It's no surprise that Harmonix is working on expanding the Rock Band franchise in some way. This year brings The Beatles: Rock Band, but what will the future hold? MTV Games head Scott Guthrie talked to MCV about "what is effectively the next game, or 'Rock Band 3'." Guthrie doesn't deny that the next major release from Harmonix could be another artist collaboration a la The Beatles, but whatever the next project is will undoubtedly reflect a major change for the franchise.
"We aren't standing still," Guthrie notes. "We will keep moving into new areas and look at new technologies that our platform holder partners are also developing, such as Project Natal from Microsoft. We're working with them to pull some things together."
Obviously, with Project Natal barely in its infancy, it's unlikely we'll see much of a Natal-enabled Harmonix project any time soon. It certainly is an interesting concept, one that has us wondering how exactly Natal could possibly enhance the plastic instrument experience. Certainly, Harmonix must be wondering the same thing.
[Thanks, Nick!]
Reader Comments (64)
Posted: Aug 20th 2009 11:07PM (Unverified) said
At least Harmonix won't charge us for limited edition Air Guitars like Activision will.
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Posted: Aug 21st 2009 4:25AM (Unverified) said
I cant upvote you enough, sir!
And do we have to put up with this tiresome Natal rumour rubbish for the next year or so till we see actual game demos?
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And do we have to put up with this tiresome Natal rumour rubbish for the next year or so till we see actual game demos?
Posted: Aug 20th 2009 7:38PM Captain Planet Planeteer Power said
I keep asking myself the same thing about Guitar Hero 27 coming out next week.
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Posted: Aug 20th 2009 8:09PM Chris DPSN AggieCEO XBLThe Aggi said
why should we breath today?? there is just going to be more air tomorrow....
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Posted: Aug 20th 2009 8:10PM kidphat said
@Spyder: Come on, you have a very bad analogy. You are giving an example of a game that has a sequential story. In order to understand and follow Harry Potter 3, you've gotta watch Harry Potter 2. However, you would be less likely to buy a 2008 BMW 525 if you knew the 2009 version would have a different look. Leo's point is valid assuming Rock Band 3 contains all (or at least most) of the songs in Rock Band 2.
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Posted: Aug 20th 2009 7:36PM MystileArmor said
If it can scan my actualy real guitar to use in game, this is going to be an automatic purchase...
Well, it's Rock Band, it's already going to be an automatic purchase.
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Well, it's Rock Band, it's already going to be an automatic purchase.
Posted: Aug 20th 2009 7:38PM MystileArmor said
Oh and also, I think it'll be kind of cool if your character moves like you do in your living room... can't wait to see my character dance around in it's underwe... I mean I can't wait to just stand there, playing my instrument.
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Posted: Aug 20th 2009 7:56PM MarkezJM said
Ooh I didn't think of something like that, that'd be cool.. I have strap locks on my current guitar and use to think I was a big hot shot when I could do this once upon a time http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NKwWipI2to&NR=1 (or maybe just when I was dumb enough to try) Maybe they could work in some gestural stuff so your dude on screen would emulate it, or trigger something else?
What the hell do they call it when you kinda crouch down and hop along with your guitar kicking your foot out, and noodling away to your favorite butt rock songs?
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What the hell do they call it when you kinda crouch down and hop along with your guitar kicking your foot out, and noodling away to your favorite butt rock songs?
Posted: Aug 20th 2009 7:58PM MarkezJM said
Or maybe if you did something as remarkably lame and weenish like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FN9BHSJ8PHU then Rock Band 3 would just find a way to electrocute you and do everyone a favor... Just maybe...
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Posted: Aug 20th 2009 8:00PM Dr Perry Ulysses Cox said
Markez,
I think what you described is called "being the mother fucking man". Hold on, let me look it up. Yep. That's what it's called.
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I think what you described is called "being the mother fucking man". Hold on, let me look it up. Yep. That's what it's called.
Posted: Aug 20th 2009 8:10PM Sly C said
haha, me and one of my friends like to jam a lot, so when he's on his guitar and i'm on my bass, we love to have a flash contest. whoever does the flashiest moves while still playing perfectly wins.
my favorite move is still sticking my bass in between my legs and make it look like i'm wanking while playing haha.
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my favorite move is still sticking my bass in between my legs and make it look like i'm wanking while playing haha.
Posted: Aug 20th 2009 7:36PM Captain Planet Planeteer Power said
I doubt that it would make use of "air guitars". I think they'd use it to do things like kick down speakers on stage, jump around like a lunatic, choreographed background dancing etc. You know, a Project Gotham kudos type system that judges you based on your "working the crowd" skills. Then we'd finally get what we all REALLY want...
Pop Band
Pop Band N'Sync
Pop Band Pussy Cat Dolls
Pop Band Britney Spears
and of course, my favorite...
Pop Band Miley Cyrus
Reply
Pop Band
Pop Band N'Sync
Pop Band Pussy Cat Dolls
Pop Band Britney Spears
and of course, my favorite...
Pop Band Miley Cyrus
Posted: Aug 20th 2009 7:39PM MystileArmor said
Hah, your idea's sound as likely as a Spider-Man musical composed by U2.....
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Posted: Aug 20th 2009 7:47PM (Unverified) said
That doesn't sound too unreasonable, actually. Having the camera see you move around and jump and such could get the crowd excited. It could be a way to earn bonus points or something along those lines. You could even smash your plastic guitar and it would do the same on screen!
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Posted: Aug 20th 2009 7:48PM MystileArmor said
Posted: Aug 20th 2009 10:44PM WiredKnight said
Maybe Natal will be able to tell how well you're lip-synching too.
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Posted: Aug 20th 2009 7:43PM (Unverified) said
I could actually see a somewhat practical application to this. Natal has the camera, so it can see what instrument your playing. Maybe, just maybe, you'd be able to play all 4 instruments during a song. It would see you holding the guitar so it would show you the guitar line (you could just press a button to switch to bass, not pick up another guitar). It could see you moving over and going behind the drums so it would bring the drum section up. The same would apply when it sees you holding the microphone. I know it sounds kind-of stupid, but that's what I instantly thought of when I read this. It seems like it would be pretty clumsy and kind of slow, but hey, they'd allow people to fulfill their dreams of being a one man band. Who knows where this will lead to, if anywhere at all.
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Posted: Aug 20th 2009 9:20PM mynk said
hm i started thinking about your idea and came up with a much better idea of what could happen. instead of clicking to join in songs, if natal detects someone holding an instrument (and i suppose the said instrument would also have to be on and picked up by the 360... unless the 360 can turn controlers on as they do vise versa) it could automatically pop them into a song. it could be used for volume control based on how close you get to the tv, place you on stage how are you are placed, and if one of your friends picks up a guitar mid song it could throw him right in there, keep it down and you'll temporarily be out. it would also eliminate the need for an accelerometer in the guitar, making it more cost effective. it could be a lot easier to pause the game for mic and drumeer using gestures rather than the pause button, and also navigating the menus without a controler for the singer. the singer could also have gesture controled sensitivy adjustment, etc. hell if they really got into it, they could even do an auto pause if the dummer drops his drumsticks, or a gutar strap comes off. and that second bass pedal you always dreamt of... well, now it could just be an.. um, air pedal.
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Posted: Aug 20th 2009 10:09PM (Unverified) said
Those are some really cool ideas. Also, is there a way to set up the track order in any of the music games out right now? (For instance, rather than guitar, drums, bass, have it go bass, drums, guitar, or something along that line). Because I hate choosing a song and playing bass right after I've played guitar and having to switch which side of the TV I'm on (for example, I stand on the right side of the TV to play guitar, but I move to the left side to play bass, and I'm sure a lot of other people do this as well). If the game could automatically detect which instrument is playing which track and adjust accordingly (just move the bass track to the right and the guitar track to the left), that would be nice. It would definitely be easier than having to switch sides of the TV every once in a while. Sorry if this sounded confusing...
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Posted: Aug 20th 2009 8:01PM Dr Perry Ulysses Cox said
Of course Natal is going to happen. How could it not at this point?
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Posted: Aug 20th 2009 9:25PM Dr Perry Ulysses Cox said
Yeah, but this is Microsoft and they unveiled it at E3 as the next big step forward. Even if they wanted to back out now, I don't think they can. I'm not saying it won't be modified before it comes out, but it's coming out.
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Posted: Aug 20th 2009 7:47PM MystileArmor said
I bet Harmonix just yelled out some stuff, so they can read the comments on Joystiq and look what ideas we all come up with for 'm.
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Posted: Aug 20th 2009 8:09PM MystileArmor said
So you read the title, decided *no* and then you still came in here to comment on it?
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Posted: Aug 20th 2009 8:37PM MrSpaceCowboy said
It'll probably be something like tracking the movement of players while they play their plastic instruments.
Nothing more.
Kinda cool though.
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Nothing more.
Kinda cool though.
Posted: Aug 20th 2009 8:48PM (Unverified) said
Is it just me or do companies exploit concepts only for the 'popular' system? After reading a ton of material (even pre-Natal) I'm pretty confident that PSEye can do almost anything practical that Natal can (not as sophisticated with depth I suppose, but that seems to be the bulk of it...GT5 confirmed there is head tracking capabilities). It seems to me that this could have been implemented with the PSEye (and Microsoft Vision camera) before. Am I the only one that smells money (MS 're-launch' attitude toward Natal+360, companies jumping on out of nowhere to support something very console specific (apparently no-one has plans to attempt this on PS3), etc). Would anyone be making a deal of this if they didn't give it a fancy name, want to steal the big N's 'casual market' or if it didn't have Milo (which everyone has to realize is smoke and mirrors AND the dumbest thing ever)
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Posted: Aug 20th 2009 9:11PM Vcize said
The problem is Sony didn't market the PS3Eye so only like 6 people own it, so it's not really cost effective to develop anything extra for it.
Meanwhile, it looks like MS is going to market the crap out of the Natal and ideally sell it to enough people to make extra development for it worthwhile.
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Meanwhile, it looks like MS is going to market the crap out of the Natal and ideally sell it to enough people to make extra development for it worthwhile.
Posted: Aug 20th 2009 9:14PM mynk said
the part about natal that matters the most even more than the ir camera for depth is the software it uses to put together ir and visiual data, most importantly on its own onboard processor. the eye or vision cam depends on the processing abilities of the console itself.
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Posted: Aug 20th 2009 8:48PM (Unverified) said
I doubt it would be life-altering, if HMX does incorporate Natal into Rock Band.
But hey, Harmonix can surprise us with an entirely new game built from the ground up on Natal.
...Orchestra Hero?
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But hey, Harmonix can surprise us with an entirely new game built from the ground up on Natal.
...Orchestra Hero?
Posted: Aug 20th 2009 9:02PM (Unverified) said
If motion detection is an option in RB3, I will ignore it.
If it's mandatory, I will refuse to purchase the game and mourn the death of rhythm gaming.
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If it's mandatory, I will refuse to purchase the game and mourn the death of rhythm gaming.
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