George_Wrisley June 25, 2008 DS, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360 29 views Comments Print This Post  Email This Post

Most of us have limited cash resources, so it’s good to read that Keith Matejka, associate producer for Konami’s upcoming Rock Revolution , is pushing for compatibility of the music peripherals for games such as Guitar Hero and Rock Band. As reported here :

Describing it as a “big issue”, Matejka said the peripheral’s cost to consumers and the cost to produce is too high and offer “only a slightly different gameplay experience”.

“Compatibility is a big issue for music games,” Matejka told MTV.

“Peripherals are expensive for the user and they are expensive to produce. The existing peripherals all deliver only a slightly different gameplay experience.”

“Different teams have varying perspectives on what should be compatible with each game. I think all guitar- and drum-based games need to be compatible with each other to some level,” Matejka added.

Given the cost of games and game systems, it really is a big issue when the not-always-so-affordable music peripherals are not cross-compatible. And it seems to me that it might behoove the developers of the games to make sure that the peripherals are cross-compatible, since those gamers/rock stars with a limited budget might be forced to choose to play one game over the other. So, if the peripherals worked on all the games, then there would likely be a greater chance that the same gamer would buy, for example, Rock Band AND Guitar Hero: everyone wins.

George Wrisley