss it outright simply because it’s “Christian Rock.” Some people are going to think about getting it and decide not to because they feel that it wouldn’t be “cool.” Others may buy it then ignore Rock Band/Guitar Hero: WT instead. But as downloadable content for existing music games, it would be inclusive. You can have your cake and eat it too. It could also be a boon for those that only like certain bands, because you could buy what songs you’d like  à la carte.

It would also help jump another hurdle, in that usual range of quality of “Christian” video games tends not to be very good.  Mostly I think this is because the companies thtat make these games just don’t have the budget to really make these games the way they should be. And there is a chance that Guitar Praise could suffer the same fate. But as DLC Harmonix and Neversoft would be the ones making the note charts and whatnot, ensuring that the songs you buy will play well.

Now will this ever happen? I think it’s possible. Harmonix certainly seems to want to push the envelope on DLC as far as they can go, and turn the Rock Band platform into the playable equivalent of iTunes. As they keep constantly adding in more and more music, I’d imagine Christian music would have to eventually follow suit. When that might happen though, I couldn’t say. Maybe the simple existance of Guitar Praise could spurn them to include it sooner than later? You never know.

Man, I should probably get some sleep.

(Image: Penny Arace)