Will the DLC be future-proof?

[stiper327b]

So, I know we're all riding a euphoric wave of...euphoria...after the massive announcement of DLC that is confirmed to be available. And I'm more than happy to take out my surfboard of hype-osity and ride this killer wave as well. But my one question is, how future proof will these songs be?

Are you fine folk at HMX keeping an eye to the future with this DLC? I know, I know, RB is still months away, but at some point, a sequel will be released. Even if they flood the intartubes with DLC, improvements will need to be made and features added

Take the GH games for example. GH1 was released and everybody went nuts. It was perfect, it was sublime, it was a breath of fresh air. Everybody fell in love, and rightly so.

Except for a couple things. No bass part, no co-op, a counter intuitive and difficult HO/PO system. So many people just pay attention to the song lists on games like these that they kind of forget that there is always room for improvement. Consumers are insatiable, and developers are constantly looking to make better their product. And what happened when GH2 was released? Immediately everybody wanted to play the GH1 songs with the new GH2 engine. And HMX/RO wanted that to happen, but they couldn't just snap their fingers and make it happen, they had to really work with the tracks to update them to the GH2 engine, add bass lines, co-op and all that jazz.

I know that we can just swap discs, I've got no problem with that. I still do it with GH1 and 2 (on my lowly PS2, no less) but I just imagine how much easier it would be to have instant access to all the GH songs in one portal.

I know it's a long long long way off, and I know that you guys at HMX are focused intently on RB, but just don't turn a blind eye towards the future. This thing is gonna be huge, HUGE I TELL YA, and what better way to keep people enamored than by ensuring them that their purchase will be viable for many years to come.

[ThePaska]

I actually had been thinking about this too. Whether or not, if a Rock Band 2 ever came out you would be able to play Rock Band songs on it. For one thing I would expect it to be hard to play the ones that came on the disc, but what about the DLC, all the 100+ songs you end up downloading for Rock Band 1 will they be playable in Rock Band 2?

In reality though, I don't see this as a big problem for a year or more to come. With this huge DLC mission Harmonix is taking on, to give us 100s of songs over the next year, I wouldn't expect a Rock Band 2 until a year or more.

Without having played the game it is hard to forsee what sort of improvements will be done, but it could also be possible for them to release the improvements for download for Rock Band isn't it? I see Rock Band as a very long term thing not just the first part of many to come.

I hope what I am saying makes sense...heh.

[Eman311]

That is something i had not thought of...........and yea it dlc should be able to play over every rock band that comes out but i'm not sure if thats exactly feasible

[logicalnoise]

it's feasible if it's kept in mind. I doubt red octane worried that much about it when they made Guitar hero 2 for 360. Another hitch is the fact that ps3 and 360 use different DLC methods. no 360 game to date has shared online content with another. However I'm sure there's some way for a new rock band game disc to be able to access the first one save data as well as linked DLC.

[stiper327b]

Well, with the recent revelation of DLC songs and their respective prices, I'm even more curious about this situation. I honestly plan on buying every single last one of the already announced songs, as well as Who's Next and Nevermind (should that rumor finally be realized as truth). And if the quality of DLC is maintained throughout the year, it's shaping up to be a huge investment, likely costing as much as, if not more than, the game itself.

I'm hopeful that HMX touting RB not as a game but as a platform would lead to a world where RB2 would be less necessary than GH and it's yearly sequels, and thus this issue could be avoided for a bit. And honestly, with the quality of the songs announced already, all of which could easily be included as the main songs on either RB, RBII, or any of the GH games, this looks to be the case.

But, this is a party game first and foremost, a game to be experienced with others. And the last thing I'd want to do while playing RB2 is to have to switch discs if my friends/guests wanted to play a song from RB1 or vice versa. It just kills the momentum.

[tbradshaw]

Alex strongly suggested a 3 to 5 year development cycle for Rock Band games. It's hard to picture what they might add to a sequel. My strong prediction is that as long as they can keep backwards compatibility with song titles, they will.

So, as long as the improvements don't change the data format of the songs in an incompatible way, I bet that they will continue to support it. However, there are a number of hurdles to keep compatibility that I don't know:

a) Does Microsoft or Sony have a prohibition for using DLC approved for one title with another?

b) Does the licensing agreements between MTV/Harmonix and labels/artists allow for use in future titles?

Those are questions that could be show stoppers that the answer exists for right now. (Although we don't know it, and might not be able to know it if there is a confidentiality clause in any of the agreements. Sadly, this common with labels.)

In the future, it's also possible that the creative process with the sequel will do something so drastic that the current data model just doesn't work. But... I think that's a real long shot.

I would say that the answer is "probably", with a follow up that "I really doubt that any of the companies involved will choose to comment on this until a second title is at least in the works."

[Xanthous]

From the interviews I've read it seems that HMX is content with releasing regular DLC updates over the next few years, rather than working on periodic sequels.

After all, you can only add so much to a rhythm game. This would also free up a lot of creative minds to work on different titles.

If DLC brings in a constant revenue stream for the guys and gals at HMX, I wouldn't be surprised to see the next full installment of the franchise on the PS4/Xbox4-somethingthatmakesitsoundlikethesystemhasbeenaroun daslongassonys.

[sumboxcar182]

i know that microsoft changed their policy a while back and stated that dlc can be compatible for that game only. I don't remember the link but i think it was from one of their press releases

[toefer]

and Nevermind (should that rumor finally be realized as truth).

I'm pretty sure Alex confirmed it in that 5-page interview. When asked about how its easier to get licensing, he mentioned how they managed to get the entire Nevermind album, which they didn't think they'd be able to do.

[ChodTheWacko]

What are the realistic options here for handling rock band 1 songs in rock band 2?
Assume stuff like the drum kit in RB2 has 5 drums & 2 bass petals. (hey, one can dream)

1) Remaster the songs for the new instruments and charge money for the new versions
2) Allow playing old songs with the new engine, but disable the new features that didn't exist before (Like the co-op mode for GH1 songs, the 5th drum/2nd petal/whatever for RB1 songs in RB2)

I assume people would be fine with the latter? No worse than popping in the old
disks, right?

[admanimal]

I'm pretty sure Alex confirmed it in that 5-page interview. When asked about how its easier to get licensing, he mentioned how they managed to get the entire Nevermind album, which they didn't think they'd be able to do.

You're right but have the wrong interview with the wrong person...I can't remember who the interview was with. Dan something, maybe?

[Ultrace]

This is a very important question to ask right now. Will DLC be future-proof? Absolutely not, or at least there is no way to offer assurance on that. At some point, the series will make the leap to the next generation of consoles, at at that point if not sooner, DLC from this generation will likely become void--no game programmer will know if the hardware developers will build that backwards-compatibility into their next systems.

What I'm hoping for, before HMX has the expectation for people to snap up dozens of songs each, is for some statement of intention to make the DLC future-resistant. That they would like the DLC to work with future iterations of the game--because you can always add more characters, locations, options and the like. Even if they were to add a new kind of instrument in a sequel (keyboards, for instance, or third guitar tracks), it would be nice if the game could recognize and work with the lower-level tracks.

At this point, no one from HMX can state that this is going to happen with certainty. But that any future games are intended to be backwards-compatible would be a great thing.

[nicko68]

And I assume if you buy DLC for your XBox360 version of RB, you're stuck with Microsoft. And what happens when the XBox720 comes out? Will it still be able to access the DLC you bought? They liken their platform to iTunes, but if you buy a next gen iPod, you can still play all the music you bought for your previous gen... I hope that's true with this too, otherwise I see real problems with this model.

[SoKGiX]

5 drums n 2 pedals would be sic as ****