Taking a page from the Sony playbook, Dan Teasdale of Harmonix says the developer’s new Rock Band 2 game isn’t actually competing with Activision’s Guitar Hero World Tour.
Rock Band 2 is a music game from Electronic Arts in which up to four players form “bands” and use instrument-shaped controllers to play along with pre-recorded music. Guitar Hero World Tour is a music game from Activision in which up to four players form “bands” and use instrument-shaped controllers to play along with pre-recorded music. Despite the fact that they have different names, some observers believe there are enough similarities between the two that they could end up competing with one another over the Christmas season as flagship titles for their respective publishers. But Teasdale, lead designer on Rock Band 2, doesn’t agree.
“I don’t think we’re competing,” he said in an interview with Eurogamer. “At least from a design perspective, we’re going after two completely different audiences. Rock Band is about an authentic band gameplay experience. We want people to have fun at parties, and we want to reach a wide audience.”
Guitar Hero, on the other hand, which was originally developed by Harmonix, is designed to be a more “technical experience,” he said. “There’s nothing wrong with that, it’s a valid experience; it’s just not what we’re going for.”
“I don’t sit around going, ‘How do we beat Guitar Hero?'” he added. “I don’t need to. My team’s got more than enough great ideas.”
And even if you do persist in thinking that the two games may inevitably come into competition over the holiday, that’s okay with Teasdale. “Call of Duty and Halo are both great franchises you can enjoy,” he said. “It’s the same with Guitar Hero and Rock Band.”
