Activision blocks GHIII guitar compatibility with Rock Band, looks like douchebag
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Harmonix was all set to release a patch for Rock Band for the Playstation 3 that would have made Guitar Hero controllers compatible, but at the last minute Activision blocked Sony from releasing the patch, according to a statement from Harmonix on Joystiq.
The patch, which would have been released on Dec. 4, was approved by Sony and was all set to be released before Activisions’ guitarblock. In Harmonix’s statement, they said releasing the patch would be what’s best for the consumer, and if any other companies want to make their products compatible with Rock Band equipment they would have the full support of Harmonix and MTV.
The full statement to Joystiq:
“As we have said in the past, Harmonix and MTV Games believe in an open standard philosophy of hardware and game compatibility. We think that there should be interoperability between music instrument controllers across all music games. This is clearly in the best interest of consumers, game developers and console manufacturers and will only help to grow the music game genre as well as inspire innovation and creativity.
Two weeks ago, Harmonix created a software patch for the Sony PLAYSTATION 3 version of Rock Band that allowed for guitar compatibility and support for third party peripherals, including enabling use of Activision’s Guitar Hero III controller with Rock Band. The compatibility patch was submitted, approved and had been scheduled for release by Sony on Tuesday, December 4. Unfortunately, Activision objected to the release of the compatibility patch. The patch remains with Sony, but we have been told that it will unfortunately not be released due to Activision’s continued objection.
As is the case with the Microsoft Xbox360, we believe that Sony PLAYSTATION 3 users should be able to use the peripheral of their choice with Rock Band. We sincerely hope that Activision will reverse its decision and allow release of the compatibility patch and further, that Activision will allow Guitar Hero III to support Rock Band guitar controllers as well. We welcome all third party developers who wish to support our controllers and will provide any required support in order for them to do so.
We believe that when consumers have choice, everyone wins. Harmonix and MTV Games hope that Activision and others in the industry will also adopt this philosophy.”
Seriously, way to look like a money grubbing douchebag Activision. There’s no way to come out of this looking good except to allow the patch to be released. Of course, it would make Activision look even better if they took Harmonix’s suggestion and allowed the use of the Rock Band guitar with Guitar Hero. I can’t see how this wouldn’t be more profitable for them. I haven’t heard of anyone who prefers the Rock Band guitar to the Guitar Hero one, so they could probably sell more of their peripheral.
Also, I must praise Harmonix for their apparent interest in what’s best for the consumers. I suppose this just goes to show the different aims of developers and publishers.
Tags: activision, GH, guitar hero, harmonix, playstation-3, ps3, RB, rock-band, sony
