It's about time someone stepped in and took an active role in fixing this nonsense. SCEA Director of Publisher Relations Michael Shorrock has announced on PlayStation.Blog that Sony has reached an agreement with Activision, Neversoft, Harmonix and Konami to ensure that all the instrument peripherals for Rock Band 2, Guitar Hero: World Tour and Rock Revolution will work across all games for PlayStation 3.
In case you're too stunned to comprehend what should've been no-brainer functionality from the start, your PS3 Rock Band 2 drum set should now be guaranteed to work with GH:WT and RR, and likewise for every game's guitar and drum peripherals. Said Shorrock, "We're still working hard to ensure compatibility between the Guitar Hero and Rock Band titles currently on the market, and we hope to have an announcement on that shortly."
We're excited, but at the same time, we're a bit dismayed it took this long to sort out. To be clear, instrument compatibility has not been confirmed for Xbox 360 (although we do know GH:WT instruments work with RB2) or Wii versions of the music games. Microsoft, Nintendo, we're looking to you to make this universal compatibility, erm, more universal.
SCEA: Universal compatibility for PS3 Rock Band 2, GH: World Tour and Rock Revolution instruments
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Reader Comments (53)
Posted: Aug 19th 2008 4:52PM (Unverified) said
I hope alone in the dark wasn't their idea of standards .
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Posted: Aug 18th 2008 2:07PM (Unverified) said
Posted: Aug 18th 2008 12:43PM (Unverified) said
Wow, I never thought of a console manufacturer to solve this problem. Now I can buy the Guitar Hero bundle, for cheapies, just buy the RB2 disc, and pretend Rock Revolution doesn't exist.
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Posted: Aug 18th 2008 1:14PM (Unverified) said
"and pretend Rock Revolution doesn't exist".
Lol.
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Lol.
Posted: Aug 18th 2008 3:17PM F1 Basu Gasu Bakuhatsu said
After its presentation I'm pretty sure that the developers are thinking the same thing.
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Posted: Aug 18th 2008 12:45PM xThePunisherx said
But what about the original Rock Band instruments?
If that's compatible with both (Rock Revolution isn't a game xD) games, i'll get them both.
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If that's compatible with both (Rock Revolution isn't a game xD) games, i'll get them both.
Posted: Aug 18th 2008 12:45PM NBShermanator said
Okay I'm a little confused. Doesn't the Rock Band drums have 4 pads and one pedal. While the Guitar hero drums have 2 cymbals 3 pads and a pedal? Doesn't that mean the Rock Band drum has one less input than the guitar Hero? How can they be compatible?
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Posted: Aug 18th 2008 12:51PM copa said
On the XBox 360, Activision says they will detect the number of pads you have, and downmix as necessary to support the peripheral. I expect it will work the same way as PS3.
So now that Sony has adopted a pro-consumer stance, that means they can release the Rock Band patch they blocked last year that supports the Les Paul controllers.
Right?
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So now that Sony has adopted a pro-consumer stance, that means they can release the Rock Band patch they blocked last year that supports the Les Paul controllers.
Right?
Posted: Aug 18th 2008 12:53PM D3m0sthenes said
You wont use one of the pads or cymbals.
It's pretty simple you see...
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It's pretty simple you see...
Posted: Aug 18th 2008 12:48PM FernandoRocker said
Ok... I don't have Rock Band. I'm planning to buy Rock Band 2 bundle, and Rock Band 1 game only.
But... will Guitar Hero World Tour have wireless instruments (360 version)?
If so, I will buy the GH bundle, and Rock Band 1 and 2 discs.
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But... will Guitar Hero World Tour have wireless instruments (360 version)?
If so, I will buy the GH bundle, and Rock Band 1 and 2 discs.
Posted: Aug 18th 2008 12:49PM FernandoRocker said
I mean... at this point is obvious that MS will have the same deal with the devs.
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Posted: Aug 18th 2008 12:55PM copa said
Fernando, some consumer pro-tips:
When RB2 is released, there will be a $5 patch that lets you export songs off of RB1, and use them in RB2.
Buying the patch (plus renting or borrowing the RB1 game disc) is much cheaper than purchasing the RB1 game disc, and much more fun since you won't have to switch back and forth between games.
Also, the RB2 instruments are confirmed wireless, so you might want to check those out before committing to the GH instruments.
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When RB2 is released, there will be a $5 patch that lets you export songs off of RB1, and use them in RB2.
Buying the patch (plus renting or borrowing the RB1 game disc) is much cheaper than purchasing the RB1 game disc, and much more fun since you won't have to switch back and forth between games.
Also, the RB2 instruments are confirmed wireless, so you might want to check those out before committing to the GH instruments.
Posted: Aug 18th 2008 1:00PM (Unverified) said
You never know because developers have to pay a royalty to use Microsofts wireless tech so that could cause some issues, but it would be really dumb if it did.
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Posted: Aug 18th 2008 1:01PM FernandoRocker said
Actually, I know about the $5 patch to export the songs (which I plan to do), but I know I will buy the disc instead of just renting it (stupid collectible mania).
But I did't know about the Rock Band 2 wireless instruments. Thanks for the tip =p
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But I did't know about the Rock Band 2 wireless instruments. Thanks for the tip =p
Posted: Aug 18th 2008 5:25PM Larz said
In 25 years, a mint condition Rock Band Special Edition kit will probably fetch a good price. Once you get all the DLC, you need to image your HDD for posterity too :)
Hmm, actually I never thought of that... one could just download an image of the HDD with all the RB DLC. I wonder if there's any on Bit Torrent?
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Hmm, actually I never thought of that... one could just download an image of the HDD with all the RB DLC. I wonder if there's any on Bit Torrent?
Posted: Aug 18th 2008 1:03PM Mr Khan said
Won't happen with Wii. While the guitars for the other guys always worked fundamentally the same, just couldn't work across from each other because of stupid little programming flaws, the Wii version of GH and RB controllers work on totally different principals. The former being an extension of the Wiimote, the latter being USB-based
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Posted: Aug 18th 2008 1:09PM ScottG13 said
Long overdue. Well done Sony PR. I'd like to see more of this sort of platform experience quality enforcement. You spend billions on the platform, you should spend the time and money on perfecting the experience across titles, especially with expensive peripherals.
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Posted: Aug 18th 2008 1:27PM spin cycle said
I'm still not buying Guitar Hero crap. Red Octane showed use their true colors with the unplayable initial version of GH3 (no ability to calibrate out audio lag) and threatening to drop PS3 support if Sony released the RB patch that supported GH3 controllers.
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Posted: Aug 18th 2008 2:57PM quadraphonic said
Agreed.. this was Sony's move, not Activisions. While it's definitely welcome news, I hope people vote with their wallets and give the nod to RB2 over GH.
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Posted: Aug 18th 2008 2:31PM NightVortex said
Does that only apply to World Tour/Rock Band 2 peripherals or will I be able to use my Guitar Hero 3 guitar in Rock Band 2?
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Posted: Aug 18th 2008 3:10PM (Unverified) said
Sony made a smart move here, hopefully Microsoft follows suit. That way I could just wait to see which drums I prefer (as I assume that's the only major difference in instruments,) buy that bundle, then buy the disc for the other one.
Or maybe it'll be like every other music game and I never end up buying it (highly likely.) =/
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Or maybe it'll be like every other music game and I never end up buying it (highly likely.) =/
Posted: Aug 18th 2008 3:59PM (Unverified) said
This is the best news I could possibly see on this site at the moment. I was going to completely skip Rock Band 2 because the guitar for the first one was such trash, but now that I can use the Guitar Hero controllers, Ill be enjoying both games.
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Posted: Aug 18th 2008 6:36PM Ovy said
I don't want a ps3 and I think Sony repeatedly makes bad moves...but bravo, wise step here. Microsoft will hopefully step in and set these two companies straight as well. Given the recent report of "32% increase" being due to rhythm based games, this seems like a logical move by any console maker.
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Posted: Aug 26th 2008 12:37AM (Unverified) said
Well, Omega, maybe it would be just another reason for you to break down and open your mind about the possibility of at least thinking of a PS3 purchase. You're missing out on alot of damn good games. And they have been making some good moves lately (2.41, the pushing of LBP. They just need to start really hitting MS where it'll really hurt: Securing more third party exclusives by fighting fire with fire and showing how much money SONY can give to third parties). Now is a very good time to think about getting one.
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Posted: Aug 18th 2008 6:58PM (Unverified) said
Doesn't really matter to me, I have RB and will not buy any new instruments. I want to know if my GH3 guitar and RB mic will work with GHWT, that's the only way I'll get GHWT.
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Posted: Aug 18th 2008 9:37PM (Unverified) said
What about the PS2 guitars/drums? If I ever get around to buying a PS3, I don't want my PS2 controller investment to suddenly turn to shit.
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Posted: Aug 19th 2008 2:28PM (Unverified) said
The Rock Band PS2 drums are the same as the PS3 ones.
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