Rejoyce: Rock Band Instruments with Guitar Hero World Tour

Simply amazing news coming out of E3 last night, apparently the Rock Band instruments will work with the new Guitar Hero World Tour game.  This may only be true with the Xbox 360 version of the title, as Activision didn’t want to comment on Wii, PlayStation 2 or PlayStation 3 yet.

Activision deserves a cup cake for this strategic move, providing Rock Band gamers a money saving option and increasing their own sales. If you’ve listened to our latest gaming podcast episode, you’ll notice Jennifer changed her mind on World Tour because of the new Rock Band 2 news. In short, if you own Rock Band you can now buy Rock Band 2 game-only without having to re-purchase the equipment. Why would you then go out and buy more instruments for Guitar Hero World Tour?

Rock Band has solidified itself as the next-generation of rock gaming by showing us more than a simple guitar interface. Building a “me too” product after Rock Band and requiring us all to purchase yet more equipment is a deal breaker for a good portion of gamers.

Thank you Activision for making a product we’re actually going to purchase now, instead of passing on it due to limitations of the wallet!

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Microsoft is on the attack, saying Nintendo has done a great thing with their Wii product line but Microsoft has a bit more “respect” for the new gamers they’re bringing into the industry. Xbox Europe VP David Gosen launched the shot over Nintendo’s bow at the GameFest UK keynote.

“We’ve seen some research that says 60 percent of people who bought a Wii Fit play it once and don’t play it again. So we have to get the balance right, because what we are doing is bringing new consumers into the market for the first time in their lives sometimes—and we have to treat them with respect,” Gosen told attendees. (shacknews)

In translation, developers should be building games with hot gameplay not quirky gimmicks. Basically, he’s of the opinion that Microsoft’s working towards creative unique game play elements and not really concentrating on niche products that are only fun for a week.

Nintendo and others are developing games to take advantage of the Wii Fit board, so not all is lost. As a matter of fact, statistics being gathered by Nintendo’s competitor really don’t hold any weight with us until they’ve references the third party statistics gathering who handled the facts. Otherwise, it’s just PR speak attacking their competitor (although they say Wii isn’t really a competitor) with no real facts or values.

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A lot is going on with Twitch, as the company continues to be terribly run. Microsoft is also making sure the Activison-Blizzard acquisition goes through, and Resident Evil 4 is fun.

The news includes:

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  • Respawn opens third studio as it targets 10-15 year lifespan for Apex Legends
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Let us know what you think.

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Microsoft has come out and validated some earlier rumors about Xbox 360 Avatar’s and their 3D dashboard design. Apparently, this is to build more of a community and bring a bit of the Mii-like influence from the Nintendo Wii to the 360 hardware.

It seems Microsoft is taking some of the concepts from the Nintendo Wii which were poorly implemented due to the lack of any real network community and bring them to live with a more integrated useful system. This proves Nintendo was on the right track but shows off their lack of integration and fear of bringing people together.

“Create, share, and have fun with all of your friends… but avatars are just the beginning. The new Xbox is tailored for the living room. Here we are at the community channel — instead of a list of friends, you actually see them.” (joystiq)

Nintendo’s cute little idea of Mii’s and sharing them with friends was fantastic, a great bullet list feature, but rather useless. Typing in friends codes gets old way too fast and there really isn’t anyway to vocally chat with people on your friends list anyway, so who cares?

Microsoft has proven to know a bit about the community space, has parental controls and a fairly reliable LIVE system for making it all happen. Although Nintendo should look at this with a bit of pride, given duplication is the best form of flattery, they could learn a few things about how to work a community into your console too!