Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Sony To Set Compatibility Standards For PS3 Music Games

Posted by Soulskill on from the just-one-axe-to-grind dept.

Michael Shorrock, Sony's director of third-party relations, announced on the Playstation blog that he's been working with the major music game developers (i.e. Rock Band's Harmonix, Guitar Hero's Activision, and others) to ensure basic compatibility for peripherals between the games. Joystiq has a compatibility matrix that shows which devices work with which games. "...Rock Band 2's guitar and drum set will work with Guitar Hero: World Tour and with Rock Revolution. Conversely, Rock Revolution's drum set will work with both Guitar Hero: World Tour and Rock Band 2. In addition, Guitar Hero: World Tour and Rock Band 2 will both support the SingStar microphones. We're still working hard to ensure compatibility between the Guitar Hero and Rock Band titles currently on the market, and we hope to have an announcement on that shortly." Update: 8/20 17:38 by SS: Reader TheWolfkin notes that Microsoft has now made an official announcement to do this as well.

2 of 89 comments (clear)

  1. Glad someone is doing this ... by gstoddart · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Right now, it's a complete crap shoot.

    The guitar which came with Rock Band for the Wii is a piece of crap, but it can't use my Guitar Hero guitars. For reasons completely unknown to me, the USB guitars from RB for the XBox don't even work with the USB hub that comes with RB on the Wii.

    How is it even possible that a USB guitar isn't compatible across those two platforms unless RB only has support for the wireless guitar they issued for the Wii?

    The idea of having to buy a whole separate set of instruments for GH4 drives me nutty.

    It really would be good for someone to enforce some standardization so the consumer doesn't end up getting gouged.

    Cheers

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    1. Re:Glad someone is doing this ... by Moryath · · Score: 5, Interesting

      For reasons completely unknown to me, the USB guitars from RB for the XBox don't even work with the USB hub that comes with RB on the Wii.

      You can blame Micro$oft for that one - their "not-quite-USB" controllers utilize a so-called "security" signing system that prevents so-called "unauthorized" peripherals from working, and M$ are being assholes about letting any but a few companies that have paid a butt-ton for near-monopoly access to the platform make anything.

      For another example: M$ completely refuses to allow X-Arcade sticks to work, despite numerous attempts by the makers to PAY for the privilege of making an adapter.

      And that pisses me off. I'd LOVE to play certain Live Arcade titles with a real arcade stick, for crying out loud.