Tap Tap Revenge Goes Platinum, Music Labels Smell Money…
Tap Tap Revolution was arguably one of the best reasons to unlock an iPhone, turning your music collection into a touch-based rhythm action game, and was a surprisingly polished bit of fun.
The game was then bought by developer Tapulous, rejigged for the App Store as Tap Tap Revenge, and has gone on to be downloaded by one million iPhone and iPod Touch owners. This is the second App to go platinum, the first being the insanely popular Facebook application. It was free, but it is still an impressive feat to stand out among the calculators and flashlights that clog up the store at present.
The stringent rules Apple has imposed with Apps mean they are unable to fraternize with the music library. This means one’s collection cannot be incorporated, preventing unlimited replay potential and arguably the best feature of Revolution. The clever workaround in Revenge’s case is to offer free downloads of new tracks from unsigned bands, allowing new songs to be dropped directly into the game rather than into the iPod. Those new songs have been downloaded 2.5 million times so far, meaning the game is certainly very popular!
Music labels are always happy to find new revenue streams these days, and the success of Rock Band and Guitar Hero are the reason that Tap Tap Revenge is looking pretty attractive at the moment. Word is that a downloadable content pack of both famous and fringe artists is being compiled, in an effort to capitalise on the game’s success. It will cost money, naturally.
Sounds good, but if it goes the way of the console music games, we will be lost under a sea of obsure tracks from all sorts of ‘musicians’ trying to make a quick buck. It wasn’t too long ago that artists and labels were attempting to take Harmonix to court over Guitar Hero, but when they saw the big money that stood to be made, industry bigwigs became far more accommodating.
Granted the original creator has already sold up, but let’s hope Tap Tap Revenge doesn’t sell out. Something tells us the Trojan Horse tactic of giving the game away is going to pay off…
Source: TechCrunch
Tags: app store, Apple, iPhone, revenge, revolution, tap tap