The Harmonix-Neversoft drum war officially begins

Any prospect of a peaceful co-existence between Harmonix's Rock Band series and Neversoft's Guitar Hero was blown out of the water this morning, with GH's Brian Bright talking smack to Eurogamer about the newly-announced clip-on cymbals for the Rock Band 2 drum kit.

"I don't know how far ahead they planned that - we obviously revealed [our drum kit] much earlier than they did," Bright stated. "I've a feeling there was a: 'Oh s***! There's cymbals! How can we put cymbals on our kit?' That would be the easiest way without having to rewire everything and re-engineer the entire circuit board."

Harmonix's John Drake was quick to counter, pointing out the advantages the veteran developer has introduced with the new technology.

"It might just look like more songs, but really the technology that we're pushing forward, and some of the features we've added, it's not just a title update: it really is a new game with a lot of really great stuff," he began. "We actually have expansion ports on the back of our drum kits that let you attach three cymbals to your drum set."

"At Harmonix we really are musicians first and game people second... My drum set has three cymbals on it - I don't know how many drum sets you've seen with two cymbals on them; I guess that's a question for other people." Ouch.

So where do your loyalties lie in this most pertinent battle for rhythm supremacy?

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Comments

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What are your thoughts?

  1. MooImASheep1991 | MooImASheep1991

    • 9:52am BST - August 28th, 2008
    • 1

    Woot first

    whatever rock band sucks, so im guessing rock band 2 sucks as well. GH for the win. also why hasnt it been released in england YET. tht the main reason rock band sucks to me, ive also heard it has terrible songs to

    PSN ID - MooImASheep1991

  2. Devil_Dog

    • 9:53am BST - August 28th, 2008
    • 2

    gonna have to go with Neversoft on this one...Looked forward to Rockband for ages and it still hast shipped for PS3 in UK so im still pi**ed at that. Plus the new GH looks way more fun.

  3. Staticneuron | Staticneuron

    • 10:04am BST - August 28th, 2008
    • 3

    Out of 14 games that harmonix created only 1 was not centered around music (EyeToy: AntiGrav) the rest not only are centered around music but they are the developers of Guitar hero and Guitar hero II. Neversoft picked up the reins after 3 and made some spin offs.

     

    Why would this subject be even up for debate, or anyone acknowledging neversoft over harmonix, is a pure mystery to me.

  4. angryplaystationdude | sympozium_666

    • 10:15am BST - August 28th, 2008
    • 4

    Rock Band is Microsoft and EA so it sucks and yeah 58 songs yeah it sucks especially half of the downloadable tracks

  5. PS3-The Ultimate Machine

    • 10:22am BST - August 28th, 2008
    • 5

    Say what you want about Rock Band,but it won't change the fact that IT made NeverSoft add drums and a mic,and a crapload of other instruments,either way both of them suck,as they're the same button mashing non sense i've played on a dozen flash games.

  6. irimus

    • 11:00am BST - August 28th, 2008
    • 6

    rock band anyday!

  7. mayhemmusic | mayhemmusic / stonepig / philmadog1970

    • 11:08am BST - August 28th, 2008
    • 7

    With you on this one Devil_Dog I was really looking forward to Rock Band but nearly  a year after original release and Rock Band 2 around the corner they are not gonna get a peeny out of me ..... GH4 looks like it will be the winner certainly in Europe 

  8. svtschmidt

    • 11:41am BST - August 28th, 2008
    • 8

    yeah, makes sense to me. hate on a game you have never played.

  9. gingo | gingo

    • 11:56am BST - August 28th, 2008
    • 9

    psn id: gingo.... this all sounds really petty, why dont neversoft just stick with guitars since its GUITAR hero and let harmonix have the full band

  10. Drew1987

    • 11:57am BST - August 28th, 2008
    • 10

    Rock Band is amazing... They definitely have the better songs.  Only complaint i have about Rock Band is the subpar drum pedal. Since both drums and guitars are suppose to be compatable this next time I might get Rock Band 2 and GH4.

  11. Thorzilla | Thorzilla

    • 12:45pm BST - August 28th, 2008
    • 11

    Rock Band for life suckers!

  12. NDGO | ndgo

    • 1:04pm BST - August 28th, 2008
    • 12

    they both are stupid. they should come together on this and make crazy amounts of money

  13. vipergts2207 | D-Smitty

    • 1:44pm BST - August 28th, 2008
    • 13

    RB is infinitely more consistent with dlc compared to GH. Harmonix can have my money any day.

  14. funkybudda | funkybudda

    • 1:52pm BST - August 28th, 2008
    • 14

    Rock Band is the one that gave xbox 360 time exclusive right? So screw them. GH all the day.

  15. disunion

    • 1:56pm BST - August 28th, 2008
    • 15

    @4

    rock band is not mircosoft. it's ea and mtv.

    i will own both games however i'm really excited about rock bands song lineup. Songs people have been asking for awhile. Until Guitar Hero releases their song list i really can't compare. Also since Sony has announced compatibility between the two games instruments i will just get the guitar hero pack and the rock band 2 game.

  16. T-Dogg400 | T-Dogg400

    • 2:00pm BST - August 28th, 2008
    • 16

    Why cant they get along lol.

  17. DJDarkViper | DJDarkViper

    • 2:55pm BST - August 28th, 2008
    • 17

    My allegience is with Harmonix, been with them since Frequency's release, and i trust everything they do.

    Plus lets not forget, the ION Drum kit was released waaaay before the expansion slots idea. But if this is jsut a battle of the stocks, then Harmonix has Neversoft beat anyways with 3 cymbols and cross compatability with the old and new.

  18. singlestrike

    • 3:17pm BST - August 28th, 2008
    • 18

    Good God, Rock Band blows Guitar Hero out of the water in awesomeness. The only gripe I have with Rock Band is the fact that its songs don't get quite as hard as the songs in Guitar Hero, but everything else is CLEARLY better in RB.

  19. PROTOTYPE

    • 3:25pm BST - August 28th, 2008
    • 19

    @9 they don't just stick with guitar because this is business. Rock Band 1 uped Guitar Hero so now they have to try to 1 up Rock Band or they won't sell games. Rock Band was way better than GH3 but I think World tour is gonna be better this time around. The thing I don't like about the RB2 symbols is that they dont add any extra notes you can just choose to ignore some of the bottom pads and play the symbols instead where World Tour has 5 different notes (6 with bass pedal).

  20. M-O-P-E-Y

    • 4:42pm BST - August 28th, 2008
    • 20

    I thought GH and RB were developed by the same ppl. lol. guess i was wrong

  21. fkPS3

    • 5:07pm BST - August 28th, 2008
    • 21

    So true. I'm a drum player and although there are some who might use a kit with 2 cymbals, i'm definitely a bigger fan of 3 or more. I just hope that we're going to be able to use and attach the cymbals with the RB1 kit. GH thought to themselves, 'oh no. we need to catch up. Gotta add drums or we're screwed.' Monkey see monkey do. RB2 and their full cd downlads :oD If only we could get areosmith for it...Oh wait...THEY SUCK TOO :D

  22. sorrow880 | Sorrow880

    • 6:04pm BST - August 28th, 2008
    • 22

    I'd take Rock Band 2 ANYDAY!!! You actually get downloadable content EVERY week and Rock Band 1 songs carryover meaning OVER 500 FREAKING SONGS will be available for Rock Band 2. And the Ion drumset rules them all.

  23. mrwonderr

    • 8:46pm BST - August 28th, 2008
    • 23

     I have two cymbals (hi hat and 18" crash, which sucks) and it's so hard to play.  Luckily my crash is 18" and it sounds like a ride if I tap it near the center.  It sounds like a really ugly crash if I hit it from the side.

     

    Whatever, Rock Band for the win.  I don't like copycats... COUGH Neversoft COUGH Microsoft.

  24. SwordOfWar

    • 11:36pm BST - August 28th, 2008
    • 24

    I'm sorry but Rock Band was always better than Guitar Hero. Anyone who actually owned a copy of Rock Band enjoyed it more than GH. The only people I know that like GH more are the people who have never owned or played RB. Rock Band 2 is obviously goingto be better because you have a higher quality drumkit and a lot more downlodable songs. Who wants to play a mic or drums of a game with guitar in its name anyway? Stop saying rock band sucks and just buy it already, because its a great game and it is better than Guitar Hero.

  25. The Master

    • 12:10am BST - August 29th, 2008
    • 25

    Harmonix Rulez in this case. When I bought GH3, like many other PS3 owners, it didn't work, the strum bar would mess up all the time, and so we started a thread on their website submitting our incredible amount of complaints and they basically said screw you buy another one...When I bought Rock Band, my strum bar completely died and the whammy broke faster than any GH guitar I'd ever owned, what did they do? They sent me a brand new guitar, air mailed, free of charge, and sent me a return kit so that I could send them back the broken guitar while still being able to shred ASAFP. Harmonix made the best GH's I and II, so this is a no brainer.

  26. LittleB69 | MightyB69

    • 2:29am BST - August 29th, 2008
    • 26

    Who cares.... there can only be one choice "Guitar Hero" since Harmonix decided to hold Rockband out of the hands of PS3 owners here in EU. I was in line for Rockband.. but now i'll just wait for GH.

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