Rock Band startled Guitar Hero last year when it gave players the opportunity to sing and play drums, not simply “strum” a guitar.

Guitar Hero gains back some ground this fall with World Tour, which gives players the power of music composition and recording. Rock Band 2, though, will provide a library of more than 500 songs by the end of the year.

In the latest edition of the Georgia Straight, my “Trigger Happy” column looks at the two games as well as some of the other music titles coming out this fall.

Music games are a big deal. In the past three years, the genre has become one of the best-selling categories for the video-game industry. Kai Huang, president and cofounder of Guitar Hero publisher RedOctane, which is a division of Activision Blizzard, told the Georgia Straight in a phone interview that the genre’s sales totalled US$250 million in 2006, and he expects them to top US$2 billion this year.