NEW YORK (AP):

The late-summer burst of Guitar Hero 5, a video game featuring music from the Rolling Stones, Nirvana and other popular bands, shows that the game industry is intent on luring both old and young players.

In addition to Guitar Hero 5, Activision is also launching DJ Hero and Band Hero, each targeted at distinct gaming audiences.

Music games invite you to play and sing along to real tunes, offering on-screen cues about when to finger guitar-like plastic controllers or hit touch-sensitive drums. When the game is played well, the songs sound pretty good.

Following the success of Guitar Hero, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick said the company realised there were still dissatisfied audiences - fans of hip hop, dance music and more family-friendly tunes. He expects good demand for the Beatles game, but, he added, "It's a single category, it's a certain type of music."

Luring younger gamers

With the latest Guitar Hero, Activision is appealing to fans of Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and John Mellencamp. With Band Hero, it aims to lure younger gamers who are fans of acts like Taylor Swift and Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine. With DJ Hero, Activision seeks listeners of 50 Cent, LL Cool J and the Gorillaz.

"They are doing a smart job of really addressing every user base out there," said Signal Hill analyst Todd Greenwald. As for the Beatles game, "It's a big risk," he said. "It could be huge, it could be very disappointing."

Henrique Santos, a 22-year-old student from Brazil, tried a demo of the Beatles game at GameStop on Monday and said it was challenging but probably will be a hit.

"They're definitely not my favourite band," he said after banging away for a few minutes on an electronic drum set that's part of the game. "But for a game, the Beatles are the best party band, because everybody likes them."

The crossover effect of music video games is evident in youths such as Marquez Alexander, 14, who bought two sports games Monday at a GameStop store near San Francisco's Union Square. He said he plans to pester his mother to buy him the new Beatles game - even though he barely knows the band.

"You just get into it - it feels like you're in a real band. It's like you're really on stage," he said.

"I never heard of them (the Beatles) until I was like seven. It's just another game, another challenge," he said.

Video game industry analysts are cautiously optimistic that 2009 will end on a higher note than it began, not just because of the music games but blockbusters like Nintendo's upcoming remake of the classic Super Mario Bros for the Wii and Activision Blizzard Inc's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

It doesn't hurt that two of the three console makers - Microsoft Corp and Sony Corp - announced hefty price cuts in recent days.

The high-end Xbox 360, the Elite, was cut by US$100 to US$299 and the price of the PlayStation 3 has been rolled back by US$100.