More big music stars are making it onto Apple's (AAPL) iPhone app store today via two new editions of "Tap Tap Revenge," the Guitar Hero-for-the-iPhone game by Palo Alto, Calif.-based Tapulous.
- "Christmas With Weezer" includes six Weezer Christmas songs recorded exclusively for the game, and two hits off their latest album.
- "Tap Tap Dance" includes ten songs from artists including Moby, Daft Punk, and The Chemical Brothers. It's built from scratch and features more advanced, artist-custom graphics than the free version of "Tap Tap Revenge."
Both new games cost $4.99. Apple gets 30%, or about $1.50. Tapulous shares the remaining $3.50 with the bands, labels, publishers, etc.
We haven't had a chance to play the new games yet, but this is cool. "Tap Tap Revenge" is not going to save the music industry by itself, but it's exactly the kind of way to get people to pay for music these days. ("Guitar Hero" and "Rock Band" are huge hits -- for the game publishers and the music business -- on TV-based game consoles.)
The new games are a follow-up to a premium Nine Inch Nails edition of "Tap Tap Revenge" unveiled earlier this fall, and the free version of "Tap Tap Revenge," which is the most-downloaded iPhone game to date, with more than 3 million players. Tapulous CEO Bart Decrem tells us that some 500,000 people play "Tap Tap Revenge" each week, and that at peak times, thousands of players simultaneously play their new live multi-player mode.
Tapulous is aiming to break even next year on about $1 million of revenue, through sales of these premium games and ad revenue from the free edition of "Tap Tap Revenge." So far, Tapulous is angel funded, but Decrem is in the process of closing additional funding.
See Also:
Online, Multi-Player Gaming Comes To The iPhone
Rock Band Creator Eyeing iPhone Music Game, Says Tapulous Not A Threat
iPhone Game 'Tap Tap Revenge': Popular With Humans, Birds
