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Sony To Set Compatibility Standards For PS3 Music Games
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.
And yet none of them will be compatible with my Samba Di Amigo maracas.... *sniff*
This guy's the limit!
today's word is Proprietary
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.
Isn't that what they are doing?
By trying to make the game makers "play nice" and getting instruments cross-game compatible, buying an instrument for one game means you only need to buy a game to play the second game, instead of needing to pay for a new instrument as well.
This space for rent. All reasonable inquiries will be entertained at proprietors discretion.
It's a pretty obvious gesture after you've seen the frustration it causes people. Still, it is pretty surprising for Sony. Perhaps this is the beginning of a brand new era of Sony not actively annoying their customers.
You would be surprised, if you actually looked at the PS3, and even the PSP with recent firmware you would be suprised at how "open" these so called closed systems are.
Take the PS3. It was hammered on launch, for being too little too late, and too costly. Now, with recent firmware updates, and its overall better hardware design (no Red Ring of Death), has now made it a decent games system, a phenomenal Blu Ray, and upscaling DVD/DivX/Xvid/media player. Anandtech has revised its original 6 out of 10 score to now 9 out of 10, with high praise.
Connectivity? Standard WiFi, Ethernet, USB and Bluetooth are all there. Even the controllers use bluetooth, no proprietary wireless standard. You can even connect the PSP wirelessly via stanard WiFi or internet.
Running out of ports/sockets? No worries, they are just standard USB 2.0 ports and you can use a normal USB hub to expand them. No need to any proprietry crap to extend the number of ports on the unit. The controllers charge from the USB ports using normal USB A to Mini USB cables. (you can use standard USB chargers too, like a Motorola V3i, or Blackberry charger)
Need a Keyboard or Mouse? No problem, just either attach a USB one, or get a bog standard Bluetooth one.
Need a universal media player? You got that! BlueRay, DVD, VCD, DivX/Xvid (its actually DivX certified), AAC, MP3, and a growing list of media support. It also acts as a standard DNLA client, so can pick up media from other computers, and DNLA media servers via the network. I have got it to work with Nero Home server, Windows Media Player, TVarsity (FOSS), and even a Nokia N95.
You want to run Linux on a PS3? no problem, it works, support is built to boot other operating systems (under a hypervisor). Sony officially supports Yellow Dog Linux for PS3, but there are versions of Ubuntu, Fedora, and others. There is work in porting Myth onto the PS3.
You want additional Hard Drive Space? No problem, just replace the built in hard drive with a larger standard SATA 2.5inch drive. The manual event explains how to do it.
Proprietary Memory Cards? No way! It uses standard USB Storage Devices. No need for proprietary Memory Cards. Backups can be done to normal USB Drives. Those lucky ones who got an earlier 60/80gb PS3, have built in Card Readers too (CF, SD, MemoryStick). The PS3s that don't have memory card readers, you can easily attach a USB version.
Home Brew? Didnt i say it runs Linux? In fact there is a YouTube video of some masochists, booting Linux on their PS3, then running Windows XP in VM Ware, crazy, considering there is not a LOT of memory there!
Its a very good system, and I bought it without any question, and am still pretty amazed at what it can do, certainly for its price.
Oh, and I recently bought a Sony 40Inch Bravia 1080p LCD, for £650 with 5 year warranty from Costco. This is actually cheaper than a similar Samsung (and i feel better performing).
Maybe they are only changing in some markets, but lets see.
Have a nice day!