Fans cross with Rock Band PS3

By Tom Bramwell Published 21 November, 2007

Doesn't like GH3 Les Paul.

Harmonix says that it's not its fault if Guitar Hero controllers don't work with the PS3 version of Rock Band, which they don't.

The game, which is available in the US this week for PS3 and 360, comes as a bundle containing microphone, drums and one guitar, but in order to play four-player you need to source a second axe.

Harmonix has said in the past that Guitar Hero peripherals should be compatible, and while this is true on 360, PS3 owners are discovering it's not the case with the Guitar Hero III wireless Les Paul controller.

"Harmonix develops and bases all of our games, guitars and other peripherals on open standards established by platform manufacturers such as Microsoft and Sony. Rock Band is no exception and supports an open controller standard," the developer said in a statement on IGN.

"If a third party game controller is based on open standards, then it should work with Rock Band as well. If certain controllers do not work with Rock Band, questions about those controllers should be directed to the peripheral manufacturer."

The developer also said that it welcomed third parties to support Rock Band hardware.

At a distance, you might question whether it's naive of Rock Band buyers to assume compatibility with a rival product, but positive responses during development certainly appear now to have been misleadingly confident, and the fact that the game is only available to US consumers as a multi-instrument bundle merely exacerbates things in the eyes of the many people rioting on the official forums.

With the bundle itself in short supply, it could be a while before anyone's placated.

Anyway, look out for our Rock Band review in the near future!

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000. Follow him on Twitter.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (49) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • SeesThroughAll #1 5 years ago

    I fucking hate EA. This kind of stunt already made me regret supporting them by buying FIFA 08.

    Bastards.

  • L42yB #2 5 years ago

    I hate this game :S It's like those dance mat games but with a "guitar shaped" gamepad... it is about as close to playing a guitar as Jack Thompson is to being a sane and caring individual. Real guitars ftw!

  • jaxon58 #3 5 years ago

    Right, but the drums and singing are almost exactly the same as those talents. As Meatloaf once said, two out of four ain't bad.

  • Myre #4 5 years ago

    You better score this game 11/10.

    After all, it is one louder.

  • Derblington #5 5 years ago

    I fucking hate EA. This kind of stunt already made me regret supporting them by buying FIFA 08.

    Bastards.

    WTF does this have to do with EA? Harmonix are the dev, MTV the publisher with EA handling distribution... You're a moron.

  • SteveB #6 5 years ago

    "it is about as close to playing a guitar as Jack Thompson is to being a sane and caring individual. Real guitars ftw!"

    Yeah and real football, tennis, driving etc........ftw too. Why do we play computer games again ?

  • ZuluHero #7 5 years ago

    Fans are cross with them over here as well...

    (because they haven't bloody released it yet!)

  • DanWhitehead #8 5 years ago

    I fucking hate EA. This kind of stunt already made me regret supporting them by buying FIFA 08.

    How is this even a "stunt"? If all Guitar Hero peripherals didn't work with Rock Band then that would be a deliberate move, albeit a completely understandable one - Activision are under no obligation to make their hardware work with a rival franchise - but this is pretty obviously just a question of hardware incompatibility to do with the PS3 bluetooth setup.

  • L42yB #9 5 years ago

    @SteveB - U make a fair point *sigh* maybe I am biased since I actually play guitar, but I really get annoyed when trying to play this thing...

  • silver-jon #10 5 years ago

    Nice one SteveB - I'm with you there. It's a game. It's a bit of fun.

    However, I can imagine PS3 owners must have deep enough wallets to buy the controller. They bought a PS3 after all !

  • Saturn_Ascends #11 5 years ago

    Did anyone look at the official forum? The postings would indicate the members are a rational and mature group of people...

  • ZuluHero #12 5 years ago

    @L42yB

    i think if you asked the majority of GH fans you would find that alot of them play guitar also, u'know...

    We know its not like a real guitar, and im sure the rest do too. The buttons are a bit of a give away ;)
    Edited by ZuluHero at 21/11/07 @ 11:21

  • MBar #13 5 years ago

    Every single day I become more and more glad a haven't bought a PS3.

    You might interpret this as fanboy arseholeness, but seriously, I am. I'm honestly starting to think that somewhere in Sony HQ they have a couple of people locked in a room who's sole job it is to dream up ideas on how to next kick their buyers while their down.

    Oh, but don't worry, I'm sure they'll patch it. /grumble

  • rudedudejude #14 5 years ago

    I predict a riot.

  • L42yB #15 5 years ago

    @ZuluHero - I'm just saying it irritates me. I'm happy to be alone on this boat ;)

    I never like the dancing games and I put these in the same bag as those, it may be a more appealing concept, but it's the same game. But each to their own, and if you enjoy it then have fun playing it :) We are all allowed to have our own opinions ;)

    @jaxon58 - I haven't actually played Rock Band, only the Guitar Hero games, so I'm not sure how the drumming is. Could be cool... as for the singing... well... that can be pretty painful too, depending on how many of your friends don't sound like a cat being tortured when they attempt to sing...

  • Gurgeh #16 5 years ago

    Rock Band vocals can be faked i.e. you don't actually need to sing the words. Don't know why you wouldn't want to do sing the words unless maybe to rack up achievements...

    [link url=http://arstechnica.com/journals/thumbs.ars/2007/11/20/rock-band-yes-you-can-fake-the-vocals
    ]http://arstechnica.com/journals/thumbs.a...[/link]

  • kangarootoo #17 5 years ago

    Some poeple are just mental. I for one didn't even consider that they might be compatible.

    It makes sense that they might be I guess, but I'll lay it out clear.

    Any gamer that is cross with either company simply because their peripherals don't work their competitor's software... is an idiot.

  • spliffhead #18 5 years ago

    /cancels preorder for GH3 PS3

  • monkie_king #19 5 years ago

    if anything, this could be a spoiler tactic by Neversoft/Activision -- placing blame anywhere else seems a little unfair.

  • tonynibbles #20 5 years ago

    They said this a while back didn't they?
    Its a shame they didn't sort out their problems.

    Thing is - do the Rock Band guitars work with GH? That would be better anyway, as most people will wanna get the Rock Band uber box. and then the cheapo game-only GH3.

    Every single day I become more and more glad a haven't bought a PS3.

    Mine should arrive for PS3 next week. Region free is reason enough to get the PS3 version - 5 months ahead of 360 / PS2 E.U owners.
    Edited by tonynibbles at 21/11/07 @ 12:26

  • kangarootoo #21 5 years ago

    "if anything, this could be a spoiler tactic by Neversoft/Activision -- placing blame anywhere else seems a little unfair."

    But there is no "blame" here!? Competiting products bear no obligation whatsoever to be compatible with each other. None!

    Seriously, how are people not getting this?

  • BadBoyBonner #22 5 years ago

    Personally - I can't understand GH and RB.

    Anyone willing to spend enough time to complete GH on the harder levels might as well just learn to play a real guitar - it isn't that much harder, certainly as far as chords go.

    I'd recommend an classical acoustic with nylon (treble strings) as nylon strings have a much lower tension than steel strings - which means your fingers won't feel like they are being tortured.

    The amount of songs you can cover with C, D, G and A is quite staggering and will take anyone good at GH a few weeks max to master those chords. It’s really just the speed and accuracy of transition from one chord to the next, and practice brings that.

  • thedaveeyres #23 5 years ago

    I feel your pain. Instead of buying COD4, I went down to my local recruiting office and tried to sign up for the SAS.

    They told me to fuck off.

  • monkie_king #24 5 years ago

    kangarootoo: absolutely, but "blame" doesn't imply any fault, I just meant it in the sense of "having responsibility for".

  • Moz #25 5 years ago

    The probably reason is that GHIII uses a wireless dongal on the PS3 rather then Bluetooth, so i'm guessing the drivers for the dongle are part of the GHIII code rather then having the dongle fool the system that it's a wired device like the mad cat wireless controllers do

  • DrKuK #26 5 years ago

    I actually dont think its Harmonix/activision/EA's fault. If they say theyve made RB controll scheme open standard, so be it. It certainly is the case with 360.

    Now its REd Octane that get my goat, theyve been openly saying only their peripherals will work with GH3, worse still the mess theyve made with GH1/2 compatability with ps3. so what you have with the ps3 is a controller that needs a usb dongle and doesnt work with previous guitar heros and now we know doesnt work with rockband. It really makes the PS3 version look less enticing (which is a shame as these kind of compatability issues shouldve been sorted). In any case i'm glad i decided to go for the 360 versions of both RB and GH3, just that many wont have the luxury of choice.

    As for the usual real guitar versus pretend guitar debate. I can play guitar and i'm crap at that but not too shabby on GH. So i can at least pretend to be a rockstar. And playing the real guitar (at least to any proficient level) is much harder than Guitar hero. Learning a few chord will only get you so far. anyway whatever rocks yuour boat 'spose.

  • brooza #27 5 years ago

    "If certain controllers do not work with Rock Band, questions about those controllers should be directed to the peripheral manufacturer."

    OK then, so why isn't the Rock Band controller compatible with Guitar Hero 2/3?

  • kangarootoo #28 5 years ago

    @BadBoyBonner

    You have commited the cardinal sin of making the most obvious and oft repeated comment on a GH related thread. I play guitar, and I love GH.

    They are not the same thing. NOT THE SAME. You may as well suggest that anyone becoming expert at Ninja Gaiden should just go learn to play the flute instead.

  • MrChuckles #29 5 years ago

    Ffs, when will people learn...

    I own 3 guitars (2 electrics, 1 electric bass) and i can't play any of them very well. I can play most chords that aren't barre chords, and if i'm lucky i can play Sweet Home Alabama, House of the Rising Sun or Paint It Black.

    I can however, boot up GH2, invite some mates out, and rock out together clicking buttons and trying to get high scores on a computer game.

    Do my mates want to come over and all sit around badly playing songs on real guitars? No, because it sounds shit, and it very frustrating.

    Playing GH is not like playing a real guitar, thank god!!!!

  • kangarootoo #30 5 years ago

    @monkie_king

    Oh I know. I didn't mean to vent at you. Just shooting the messenger for a second there :)

  • kangarootoo #31 5 years ago

    @MrChuckles

    Spot on.

    In particular,
    "Do my mates want to come over and all sit around badly playing songs on real guitars? No, because it sounds shit, and it very frustrating."

    hehe

  • kangarootoo #32 5 years ago

    @DrKuK

    I'm not sure how any of what you wrote is supposed to be the fault of Harmonix. They can't make Sony put a PS2 controller port on the PS3 so how else would you connect a controller except with a USB adapter?

  • L0cky #33 5 years ago

    '"If certain controllers do not work with Rock Band, questions about those controllers should be directed to the peripheral manufacturer."

    OK then, so why isn't the Rock Band controller compatible with Guitar Hero 2/3?'

    "If certain games do not work with our controllers, questions about those games should be directed to the game manufacturer."

    :p

  • mezzomorto #34 5 years ago

    Checking out the Gamespot review this morning, I'd be more concerned about the quality of the hardware that actually ships with the game as opposed to GHIII compatibility concerns:

    "If there is any issue to be taken with the game's hardware, it's its reliability. For instance, one of our pre-release kick pedals from the drum kit, which is made up of a somewhat thin piece of plastic hooked into a spring underneath it, actually snapped in half during a particularly heated rendition of The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again." The other pedals we used for testing held up despite some extreme thrashing, but all the same, our suggestion is that if you've got a Mr. Heavyfoot in your band, tell them to go shoeless and ease up on the pedal slammage a smidge. Another issue is the USB microphone. One of our retail boxes came with a broken mic that cut in and out and wouldn't register our vocals properly. Any supported USB headset mic will apparently work in a pinch on the PS3, and the standard Xbox 360 headset works on there as well, but regardless, that's still a concerning issue. At least EA seems to be aware of potential hardware issues, as a big flyer inside the box explains the 60 day hardware warranty that comes with the game and directs you to an EA Web site. You might want to keep that URL handy if you run into any issues."



  • Wobble #35 5 years ago

    ps3lol

  • kangarootoo #36 5 years ago

    @mezzomorto

    Well I think the following section says it all really.

    "one of our pre-release kick pedals"

    Its not final version you can't really judge..... that said.... I play the drums and one thing any drummer will tell you is that stuff breaks. Eventually it just does, thats part of the deal.

    How a game peripheral will perform under the sort of abuse a normal kit might suffer is to be seen I guess. With a normal kick pedal you would expect springs to go periodically, but the hardware itself should take any amount of human pounding. I would be suspect of a plastic construction having to take the same stresses.

  • Derblington #37 5 years ago

    Mine should arrive for PS3 next week. Region free is reason enough to get the PS3 version - 5 months ahead of 360 / PS2 E.U owners.

    Except teh 360 version is region free too so it's a moot point. As the 360 has better online implementation, thanks to Live!, that will be the better version again, if you have the choice of consoles.

  • MrChuckles #38 5 years ago

    I heard the 360 version WASN'T region free. Then again, i won't get it until i can buy it without the guitars as i already own 2.

  • wired009 #39 5 years ago

    Played GH3 on PS3. It looks great but the wireless controller is laggy which really takes the wind out of the game's sail.

    PS3 is definitely getting better as a console. It's a solid piece of hardware; fast and quiet although bulky in size. The games are getting slightly better too.

  • login_name #40 5 years ago

    "I haven't actually played Rock Band, only the Guitar Hero games, so I'm not sure how the drumming is."

    It's ok, but not as realistic as DrumMania, especially if you play it in the arcade or hook it up to a real Yamaha drum kit. Playing that game on real mode was drumming, pure and simple. Admittedly Rock Bands bundled peripheral looks slightly better quality than DrumManias (especially the foot pedal, which was just a flat mat) and the music is probably slightly better since it's more westernised. Still, DrumManias five pads (hi-hat, snare drum, high tom, low tom and cymbal) makes for a more realistic play experience than Rock Bands four pads imo.

  • SD #41 5 years ago

    Harmonix says the game supports open standard controllers. The PS2-Red Octane Guitar Hero controllers are open standard. Then why in god's name won't the game work with the PS2-controllers?

  • Feanor #42 5 years ago

    "Rock Band vocals can be faked i.e. you don't actually need to sing the words. Don't know why you wouldn't want to do sing the words unless maybe to rack up achievements..."


    Of course. It's the exact same situation with the Karaoke Revolution games which have been around for ages.
    Edited by Feanor at 21/11/07 @ 17:15

  • PodlingJuice #43 5 years ago

    Harmonix's point is stupid. If they want more sales of rock band then they should make it compatible with the GH3 guitars.

    I'm getting GH3 this week as it's awesome and out BEFORE rock band. There's no way I'm forking out for more plastic guitars just to play another franchise when rock band comes out.

    No GH3 compatibility, no rock band sale from me.

  • Freek #44 5 years ago

    Thats easier said then done. It's another developers product and if those comments are to be believed a non standard one.
    So you'd have to backwards engeneer it, I'm geusing not an easy thing to do.

    I'm wondering why noboy is asking Activision what the hell is up with not supporting Rock Band? Now that would be a nice question to have answered. I suspect it'd be an awkward "no comment" or some other stange exuse.

  • PodlingJuice #45 5 years ago

    True. It would be tricky without cooperation from both parties.

    I think they should definitely consider sorting this out together. It would enable sales from both developers as I'm sure there are many people, like myself, who would not want to buy two sets of peripherals but would buy the game itself if it was compatible.

  • AlpTighen #46 5 years ago

    I feel your pain. Instead of buying COD4, I went down to my local recruiting office and tried to sign up for the SAS.

    They told me to fuck off.

    It's a Man's Life... Playing Games.

  • Xerx3s #47 5 years ago

    I heard the 360 version WASN'T region free. Then again, i won't get it until i can buy it without the guitars as i already own 2.

    A quick stroll down play-asia lane reveals <a href='http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-dh-77-2-49-en-15-Guitar+hero-70-25rr.html'>this</a>.

    But then again, there are <a href='http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-14-71-fc-49-en.html'>tons of games</a> that are region free.

  • themorganator #48 5 years ago

    It do feel sorry for all the PS3 owners who, one again, are suffering in the land of gaming. I noticed on the official RB forum they're all leaping to the defense of Sony...... "its not sony's fault". How far do you want to miss the point?? You're a gamer. It doesn't work.

    consider another path guys and stop feeling like second class gamers all the time!

  • kangarootoo #49 5 years ago

    @themorganator

    "How far do you want to miss the point?? You're a gamer. It doesn't work."

    This unfortunately epitomizes the bizarre attitude only too common amongst immature gamers.

    You WANT something to work, so you declare that it SHOULD work. And when it doesn't, you act like someone is at fault.

    These are two competing products. There is NO reason to assume their peripherals will be compatible. I say again, how are people not getting this? Its like complaining that an Audi stereo won't fit into the dashboard of a BMW. Seriously....