According to Billboard charts, Harmonix/Apple Corps’ The Beatles: Rock Band has trounced Activision’s Guitar Hero 5 in September sales. The Beatles game sold 595,000 copies since its Sept. 9 release, while Guitar Hero 5 bowed out at a still-respectable 499,000 copies since Sept. 1. Thing is, the last Rock Band iteration sold 238,000 in its first month, whereas the most recent Guitar Hero sold 538,000. Why should Rock Band suddenly be supplanting Guitar Hero as the industry’s premier music game?

One reason is oversaturation. By the end of 2009, Activision will have flooded the market with a whopping five different console iterations of the Guitar Hero franchise, and that is saying nothing of the three Guitar Hero: On Tour Nintendo DS incarnations or the Band Hero or DJ Hero titles coming before the end of the year. With a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $60 per disc, Guitar Hero is quickly becoming an expensive franchise to follow, especially when the only discernible difference between a lot of them is the track list. There are only three full-fledged Rock Band games scheduled for release in the same space of time.

Another reason for Rock Band’s superior sales is star power. The Beatles are one of the best-selling musical acts of all time. It stands to reason that a game featuring their music and likenesses would have a similar pull. Many of the people purchasing The Beatles: Rock Band came to the game as fans of the band, not of the Rock Band franchise. While it surely has its moments, including cameos from Kurt Cobain, Johnny Cash, Muse's Matt Bellamy and others, Guitar Hero 5 simply doesn’t boast a track list with that kind of universal appeal.

Time will tell which franchise will take the lead once and for all, but with both camps firmly entrenched in their respective plans for industry dominance, it’s going to be a long war. [Rolling Stone]