Considering the prevalence of fake musician games on the market this season, it's safe to say Guitar Hero / Rock Band as a core gamer phenomenon has officially jumped the shark. Now, various vendors are tapping the all-ages market with a slough of less challenging, more engaging music monkey games.

They're available for all modern consoles at prices ranging from $50 (game only) to some $250 (game and gear bundles).

Most of them feature plastic replica guitar, bass and/or drum kits as controllers, or a USB microphone, so a full compliment of rock star wannabes can then watch a scroll of color-coded buttons flow down the screen in sync with hits tunes from yesterday and today.

Players press or strike corresponding buttons and toggles (or simply sing along, which is Karaoke by any other name) to affect musicianship and score points without actually doing anything remotely musical. Fun, huh? Million and millions have bought into this "air guitar of the 21st Century" schtick, and now millions more might be lured into admittedly-fun fray thanks to a batch of all-ages and trans-generational themed rock hero games. To wit:

There's no denying the timeless appeal of the Beatles, and The Beatles Rock Band bundle of Fab Four music and associated paraphernalia goes for broke in the licensing department. It's truly well done, a bona fide interactive homage. Should you happen to master or simply tire of the nearly 40 Beatles songs included on the game disc - which covers but a selection of the mop top's entire library - you can buy yet more songs and entire albums as downloads for $2 a piece, or $14 per album. That is, like all modern Rock Band and Guitar Hero games, you gotta pay to keep on rocking the free world. But no one's complaining...



Of course, for those who'd just as soon play "Count Bassie Hero," there are quite a few options of equally accessible appeal. Namely, Band Hero, which offers a good, 65-song mix of contemporary and classic tunes, drop-in/drop-out playability (or not) and adjustable difficulties so everyone can have a good time all the time.

Meanwhile, Lego Rock Band, like it sounds, is a typical monkey-see, monkey-rock game (so typical it assumes you already own the controllers required) but with Lego versions of the stars, plus the option to build your own plastic rock god or goddess and the stages on which they trip the plastic fantastic, which can get pretty hilarious.

And finally there's Guitar Hero 5, the latest in the more serious series that started the whole craze except it no longer expects you to master one batch of tunes before unlocking the next and, like the lot of them, can be adjusted to endear all players regardless of skill or intoxication levels, whatever the case may be.

Then, quite alone and quite unlike any other music game, DJ Hero comes bundled with a very special controller that imitates a turntable for all your scratching and music morphing needs. Surprisingly, even those with only a passing interest in the DJ music scene will find some actual game in here, something to engage your ear and your color-coded fader prowess at the same time.


Getting back to basics, Disney Sing It! Pop Hits is all about good old fashion karaoke only. But not just any old Karaoke and not just Karaoke catering to a younger audience with the likes of sing-alongs with Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, and The Jonas Brothers. Disney's Sing It! Pop Hits also has to potential to make singers out of 'tween croakers with an expanded, warmly welcome and surpassingly effective vocal coach mode that will guide would-be pop stars through the nuances of pitch control and breathing techniques.