Activision: Harmonix Declined Offers For Rock Band Patch

Activision has responded to accusations by Rock Band developer Harmonix that it is blocking a patch that would allow Guitar Hero guitar peripherals to be played with the PlayStation 3 version of Rock Band, as Harmonix had intended, saying Harmonix's announcement "paints a very misleading picture." According to Harmonix, the company developed a patch to enable compatibility with Activsion and Red Octane's Guitar Hero III guitar for the PS3, which was approved by Sony and tentatively scheduled for release on December 4 -- until Activision "objected to the compatibility patch's release... We have been told that it will unfortunately not be released due to Activision's continued objection." However, Activision says in a statement that, "In fact, Harmonix and its parent company MTV Games/Viacom recently declined Activision’s offer to reach an agreement that would allow the use of Guitar Hero guitar controllers with Rock Band." Continued the statement, "We have been and remain open to discussions with Harmonix and MTV Games/Viacom about the use of our technology in Rock Band. Unfortunately for Rock Band users, in this case Harmonix and MTV Games/Viacom are unwilling to discuss an agreement with Activision." Harmonix originally created the Guitar Hero franchise, developing the Guitar Hero, GHII and Guitar Hero Rocks the '80s before being acquired by MTV Games. MTV recently released Rock Band on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 with distribution support from Electronic Arts. While the PS3 version's box contains the legend that it works with most guitar peripherals, it is not compatible with Guitar Hero III's guitar on PS3 -- the only other guitar available for the system. The Xbox 360 version of Rock Band works with both the GHII and GHIII guitars. It is not currently possible to buy a separate Rock Band guitar on any platform -- it is only included in a full bundle which also includes the game, microphone and drum peripherals.