Matsuura wants custom Rock Band tracks News

NanaOn-Sha's Masaya Matsuura would like to see Rock Band developer Harmonix open up its game so that people can use their own music.

"I really want them to open the format, of the audio files. So that people can make their own game course with their own track, and download it or upload it to a game console, and share with each other, or sell it to each other," Matsuura told Wired at the DICE Summit in Las Vegas.

"If they can make that kind of progress, it would be great. These are the kinds of possibilities I'm imagining."

Rock Band of course relies on licensed music like Radiohead, Nirvana and The Killers to power its multi-instrument game mechanics. However, if customisation is what Matsuura is after, he might want to check out Audiosurf, which is a rhythm-puzzler that works with your MP3 collection. It's due to be released on Steam this Friday.

Or he might want to wait for Harmonix's other project, which does similar things.

Matsuura - whose past work includes PaRappa the Rapper and Vib Ribbon, and who is currently working on Major Minor's Majestic March - had been speaking at the DICE Summit and talked to Wired alongside his friend Tetsuya Mizuguchi.

That's Tetsuya Mizuguchi of Rez and Lumines fame, of course, and the two offered some insight into their professional relationship. "I really think that Mizuguchi-san and I are driving on a highway at high speed," said Matsuura. "Of course, we are not competing. But it's midnight, with no other cars on the highway. So sometimes, I feel sleepy. But Mizuguchi-san drives past me really quickly, and I think, 'Oh! I have to wake up.' And I start chasing Mizuguchi-san, and sometimes I'm going faster than him and he's sleeping, and I drive past him, beep-beep!"

At least their games are good.