Rock Band 3 will have legs.  It is an awesome game. 

Harmonix have perfected the genre and added a synthesizer and realistic guitar.  Between the two it was worth the release.  And you get 90 new songs. 

If you like rythm games this is a must buy.

We'll see what happens although this may well be the end of guitar rhythm games as a mainstream genre.

The telling sign may be just how quickly the game is discounted and by how much.

Regardless, I think there will be more games, but sales projections will simply be lower and I'm assuming revenue will  depend upon the sales of peripherals, which along with DLC tracks, are probably the biggest profit makers for Rock Band and Guitar Hero.

The oddest thing about the music rhythm genre in general has been the continual trend towards making the controllers "more life-like" to the point where they now have controllers that are actual electric guitars with built in gamepads.

The only problem with the above development is that the price of said controllers have ballooned to the point where they now cost the same as low grade versions of the musical instruments they simulate.

The Squire guitar controller is about $100 more than the street price of a regular Squire Stratocaster. The keyboard controller costs about the same as a cheap USB equipped MIDI 25 key keyboard. Premium drum controllers cost a little less than a middling set of electronic drum pads.

It seems like the only natural progression would be to allow players who have evolved into musicians to use their own instruments (any electric guitar/bass, USB keyboard, drum set, etc.) in Pro Mode, but that would cut into sales of controllers, which remain a big piece of the business model.

I really understand why their supply line management is so terrible. They've had plenty of time to get the manufacturing going and they still blow it yet again. There is really no excuse this time.

Maybe they had no idea how much to ship and so kept it safe;.

Maybe the demand is high in some countries (NA) and didn't expected it.

I guess their are big group of people who really want the new instruments.

Except there are numerous huge improvements in RB3 compared to RB2 that totally make it a worthwhile upgrade.

Rockband 2 (and now 3) is the only game I play every single day.  Fantastic series.

Guitar Hero I wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole.

Keyboards including pro charts that teach you how to actually play the song

Pro guitar with an all new tablature and training system that can teach you to actually play the songs on guitar.

Pro drums

Hamonies

These are minor additions?

You know how much I've paid in the past for guitar/bass/drum tab books so I could learn how to play songs?  And now for 3 bucks I can get a song with the full charts for all 4 instruments AND a method of slowing down the song and practicing sections so I can master the real song on a real instruments while I'm being given direct feedback on what I'm playing correctly and what I'm not.

These are NOT minor additions.

TBH, you'd be better off spending money on a good teacher. Sure you might learn how to play the sequence of notes, but you might pick up bad habits that will be hard to unlearn.

Not that I'm against using such a system for practice. But I wouldn't recommend it as the primary instructional source. I have doubt about how well the guitar will track as those midi converters aren't that reliable.

I already know how to play, I've been playing various instruments for over 30 years.  What I'm talking about is learning to play specific songs.  I really wish RB was around though when I was first learning to play. 

Drums was my weakest instrument but using Rock Band I've improved my skills considerably.  I play on a real e-drum kit though, I don't use the RB instruments, although even those are great for learning limb independence and sticking patterns.

My point though is those people saying they just release the game over and over again aren't really paying attention at all.

GH is the entire issue. If Activision didnt flood the market with their trash good games of the genre would sell.

You think Rock Band 3 flopped, then just wait until Power Gig: Rise of the Sixstring comes out. Power Gig was created for the music industry and is going to completely, effing tank because no one besides life long guitar players will be able to play the tracks.

For God's sake, Power Gig has Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Couldn't Stand the Weather" as a track. Just imagine how your Guitar Hero player who blasted through "Texas Flood" on expert will react to having to bend actual strings on an actual guitar. He/she will effing hate it and may not get through a quarter of the game before selling it back to GameStop.

Furthermore, here is a preview criticizing Power Gig, mainly for not teaching you how to play before forcing Eric Clapton's "Layla" upon you:

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/reviews/2010/11/power-gig-comes-with-real-guitar-horrid-gameplay.ars