Kotaku
During his address at the Morgan Stanley Technology Conference earlier today, Activision boss Bobby Kotick was talking up Guitar Hero's plans for world domination. While Rock Band remains focused solely on North America, Activision have outlined Guitar Hero's potential to take over not just Europe, but Asia as well.
As far as Europe's concerned, it's a simple approach. The first step is getting enough product on the market, which they're already doing: Kotick says that while North America was the focus in 2007 as far as shipping allocations and marketing went, in 2008 they'd be focusing on Europe. The second step was in securing more local content: Activision's "relationship" with Universal music has given the company access to a huge roster of European acts, not only for the primary markets of Britain, France and Germany, but also bands that will let them target other areas, such as Spain and Italy.
Sounds familiar, I know, and probably not enough to win out over Rock Band's charms. Then again, so long as Rock Band remains a ghost on European release schedules, that's a moot point: Europeans can play Guitar Hero III, right now. They can't play Rock Band, and don't know when (or even if) they'll be able to play Rock Band.
As for Asia (Kotick only specifically addresses China and Korea), well, things are a little more ambitious. Citing experience they've already picked up from Blizzard - one of the few Western devs to crack the Asian market - Kotick says that future success in the region will rest not on boxed products like it does in the West, but in getting the game into internet cafes.
There are, Kotick says, 300,000 of them just in China. They're trusted local institutions. They have credit and billing structures already in place, and are a place where people meet, hook up and hang out. Using the PC version of GHIII as an example, all they'd need to do would be to hook a USB guitar into a PC, flood the game with local content (again, thanks to their new relationship with Universal), set up organised competitions and ladders and watch the cash money come flooding in.
"It's an incredibly natural way to think about Guitar Hero in a market like China", said Kotick, who also stated that such a move would be entirely on a pre-paid basis, and that they could have "multiple instruments in the same room". Funny. He could have just said "guitars", but no, he said "instruments". Multiple instruments.
Comments
I coulda' sword I heard of this multiple instrument thing somewhere else.
Patent Lawsuit from Rock Band?
This is worth commenting on just because they used a pic from one of my favourite simpsons episodes.
"So do you expect me to talk scorpio."
"No Mr Bunt I expect you to die and it be a cheap funeral."
Keytar Hero here we come!
Hmmm...Ingenious. Activision is going to add Bass, Drums and a Mic.
Why didn't anybody else ever think of that?
I always said Guitar Hero would be great if you could use like, drums or something. I wish there were a game that had something like that...
Please keyboard peripheral, please.
As for European tracks, some more Die Toten Hosen, please.
Extra "please" for good measure.
@Kirbytheslayer: In-Kirby XMB:
I wonder if we'll end up seeing a press conference from Harmonix now...
"We're incredibly flattered that our Rock Band franchise has attracted imitators..."
God, I can't stand Activision. Yet another reason for me to continue never buying anything they make.
Man, that's some weak sarcasm...
@Erwin: yeah, just think of the one to one ratio for key hit and note played...f'n lol
Witzbold is gonna be sad for lack of Rock Band. :(
I'll be first in line for Banhu Hero and Didgeridoo Hero.
I do loves me some Didgeridoos.
I don't know about that Struggle in america for rock band thing. I have a fuckin' fort of those suckers in my store. A full size human assessable fort!!!
I LOVE the picture. Scorpio, best obscure 10-minute quasi-villain ever.
I wasn't aware Rock Band was struggling to meet US shelves. All the stores I've gone to seem to have a surplus of RB copies, and now stand alone drumsets.
Yeah they're not going to be overcoming Konamis Bemani in Asia.
Australia would REALLY like rockband.
This has format war written all over it. Good.
Gackt in Asian GH anyone?
Damn Activision and all their greediness!! Harmonix better get Rock Band to Europe before Activision get's theirs, or Harmonix might have a problem.
I am VERY disappointed. I was hoping this was going to be about Guitar Hero: Europe and Guitar Hero: Asia editions of the game. Heat Of The Moment FTW!
I just don't get how Guitar Hero wins. You can't compete with an entire instrument set.
Why bash on the multiple instrumentst thing? If there was no mario there woudl have been no Sonic. Everyone knocks off the next best product. Basicly Rockband combined all the other music games out there, To compete you have to make yourself better. What is the big fuss. This cracks me up. for fucking Budda's sake rockband is a fucking spinoff of Guitar Hero!!!
@Wyld: No. They already have the guitar. Karaoke has been around for much longer and Konami put out DrumMania long before Rock Band so I'm fairly certain Activision can do as they please w/multiple instruments.
May I just say (yes, I may), that this was excellent execution of Simpsons integration Mr. Plunkett! No ass kissing here, just admiration.
The "what about Rockband?" comparison holds little water though. Once upon a time my children, there were titles by the names of Frequency and Amplitude.
"Without progression through imitation, we suffer the burdens of monotonous mediocrity" - me
seriously I just came up with that...
"While Rock Band continues to struggle to reach American shelves...."
Say what? Every store I go to has TONS of Rock Band in stock. the damn boxes are impossible to avoid.
@SSJPabs: probably because Guitar hero costs less, and from what i hear alot of people don't feel like haveing a freeking concert stage in their game/living room.
scorpio your totaly mad
@SSJPabs: Yeah, you see, Rock Band's not out in Europe. And a lot of people are getting worried that it may NEVER come out in Europe. And if it doesn't, Rock Band's strengths are a moot point.
I have seen no such shortage of Rock Band in the states. If anything everywhere I do that sells it they have a huge pile of them.
@mva5580: I'm gonna have to second that. The best buy near me has easily 50 Rock Band box sets just piled up against a wall.
Scorpio is one of the greatest characters that ever came from the Simpsons.
@dsmx:
actually, its Bont, not Bunt
@rmeehan17: agreed!! Everywhere i go has stacks of them, purple and blue stacks, My walmarrt has two palets of them where the second PS3/360 demo machine was. i'm not getting rockband for a while because all the walmart demo units were falling apart, and not from overuse, just from normal play.
@Spartan1308:
I thought there was a patent for "a cellphone with a camera imbued on it" for example.
If I put a potato smasher+ a cellphone+ a camera +a camera+ a pc tablet I can´t make a patent of it? Then 90% of the world´s patents would be gone... woudn´t they?
mmmkay.. whatever... my plan of a swiss Pocket knife with a palmtop is gone then... sigh...
Yeah, it turns out that I don't actually care about Rock Band versus Guitar Hero. I'm just fiercely attracted to Scorpio. I can't deny that man anything. ANYTHING.
But, if I absolutely must remain on topic, I'll offer this: Good luck with Guitar Hero to all involved. I'll be more than happy to pick up the the next Guitar Hero that has a set-list that I'm not rushing through to get to the good stuff. I hate to seem tritely nostalgic, but I do miss the quality to quantity ratio of Guitar Hero one. I still play that game reasonably often, actually.
@Wyld: lol imbued....I wonderif they had Deckard Cain imbue it for them....
how about some love for the heroes you never see on stage?... backstage hero: lights, camera, rock on!
ive lost respect for activision and kotick is annoying me, he thinks that because Vivendi bought them that they are now in par with blizzard, He's all talk.
As for this news I guess it would be good for them since Europe has yet to see rock band, but can they really pull it off?
I mean harmonix laid out the plans all neversoft had to do was copy and paste will they be up to actually changing the tiring guitar hero formula? Meh
@rmeehan17: Same here, my local GameStop's have said that the demand plummeted and they can't move it at all. There is this massive pyramid of boxes in one of the stores just waiting to be worshipped (or to be used as a place of ritual sacrifice).
From the looks of things around here CAG's will have a huge amount of Rockband stuff to loot from area K-Marts, They have 10-20 boxes per store, and it seems that none are moving!!
I'm sure its been said already but... Love that picture.
/Simpsons fans unite!
Too late. Rock Band's game is deeper, the setlist is better, it's more appealing to non-gamers, and has cheaper/better/more frequent downloadable content.
Rock band makes me feel like going out and joining a real band instead of playing on plastic guitars and hitting plastic drums.
Guitar Hero, just makes me feel like hitting some buttons - it doesn't make me hate life and plastic.
Hm, they must see Europe as a key location to begin the final countdown against Rock Band. I don't know about Asia, though, seems more like they're pushing there in the heat of the moment.
What a great episode of the simpsons that was. Anyone know what season that was? I'm pretty sure it was before the show became a horrible mess, but can't quite remember.
YCS
Japanese and Portuguese songs on Rock Band would be nice. It doesn't seem like GH is even considering them either. English only forever?
If they add more instruments they're going have to change the name. Obviously, has anyone seen trademarking for (instrument) hero
ah, thank god that's photoshopped since I was this close to groaning at yet another forced guitar hero reference