It seemed risky enough to sell a new game called Guitar Hero with a plastic guitar for $80. But that game's success made it a little safer to push the boundaries further with a whole plastic band when Rock Band went on sale for nearly $200. It helps that there's something universal about pretending to rock out to songs you already know.

But is Activision out of their minds for hawking unproven peripheral-based gameplay for $120? Gamestop lists both DJ Hero (pictured) and Tony Hawk: Ride as $120 games. DJ Hero already had its chance when it was made by Konami as Beatmania. And I can't imagine the kinds of dudes into skateboarding games are interested in a fancy controller gimmick. While I normally leave the predictions to professional analysts and message board posters, I'm going to go out on a limb here: I predict that both of these games are going to crash and burn at retail this winter.