What Should the Next Version of Rock Band Have?

The title of this post says it all. Or asks it all, whatever. Rock Band is good, but could be so much more! What do you think should be added (or subtracted)?

• Replay feature, so you can watch the concert footage of your band after you play?
• A keyboard controller, to play the harmonica, accordion, cello, or even keyboard parts?
• A mashup with DDR, so you can get points for doing various cool moves while playing?
• A better user interface, so you don’t have to back out 6 screens to set the calibration, then go back in through 6 screens?
• The ability to select the avatar for NPCs in your band?
• The ability to add whatever songs you want, including your own compositions?
• The ability to compose songs in Rock Band?

Here’s what Harmonix said in January:

Rock Band may not have reached the sales stratosphere of the Guitar Hero franchise just yet, but those who own or who have had a chance to play the game know that it can be extraordinarily fun to play. While the setlist of songs selected by Cambridge, Mass.-based developer Harmonix in Rock Band is certainly decent (and more are added via downloadable content each week), some gamers who are more musically inclined or who actually have their own real band would love nothing more than to put their music in the game.

In a new interview with Boston.com, Harmonix’s VP of Product Development Greg LoPiccolo was asked if a compiling program that would allow a band to convert its songs into playable Rock Band tracks might be conceivable. He answered, “It is conceivable, and would be awesome. We continue to talk about this possibility. I can’t commit to such a thing at this point, but would love to tackle it if we could find a way.”

Of course, the idea of transforming Rock Band into a user-generated platform (a la LittleBigPlanet) where players could create and share/play each other’s music could be truly amazing and could possibly represent the next step in the evolution of this music game genre.

Later on in the interview he comments that the team is “working on improvements that are obviously missing from the current version of Rock Band, as well as some crazy stuff that no one will expect, but promises to kick ass.”

LoPiccolo was also asked about the Wii since Rock Band is not available on Nintendo’s platform. Wii owners shouldn’t fret, however, as Harmonix is “psyched about the Wii, and would love to bring our stuff to the Wii audience.”

~ by raqband on March 12, 2008.