Making Music
Harmonix on Rock Band 2 and the Beatles game.
Let's go over what you've focused on so far - Lionel Richie, Barry Manilow, Cheeseburger in Paradise...
We can't say that, but I think you can look at our history and draw conclusions from the patterns of our previous games. Usually we try to keep things carried across consoles.
That was sort of confusing, right?
Let's go with yes, that was deliberate. We're trying to make it easy for people to have access to the game, but we haven't confirmed what sort of stuff the game's going to come with, or what you'll need to play the game. I would love to answer your questions more fully but I don't actually know the specifics myself. We'll have more details in the coming weeks.
In terms of Rock Band and Rock Band 2, we have an open controller philosophy.
Our ongoing philosophy is to give people the option to choose what controllers they want to play with.
[Laughs] We're not discussing the specifics of the financial agreement, although everyone's very satisfied with the deal, I'm sure.
We can talk about the creative agreement. They've seen the game, they're working with us to push forward development. Giles Martin [son of George, the original Beatles producer] is music producer on the game. Everyone at Apple is closely tied in to make sure the game is as authentic as possible.
Paul McCartney will not be coding for the game [laughs]. I don't know if Sir Paul has a computer science background. Let's not presume, though. The dude's a knight, he might be very good at it.
They are seeing different builds and giving us feedback. They're going to be instrumental in making the game feel right. Instrumental - see what I did there? [Laughs]
Ha ha. Let's talk about Rock Band 2, if we may, and Xbox 360 exclusivity. According to figures we've seen about 100,000 copies were of the first game were shifted over here, compared to 910,000 copies of the latest Guitar Hero. Do you think the exclusivity was a factor there?
We don't really talk about the specifics of sales figures, but I don't think the exclusivity really hurts.
The exclusivity gets more people interested in the game... I think any disparity in numbers is because of factors outside of 360 exclusivity.
Like getting the game out on time. We came out in May which was probably a little too late for us, to be honest. It's a shame we had to release so late. I think as we go forwards, you'll see that window get narrower.
I'd challenge that. I don't think we're competing with Guitar Hero.