In what can be read as an indictment of the development process at Activision, Kasson Crooker, a senior producer at Harmonix (and member of synth pop group, Freezepop!) has indicated that Harmonix left the Guitar Hero series in order to innovate.
"Leaving anything behind is full of complexity and emotion", Crooker in an interview with Nicole Tanner of Suite101. "But, as amazing as working on those (Guitar Hero) games was, our mission was always to innovate, push the boundaries of technology and let non-musicians feel the power and energy of performing music.
"A full band experience is at the epicenter of that power, so when MTV came along, we were thrilled to be given the resources to create a fully realized band game in Rock Band. Since then, we haven't spent much time looking back."
Well, a good place to start with the innovation might have been not sticking so closely to the formula established in Japan with the likes of GuitarFreaks (which Crooker acknowledges in the interview).
Putting that mini-rant aside, Crooker's comments may tell us something interesting - that Activision was not prepared to lay down the funding to push the Guitar Hero franchise toward being a full band game. At least not until Rock Band had been announced and it realised it had to release Guitar Hero World Tour, complete with... full band functionality!
Alternatively, Crooker is simply spinning towards his new masters, and Activision would have been perfectly happy to fund a full band game, but Harmonix like MTV's pension plan.
"Leaving anything behind is full of complexity and emotion", Crooker in an interview with Nicole Tanner of Suite101. "But, as amazing as working on those (Guitar Hero) games was, our mission was always to innovate, push the boundaries of technology and let non-musicians feel the power and energy of performing music.
"A full band experience is at the epicenter of that power, so when MTV came along, we were thrilled to be given the resources to create a fully realized band game in Rock Band. Since then, we haven't spent much time looking back."
Well, a good place to start with the innovation might have been not sticking so closely to the formula established in Japan with the likes of GuitarFreaks (which Crooker acknowledges in the interview).
Putting that mini-rant aside, Crooker's comments may tell us something interesting - that Activision was not prepared to lay down the funding to push the Guitar Hero franchise toward being a full band game. At least not until Rock Band had been announced and it realised it had to release Guitar Hero World Tour, complete with... full band functionality!
Alternatively, Crooker is simply spinning towards his new masters, and Activision would have been perfectly happy to fund a full band game, but Harmonix like MTV's pension plan.
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