Harmonix Talks Keyboard, User Created Content for Rock Band

In a recent interview, Harmonix’ Greg LoPiccolo, talked about evolution of gameplay for Rock Band. Not satisfied to merely release new DLC for the title, Harmonix wants to make it possible for players to create their own custom content for the game.

“We would like to make it possible for people to introduce their own music into the Rock Band ecosystem, which is a pretty complicated topic.

“It isn’t easy to achieve - there are IP issues, ratings issues, and so forth. So there are a lot of things to work through to get that to work, but that seems like a natural direction for the franchise to move.

“We’d love to have it be a vehicle for people to be able to express themselves in terms of creating their own music and bringing it to a wider audience.”

LoPiccolo also told GamesIndustry.biz that Harmonix wants to provide the tools for players to use more self-expression, such as expanding on the drum solos and rock endings. He also talked about the possibility as well as difficulties involved in working a keyboard into the mix.

“Who knows? It may happen one day. It is actually conceptually pretty difficult to build in.

“Most consoles are set up for four peripherals, not five, which means you have to drop something. Which means that the song offering is more complicated.

“You know, it is a big commitment. And then the question is, are there enough rock songs with compelling keyboard parts to make it worthwhile? And maybe the answer is yes, but we’ve been pretty busy and we haven’t really gotten there yet.”

Catch the complete interview with Greg LoPiccolo on GamesIndustry.biz.

via GamesIndustry.biz