61 Frames Per Second : harmonix

Lego... Rock Band?

Bob Mackey — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 16:00:00 GMT

April Fools' Day was nearly a week ago, so we've all had quite a few days to let our guards down and start accepting everything at face value again. I was lucky enough to not fall for some elaborately-crafted hoax this year, which is why it's hard for me to take a recent 1UP news story without the requisite grain of salt. But, given the calendar date, it seems that Lego Rock Band, a new installment in Harmonix's smash-hit music series, may actually be in the works.

The only evidence we have at this point is an older version of Harmonix's GDC presentation slides accidentally posted to the Internet, which seemingly confirm the game's existence. According to 1UP,

[T]his slide was among a batch that was sent for "speech approval" by Harmonix senior designer Dan Teasdale for his GDC presentation, "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap: Design Lessons Learned From Rock Band," but never shown. According to [Harmonix senior designer Dan] Teasdale's blog, they resurfaced when Think Services posted the earlier versions by mistake.

They seem to confirm the existence of Lego Rock Band, which was apparently set to be unveiled last Friday at GDC, but never materialized. If it's indeed real, it will evidently be arriving later this year between Rock Band: Unplugged and The Beatles Rock Band.

So, what exactly does Lego have to do with Rock Band? To be fair, the interlocking blocks are just as relevant to Star Wars and Indiana Jones. As ridiculous as the pairing of Lego and Rock Band may initially seem, this is a great chance for Harmonix to bring out a kid-branded version of their hit game for the younger set. While the songs available on Rock Band don't get much saltier than your average afternoon FM broadcast, I'm sure there are lots of parents out there who'd rather have their kids playing along with songs that are a little less suggestive. And for the rest of us, this means Harmonix can dump a whole lot of tween-friendly music onto a disc, thereby freeing us from having something like The Naked Brothers Band take up valuable space in Harmonix's weekly releases. Everybody wins.

As of now, Lego Rock Band has not been confirmed by Harmonix, but some kind of announcement seems very likely to happen soon.

Related Links:

Pools of Sorrow, Waves of Joy--The Beatles: Rock Band Priced and Dated
Rock Band: My Anti-Music
Whatcha Playing: A Little Singin’, a Little Dancin’

Pools of Sorrow, Waves of Joy--The Beatles: Rock Band Priced and Dated

Joe Keiser — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 19:00:00 GMT

MTV Games and Harmonix have dropped a handful of details on The Beatles: Rock Band, which is the official name of that Beatles game that was announced last October. Key among those details was the fact that it would be called The Beatles: Rock Band. That certainly doesn’t sound like the “new, full-grown, custom game built from the ground up” that was mentioned back then, but I’ve spent the months since that announcement dreaming of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club RTS so it’s possible that my disappointment is not exactly, um, sane.

I’ll get my other crazy compliant out of the way now, too: the release is scheduled for 09/09/09, which is cute and all but totally conflicts with the Decade of Dreamcast blowout party I have been planning in my mind since, oh, January 1st 2009. But maybe that is just the ship date and everything will be fine!

Yeah, I’m actually pretty happy about this. All I really wanted was a Beatles Rock Band track pack (I was actually disappointed when there was a chance this wouldn’t be just that) so the fact that this is at least that is great news. If they throw in some Yellow Submarine-style animation in the background, well, who could complain, but it strikes me that there’s still going to be more to The Beatles: Rock Band than was announced today.

For the record, here’s the rest of what was announced today:

It will be compatible with all Rock Band instruments certainly, and more than likely all Rock Band-compatible instruments as well
It will be $60 on PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii—that’s pricey, for Wii
If you really need new instrument controllers, you’ll be able to get them, and they’ll be modeled after real instruments used by The Fab Four. But be prepared to pay out the nose for them: standalone guitars will cost $100. That's really pricey, for everyone, but at least they're not necessary.
There’s a premium bundle too, which will go for $250. It hasn’t been specified what that will get you.

Click here for the horse’s mouth.

Related Links:

Now That Harmonix Has The Beatles, What Should a Fab Four Game Even Be?
The Magical Mystery Tour is Coming to Take You Away
Rock Band Takes a Step in the Right Direction

Mother 3's Soundtrack Disassembled

Nadia Oxford — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 04:28:00 GMT

The Game Boy Advance never had much of a problem matching up to the SNES graphically. As for audio, well, that was another matter. GBA remakes of SNES classics like Final Fantasy IV and especially Final Fantasy VI tried really hard to ship the games' epic soundtracks. The end result got an A for Effort, but it was like listening to a favourite singer belt out a classic song with a wad of cotton stuffed in each cheek. Something about the whole affair felt off.

I can recall only two instances where I was genuinely impressed by the soundtrack in a GBA game: Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow and Mother 3. You wouldn't accept a flimsy soundtrack from a Castlevania game (least of all one that has the stones to feature a subtitle with “Aria” in it), but Mother 3's soundtrack is an integral part of the title's gameplay because the player performs “combos” by tapping the attack button in tune to the game's battle themes. These combos make all the difference between an easy battle and a difficult one, not to mention the difference between taking an active part in the fight or sitting on the sidelines, dejected and bored, possibly with rainwater streaming down your face.

Mother 3 has a pretty huge roster of battle themes, but it's no sweat. Once you memorise the rhythm for a song, you have it in a lock for the rest of the game, right? Sixteen-hit combo city!

”WRONG!”

Harmonix employee Dan Bruno recently analysed Mother 3's soundtrack down to the last note—no, really, he has sheet music written out—and lays out the staggering amount of work that went into Mother 3's battle tunes.

Most games would be satisfied to let the player figure out how things work early in the adventure, then drift into a button-clicking hypnosis as the body count mounted. Mother 3 won't allow you the luxury. As battle themes become more familiar, they're liable to skip beats or change their pace, forcing you to pay attention and re-align your strategy accordingly.

The formulation and execution of said strategies is one of the things that makes Mother 3 a unique experience. If an enemy is accompanied by Fate or Accelerondo as battle music, I have the fight in the bag because I have little trouble keeping time to either piece. That's not the case for everyone, though. The pacing of Accelerondo is surely some other player's idea of hell.

I'm not exactly a musical prodigy myself. Bothersome Guys is considered one of the easier pieces to keep up with, but I just can't feel it. Thanks to Bruno, I now know I'm supposed to follow along to the high hat.

Pretty detailed work for such an underpowered sound system.

Related Links:

The Reason Why Mother 3 Never Came To America
Mother 3 Makes Me Feel Human Again
OST: Mother

Rock Band Takes a Step in the Right Direction

Bob Mackey — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 19:00:00 GMT

The title of this post may be a bit misleading; after all, Rock Band has consistently improved on the music game genre since its inception. But it looks like the series is going to continue with its tradition of excellence by washing its hands (temporarily, anyway) of the assumed-to-be-mandatory yearly installment. According to a Crispy Gamer CES report, Harmonix co-founder and CEO Alex Rigopolous said just as much during a keynote interview:

“We’ve actually made a choice to break out of the annual release cycle for Rock Band this year,” Rigopolous told the assembled press and industry members. “[This is] partly because the annual cycle places limits on the choices you can make as a developer. We’re trying to take a long term view.”

Of course, Alex Rigopolous shouldn't exactly be made the patron saint of music gaming; after all, Harmonix is hard at work on their upcoming beatles game, which may include a bevy of new plastic instruments to take up space in your home. But in the meantime, I'm happy to hear that Harmonix themselves have admitted to the uselessness of a Rock Band sequel at this point in time. You could make an argument that Rock Band 2 was somewhat necessary, what with the original Rock Band's instruments being far from perfect, but I'm not really sure what a third Rock Band game would add that couldn't be applied through patches or downloadable content.

I guess it's just nice to see Harmonix treating their own game as the platform that it was always meant to be. They might have changed their tune had the economy not assumed its current state of being in the toilet, but for the time being we can spend that extra two hundred dollars a year on food, shelter, and weapons for the inevitable breaking out of class warfare.

Related Links:

Everyone Will be Able to Rock
My Top 10 of 2008 in No Particular Order: Rock Band 2
Surprise! Nickelback Misunderstands Guitar Hero

The Band Joins the Plumber: Nintendo’s Strategy Finally Bears Its Sweetest Fruit

John Constantine — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 23:30:00 GMT

It’s pretty amazing how effective Satoru Iwata’s business plan for Nintendo has been since he took over as company president earlier this decade. I’m not even talking about the company’s focus on videogames for broader, specifically family, audiences. No, it’s how Nintendo has, under Iwata’s direction, created a line of games that don’t need annual sequels or iterations to be successful. Just one, quality, iconic game, that continues to sell to alongside your hardware. There won’t be another Wii Smash Bros. because Brawl is never going to stop selling and chances are there won’t be a New Super Mario Bros. 2, because the first one continues to do gangbusters at retail. It may not always make me the happiest person in the world — like everyone else who plays way too many games, I’m always hungry for the next new thing and, yes, the next sequel — but I have to admire it, and celebrate its positive effect on the business of videogames broadly.

I see Nintendo’s influence in Alex Rigupulos’s comments at this year’s CES conference. The Harmonix CEO let slip that there wouldn’t be yet another iteration of Rock Band in 2009. This is great news, for Rock Band fans and videogames broadly. It means that, now that Harmonix’s best instruments and basic software is out there, there’s no need to continue flooding the market with the latest version. Once the existing stock of Rock Band 1 is depleted, Rock Band 2 is going to steadily sell and downloadable content, boosted by disc song collections, will keep the game fresh going forward. Like Nintendo, EA and Harmonix has recognized that their game will keep making them plenty of money.

I love sequels and recognize how videogame creation is inherently an iterative process, but annual, even biannual, franchise installments are counterproductive. If more game publishers follow Nintendo’s lead, this will lead to one very important thing: more shelf-space at retail for original games. Given, in fifteen years time, there won’t be physical retail space, but still.

Related links:

My Top 10 of 2008 in No Particular Order: Rock Band 2
Rock Band: My Anti-Music
I’ve Got a Driver, And That’s A Start: Now That Harmonix Has The Beatles, What Should a Fab Four Game Even Be?

My Top 10 of 2008 in No Particular Order: Rock Band 2

Bob Mackey — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:00:00 GMT

It's the end of another year, and that can only mean one thing: it's list season. Inevitably, you're going to see top ten lists by the thousands; and, as an official member of the enthusiast press, I'm afraid I can't violate my directive. But, to make things a little more interesting, I've decided to assemble my 10 favorite games of this year in non-hierarchical form because--let's face facts--it's hard to pick a favorite. And unlike other top 10 lists, this one will be doled out to you in piecemeal for only one more excruciating day! Please enjoy.

I used to refer to games like Guitar Hero as the video game equivalent of going on a car ride with your dad. And for the most part, this was true; when your most hated of music genres is overplayed classic rock, the proposition of picking up a plastic axe and thrashing away to the soundtrack of the worst radio stations on earth was not exactly an enticing one. So, being the curmudgeon that I was (and am), I ignored the modern music game based on my prejudices alone--and the fact that I never wanted to hear Lynard Skynard or Journey again for the rest of my life. Little did I know that the fine folks at Harmonix were hard at work on a music game that could appeal to people beyond the demographic of classic rock jockeys. But after doing some research of my own, and getting astoundingly drunk, I was finally able to realize the wonders of Rock Band 2. And now I can never go back.

Yes, the selection in Rock Band 2 isn't perfect; I would personally kill for some Violent Femmes tracks, or perhaps an entire album--but I'm sure we all have our Rock Band Wish lists. Still, nearly everyone I've invited back to my tiny apartment has found at least a handful of songs they were gung-ho about either singing of playing, which is far from what I experienced with the Guitar Heroes of old. It really is the ultimate party game, and I'd rather slap my grandma (sorry, grandma) than try to entertain a room full of hip 20-somethings with any of the casual party offerings on the Wii. You know how fast a good, old-fashioned broken bottle fight would break out if I tried to get people to play a session of Mario Party? If we ever finished, they would surely kill me afterwards.

Related Links

My Top 10 of 2008 in No Particular Order: Audiosurf
My Top 10 of 2008 in No Particular Order: Braid
My Top 10 of 2008 in No Particular Order: Grand Theft Auto IV
My Top 10 of 2008 in No Particular Order: Fable 2
My Top 10 of 2008 in No Particular Order: Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney
My Top 10 of 2008 in No Particular Order: Persona 3: FES
My Top 10 of 2008 in No Particular Order: Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2
My Top 10 of 2008 in No Particular Order: Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen

Music Game Shark Jumpin’: Activision Possibly Too Legit to Quit, Working with MC Hammer

John Constantine — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 23:00:00 GMT

There’s been some talk around the gaming campfire about the possible decline of the Guitar Hero/Rock Band-styled music game. The reasons are pretty much what you’d expect: severe market saturation thanks to Guitar Hero having three very successful years across multiple consoles and games, consumer confusion over available product (what do you mean I can’t use this guitar with Rock Band on Wii?), and just could ol’ fashion fad passing. Of course, November’s NPD report showed that people aren’t quite sick of music games. They just aren’t buying them all on one system any longer. Whether or not music games are still profitable is besides the point though! What really matters is whether or not they’re still entertaining, still fresh, and whether or not there are still opportunities to add-on to the house built by Harmonix. What more can they do? Build a mic as versatile as the one included with Microsoft’s Lips? Create a procedural song generator so any song in existence can be used with the games? Stagnation is the enemy here for sure. Here’s a thought: how about trying to make a decent hip-hop game? It’s been attempted, but never successfully. Maybe that’s the next band game evolution!

But not like this, Activision. Not like this.

It’s only a rumor right now, but if the man himself is telling the truth through his Twitter, it sounds like MC Hammer is working on a project with Activision. The man who popularized Skids for one hazy summer back in 1991 said (Twitted?), “"I got one day to recover, then it's LA to Activision to get a glance of a top secrete project." And then later, "Activision was fantastic ... action!" Secrete action with Activision, eh Hammer? I am horrified.

Look, Guitar Hero the 80s was stupid enough, Activision. Don’t let Hammer back into out lives. He explicitly said we could not touch this and after almost twenty years, I’m inclined to take his advice.

If it does happen, I say Harmonix turns around and makes a Wu-Tang Rock Band. Have an unlockable mode that’s a sequel to Shaolin Style!

Hmmm. Proper.

(Link: The Escapist via Joystiq)

Related links:

Everyone Will be Able to Rock
"Games are about Wanking", Says Limey DJ
Surprise! Nickelback Misunderstands Guitar Hero
Rock Band: My Anti-Music
GWI: Gaming While Intoxicated

I’ve Got a Driver, And That’s A Start: Now That Harmonix Has The Beatles, What Should a Fab Four Game Even Be?

John Constantine — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 20:00:00 GMT

I said it way back in June, and I’m happy to say it again today: FINALLY! Today’s co-hosted conference call from MTV and Apple Corps announcing that Harmonix will be developing a game devoted solely to Geroge, John, Paul, and Ringo is, not to be too cutesy or anything, music to my ears. There are really only two pieces of concrete news. First, Giles Martin, son of fifth-Beatle/production-pioneer George Martin and producer of the best Beatles mix tape ever made, Love, will be on music production for the still unnamed game. Shame George himself wasn’t confirmed (or Paul and Ringo for that matter), but Giles has already proven his mettle. The second, and more interesting for videogame-land, is that the game will not bear the Rock Band name, leaving the game to become its own unique artifact covering the group’s entire career. But this begs the question: what will The Beatles game be?

If The Beatles: The Game turns out to be just a four-piece band simulator with all the usual Harmonix trimmings, that would be absolutely swell. I can see it now, every era of the band accompanied by stylized graphic representations: black and white for pre-65, awash in psychedelics until ’69, and ending with the stark, humanist imagery that colored the band’s last couple of years. But part of me wonders if this would be a missed opportunity. The Beatles have a very rich multimedia history: A Hard Day’s Night is still a marvelously entertaining movie that plays off the boys’ natural charisma, Help (weird as it is) remains a winner, and Magical Mystery Tour has stayed, well, interesting. While I’ve only indulged in the soundtrack, Cirque du Soleil’s production of Love has a sterling reputation. And, hell, Yellow Submarine is beloved and the band had almost nothing to do with it. Videogames offer a new opportunity to explore the band’s music and cultural impact but I have no idea how to realize it. A Rocky Raccoon Platformer? Nah, too commercial. Sergeant Pepper’s RPG? Too Japanese. Eleanor Rigby Sims! Ugh, that’s appalling.

Nah, never mind. Just Beatles Rock Band for me thanks. Just make sure to include “You Won’t See Me” in the Rubber Soul portion, Harmonix.

(Link: UGO)

Related links:

The Magical Mystery Tour is Coming to Take You Away
Whatcha Playing: A Little Singin’, a Little Dancin’
Everyone Will be Able to Rock
Everyone Should Be Able to Rock
Why Dontcha Cry About It, Saddle Bags: Konami Sues Viacom Over Rock Band
The Economist Weighs in On Music Games

Everyone Will be Able to Rock

John Constantine — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 19:00:00 GMT

At the end of June, my concerns for the future of videogames' burgeoning rock star genre were growing by the hour. Activision was waving their new drum kit in EA’s face while Konami tried to get people to like their music games outside of Japan. The big problem? None of those companies appeared to give a damn that they were flooding a market and audience already drowning under a torrent of plastic instruments. Not to mention that none of those instruments were guaranteed to be compatible with games that didn’t come packaged with alongside them. Yeah, Guitar Hero 3 and its electronic axe might be one of the ten best selling games in the history of games but that doesn’t mean the genre bubble can’t burst. Today, another faceless company has helped to allay my fears.

And, would you believe it, it’s Sony doing the allaying.

The once haughty Japanese giant stated on their Playstation blog that they have reached an agreement with Activision, EA/MTV, and Konami to allow every single publisher’s rock & roll instruments will work with every publisher’s games on the Playstation 3. Bought Rock Revolution but want to get in on Rock Band 2’s killer track list? Go for it. Feel like using that gorgeous new Guitar Hero World Tour drum kit with Konami’s new opus? Fine, have fun. Not only that, but SCEA also said that, though it isn’t happening just yet, they’re working on a fix for the original Rock Band and Guitar Hero 3 as well.

This is the first step on the road to peripheral-based music games finally coming into their own. Guitar Hero made them an institution but this agreement will help cement the instrument set as an expandable platform that doesn’t necessitate annual hardware revisions. What else needs to happen to guarantee this glorious, melodious future? Microsoft and Nintendo need to step up to the plate and make the same arrangements on their respective consoles. It’s likely Microsoft has already got this in the bag, but Nintendo? They enjoy screwing over their customers a little too much, methinks. All that would remain after that would be a centralized music store that supported every game and hosted a library akin to iTunes that offered procedurally generated tracks based on the engines developed by Harmonix, Neversoft, and whomever else gets in on the action.

The future, she is bright this day.

(Link: via Joystiq)

Related links:

Everyone Should Be Able to Rock
Why Dontcha Cry About it, Saddle Bags: Konami Sues Viacom Over Rock Band
Warner Music Wants More Royalties

Why Dontcha Cry About It, Saddle Bags: Konami Sues Viacom Over Rock Band

John Constantine — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 20:00:00 GMT

It seems that Rock Revolution isn’t the only way Konami is responding to Harmonix’s meteoric rise to music-videogame power. The house of Castlevania announced that they are suing Viacom, MTV Games’ parent company, and Harmonix specifically because Rock Band and its instrument peripherals violate Konami patents. According to Bloomberg.com, the patents in question detail, “simulated musical instruments, a music-game system and a ‘musical-rhythm matching game.’” They are not, however, suing Activision or Red Octane, makers of the current incarnation of Guitar Hero. Guitar Hero and its original guitar peripheral were themselves designed by Harmonix, so it seems peculiar that Konami wouldn’t direct their hissy-fit at them as well.

What do you think FPSers? Does Konami have a leg to stand on or are they just being babies because no one likes their music games anymore?

Our thanks to Bloomberg and NeoGAFer TheOddOne for alerting us to the breaking news.

Related links:

You Got Served: Zubo Puts Music in Your Combat
Everyone Should Be Able to Rock
Whatcha Playing: A Little Singin’, A Little Dancin’

You Got Served: Zubo Puts Music in Your Combat

Cole Stryker — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 07:00:00 GMT

About a year ago I had a brilliant idea for a game. Take the play mechanics of Rock Band and cram them inside a traditional RPG. This would be awesome! My friends tell me it would only work in Japan, but think about it. Let's say your party approaches a mean ol' dragon. Your character plays lead guitar, your two buddies play drums and sing. In order to defeat the dragon, you have to engage in some 'Devil Went Down to Georgia' style dueling instrumentation. Instead of just hitting 'A' when you want to attack, you bust out a blazing guitar solo.

Each of the instrumets have different powers. You could line up guitar with fire, vocals with ice, drums with earth. Different rhythms produce different effects. A hip hop beatboxer or opera singer could join your party. Play sad songs to defuse angry enemies. The strength of your attack is determined by creative improvisation or meticulous beat matching. Every missed note weakens your attacks. Iggy Pop guest stars! A dwarf with a double-neck Flying V! People getting served! The possibilities are endless! Why hasn't anyone done this yet? I'm a lot more confident in this idea than those mockups of Megaman bosses I mailed to Capcom as a seven year old. Sure enough, some developer thinks its a good idea, too...sorta.

Meet Zubo, an action-rhythm hybrid coming out later this year for the DS. Developed by EA Bright Light, Zubo's combat is driven by music, not too dissimilar to my above brainchild.

Players enter the world of Zubalon to help the colourful and zany inhabitants, the Zubos, defeat an evil force which is bent on world domination. Players can befriend the Zubos they meet along the way, feed and nurture them, help them gain skills and strength, and assist them in their battles with the enemy, the dastardly Zombos.

A key element to Zubo is music, which is intrinsic to Zubalon from its tuneful plant life through to its currency of musical notes. The player will use the music to drive the battles forward, synchronising their stylus action and tapping in time with the musical beats to win!

Made for under-twelves, but still sounds awesome. It's not quite the epic rock opera I had in mind, but hopefully it will push others in that direction. Kotaku's got hands-on impressions. Oh yeah, and Harmonix, let me know if you need any more ideas.