"Around 50% of TT Fusion were against LEGO Rock Band"

[cherokeesam]

http://www.develop-online.net/news/3...LEGO-Rock-Band

Interesting (but short) dev article about LEGO RB.....

Pretty much officially states that HMX were the ones who came up with the concept, and TT was originally split on the idea:

“We were approached 13 months ago by publisher TT Games, who were in turn approached by Harmonix about LEGO Rock Band. And I’d say about 50 per cent of our studio were for the idea, and about 50 per cent were against it.”

Palmer was refreshingly frank about the initial reception to LEGO Rock Band, admitting that the game was – initially - badly received by the press and player community.

Traveller’s Tales subsidiary studio TT Fusion initially had concerns regarding the prospect of merging both the LEGO and Rock Band franchises.

That’s according to Matt Palmer, head of animation at TT Fusion, who presented a speaker session today at the inaugural Develop in Liverpool conference.

During Palmer’s well-received speaker session – where the question ‘can a LEGO man even properly hold a guitar’ was explored – Palmer admitted that he had reservations of his own when pitched the idea of a LEGO Rock Band game.


“I know people were saying ‘oh they’re flogging a LEGO licence again’,” he said.

At a brief Q&A session following the speach, Palmer told Develop that, generally, TT Fusion warmed to the idea of LEGO Rock Band during the end of 2008, when the game was beginning to come together.

“Many of us started realizing that we weren’t just skinning one franchise on another, he said.”

[Baanu_Rass]

It is a reskin though.

[ThatAuthoringGroup]

For the most part yes, but there is the new difficulty levels, the no fail (gain your studs back when you fail out mini game), the rock challenges, etc.

Yes at it's core it's the same, but it's more different than RB2 was from RB1.

[monkeyfish]

I wouldn't call it a reskin. They did at least add cutscenes, different gameplay elements and a family-oriented atmosphere.

I would say a few aspects of the game shouldn't have been handled so lazily, or outright tossed, for that matter. This is clearly a 60% Lego game - easy, little replay value - and 40% RB game.

[Awesome_Tree]

I knew the Blur dude looked like Harry Potter.

[wcarnation]

I think its a reconception of Rock Band that is more focused on upbeat/tongue-in-cheek styles and accessible by a younger generation more than Rock Band its self. It carries that dual appeal of being Rock Band and a "younger generation" geared property.

Just like The Beatles Rock Band carried a dual appeal of Beatles and Rock Band.

This stuff makes a lot more sense than just a plain merging of properties.

Everyone is horribly negative against it, though, since it's LEGOs and doesn't featur a difficulty/song set that breaks your hands in half.

Maybe Harmonix could find a dual appeal in making "Ass hole Rock Band" in the future. 90% of the setlist is Metallica!

[PCTraitor]

There are things I really prefer in Lego RB than in RB2. I like how the band world tour unfolds (but I dont like doing the same song that close together due to some of the challenges) and I loved the album.

The make your own album idea needs to be used and expanded upon in Rock Band 3. Fantastic idea.

[Kariodude]

It is a reskin though.

If you honestly think that then you must not have even played it.

[MattyT]

Unfortunately, some people (in most cases, those who haven't played the game) will see it as a re-skin. However, perception is not reality in this case.

Also, when it came to the LEGO characters holding guitars, I think it was borderline genius to have the LEGO characters play (mostly) modified RB Guitars (colored frets top/bottom). It fits with the atmosphere so well.

[Parodygm]

To be honest, it kind of returns me to the humorous days of the original two Guitar Hero games. That's not a bad thing as a one off.