That isn't why this failed, that's why. It failed because it wasn't even appealing enough to the audience they were pitching it to.
RockBand 4 for PC is about to fail
- Thread starter deoee
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That isn't why this failed, that's why. It failed because it wasn't even appealing enough to the audience they were pitching it to.
breakfuss
Member
Well the demand is there but 1.5 mil seems kinda exorbitant.
SolidusDave
Member
I'm not familiar with how KS works. Does Harmonix get to keep the money?
Better use it for improving the console version :>
Better use it for improving the console version :>
GrantDaNasty
Member
The quoted poster is right. 1.5 million dollars for a port of anything is ridiculous, add to that it being a game people didn't exactly get warm & fuzzy feelings over and you've got a recipe for disaster.
It's on Fig, not Kickstarter, but regardless, my understanding is that they only get the money if they meet their goal. I think Indiegogo might be different in that even if it fails the individual might still keep the money?
breakfuss
Member
No, they have to make the goal. But I'm not certain they used KS for this.
A Link to the Past
Banned
It's sad, but I think inevitable. Rock Band and Guitar Hero were running on borrowed time as-is. I don't know that we'll see much from either brand in the near future.
SolidusDave
Member
Oh I didn't realize it's another thing. Ok, thanks, that makes the concept more appealing for me risk-wise. More like preordering a game that then gets canceled depending on how much you donate.
Maybe the 1.5 million cover also maintenance costs for the game? Like online, DLC and updates etc. They see RB4 more like a platform as there apparently won't be a sequel any time soon.
PC still gets RB VR though...
The failure of this crowdfunding doesn't mean people aren't interested on a PC version, it only means they won't pay for it in advance. Which makes sense, as this would be a late port with no guarantees about its quality, DLC amount or modding capabilities, and also requires extra hardware that some may not currently own.
Using your same logic, this situation is nothing more than PC owners telling Harmonix to suck a lemon for having wasted their chance of releasing this earlier.
Not really. If the campaign succeeds, there's no guarantee the game will ever come out, so you'd be left with no money and no game. It's never as safe as a preorder (not saying the latter is safe either, as we all know, but at least you will certainly get the game).
I didn't say that is the reason why it failed dude. I even said that I already thought it was wrong to try and bring it back on consoles, where that definitely wouldn't have been an issue.
Deft Beck
Gold Member
Rock Band VR is one of their current projects. Aside from that, I have no idea what else this company could do, unless they try to make a DJ Hero-like that they were too busy to develop back during the music game boom.
Either way, Harmonix is coming close to the wire.
I disagree. I played RB when I still had a console just as much alone trying to get better, going for score/completion, or just for fun, if not more than as a party game. Leave alone the freeware clones like FOF or Phase Shift. I know I'm in the minority, but there might be enough people to make it reasonable to port to the PC.
It's just that... lots of people still don't give a fuck about crowdfunding. Leave alone not very publicized campaign on Fig - a platform that had some bad press due to Double Fine's involvement.
The idea of rockband on pc isnt terrible, but delaying it till a year after the console versions failed and trying to crowdfund it was stupid, especially with rockband vr supposedly coming to pc.
Rockband should have been on pc since rockband 2. Oh well, at least we still have frets on fire.
The guy is talking about audioshield which is kind of like samba de amigo meets elite beat agents meets dance central.
It looks like a better fit for vr than rock band vr at least.
Ban Puncher
Member
Maybe Harmonix should of gone with Kickstarter instead of relatively unknown crowd funding service (which was set up by other successful KS recipients so they could potentially keep more money but that's another kettle of figs) that takes less of a cut.
Because now that cut is going to be zero dollars.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ytCEuuW2_A
Because now that cut is going to be zero dollars.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ytCEuuW2_A
breakfuss
Member
Lmfao that's cold.
We really just have to look at kickstarter like Divinity: Original Sin ( & 2 ) or say The Bard's Tale IV to know that this was gonna fail.
Those new games asked for less ( again for a new game, not a port announced after the console version, meaning it would either lead to less people buying it, or double dippers ) and handled it better with the use of stretch goals.
If porting a rythm game to PC cost as much as making a RPG from zero, I guess the genre is dead for good.
I wasn't arguing against that, it's going to fail because they couldn't appeal to Steam users with a port in a series that isn't as popular as it once was.
My argument was against the fact that this failed because people would be playing this at a desk in an office chair. If that really is the reason this failed it means that any Rock Band pitch for PC wouldn't have made a difference.
- Price tag was too high
-Should've gone with kickstarter instead of FIG
- Should've waited until the console versions were more complete and more of the lacking features were in place.
- Trying to fund it for PC without online is insanity
- Better PR planning. After the announcement we barely heard anything from them.
Still 700k for a port to a completely new system Harmonix have no experience or recognition in is much better than what I expected it to be.
-Should've gone with kickstarter instead of FIG
- Should've waited until the console versions were more complete and more of the lacking features were in place.
- Trying to fund it for PC without online is insanity
- Better PR planning. After the announcement we barely heard anything from them.
Still 700k for a port to a completely new system Harmonix have no experience or recognition in is much better than what I expected it to be.
You've been having this argument with yourself squire, absolutely nobody has said this. You took an off comment and forkin ran with it talking about Valve and Steam or something.
Games are expensive. Even if it is just a simple port. 1.5 million doesnt go as far as you think it does
nkarafo
Member
I wish RB/GH series were forever. It's the best way to listen to classic songs in better, remastered quality and even play with the sound channels and mix them yourself.
When was the last time you could take a classic Metallica song and play with the sound channels of the original masters, make all songs instrumental, listen to the original vocals without instruments, reveal the bass in some songs where you could barely hear it, etc?
When was the last time you could take a classic Metallica song and play with the sound channels of the original masters, make all songs instrumental, listen to the original vocals without instruments, reveal the bass in some songs where you could barely hear it, etc?
Deft Beck
Gold Member
Audioshield uses auto generated charts with an imprecise method of input. I am not impressed, but it's a start.
I think a better focus for future rhythm games would be short range motion input. Regular button inputs and then "3D" notes that require motions such as swatting your hand, clasping and unclasping, etc.
In the latest interview on gamespot they're saying Rock Band 4 sold well and DLC is sustaining them for the unforeseeable future. They are releasing patches every month mostly introducing new features and squashing bugs. They also dropped Mad Catz and are now working with a new partner who will make future instruments. They also claim they will have their biggest booth ever on the next E3 (or was it PAX?) and by fall they will release their first major patch. So they're not leaving us just yet.
How was that an "off comment"? It was obviously part of your reasoning for it being unappealing on PC. Anyway, even if you're dismissing that part of your post now it doesn't matter since I was just clarifying what my position was.
ElBoxyBrown
Banned
Is Harmonix not capable of making a new IP of a different genre? I don't understand how you could have your company be dedicated to only making rhythm games when the market for that is dwindling. I get that they all come from music backgrounds but still.
A Link to the Past
Banned
For certain; I'm not ringing the death chimes yet, I just think that the competition between Activision and EA (with much more of the blame being on Activision) created a pretty negative stigma for these kinds of games. Now don't get me wrong, I want to see RB succeed - they're fantastic games, after all! I'm just keeping my expectations low.
It's one thing to ask people to fund a port where you wouldn't be able to take your music library with you. It's another when you ask that much for it on top of everything else.
Even the big "here's all the DLC!" package came with the rub of not including the exports, which is unthinkable with how many stone-cold classics you wouldn't be able to access.
Even the big "here's all the DLC!" package came with the rub of not including the exports, which is unthinkable with how many stone-cold classics you wouldn't be able to access.
I share the same sentiments. Hearing And Justice for All with proper bass is amazing. Just go look up a gameplay video of it on YouTube and it's great.
They did have an arena shooter called Chroma in the works at one point, but the alpha did not go well and resulted in the game being shelved.
It's not like a rhythm game developer can't find other work, but they would have to be prepared for some decidedly lower-profile jobs. Observe iNiS: one of the most creative rhythm game developers that the market has ever seen, who has struggled to have something in their wheelhouse take off since the days of Ouendan/EBA, forcing them to do Lips, a karaoke project just about anyone could have done, as well as developing a couple of the Just Dance spinoffs.
ElBoxyBrown
Banned
Has there been any other successful campaigns on FIG minus Psychonauts 2?
Sparrowhawk
Member
The Jay and Silent Bob game made it.
Maintenance
Member
I would've bought the game, but kickstart it? I'm out.
nkarafo
Member
I have most RB/GH games already on a good sound setup and i'm enjoying all these. Needless to say, the original CD releases are for display only on a shelf from now on.
plagiarize
Banned
Hardcore fans of the series who might have crowd funded this (like me!) aren't about to rebuy multiple hundreds of DLC songs on another platform. Then consider that this isn't a game where higher frame rates, resolutions and IQ really matter either.
How was Amplitude a flop when it was a Kickstarter game to begin with? Do some of you guys actually know what you are talking about?
No, it's like KS where you only get money if it hits the goal. Also, it's less Harmonix and more Sumo Digital that would have gotten the money (Harmonix was putting up 500k themselves)
Rock Band VR isn't Rock Band 4, and Luckey has already said RBVR is being treated like a console exclusive, so it's not going to be available for anything not an Oculus headset anyway.
This was specifically to fund Sumo Digital doing the port and then Harmonix taking over the codebase. Specifically so Harmonix wouldn't overextend themselves. The RB4 fig failing potentially affects Sumo more than it does Harmonix, but thankfully Sumo has other big projects they just announced, so they'll be fine. It didn't determine RB4console's support at all, the only thing RB4 console now loses out on is new RBN tracks.
Also, Amplitude wasn't cheaper to make. The KS provided less than half the game's budget.
Because Harmonix is musicians first and game developers second (in a nice way!). Their name is based off a music term (Harmonics). They will always be making beathmatch or music-leaning games, because that's literally what they do. They also made A City Sleeps, a music bullet hell shooter, recently.
:/
1.5 mil is on the low end of the spectrum for port costs.
Juke Joint Jezebel
Member
To be honest, holding a kickstarter to bring back Rock Band Network would've been a much more appealing prospect than gating it's inclusion behind a PC version. There's well over 1000 songs that could be brought over to already existing versions of Rock Band 4 on that service, that'd be a much more appealing prospect to long-term RB fans who've invested tons of money into the games and DLC than a PC version.
7DollarHagane
Banned
Poor harmonix. They have nothing to offer unless they can come up with something new.
And there's no way they have the money to come up with something new.
And there's no way they have the money to come up with something new.
diffusionx
Gold Member
I'll be honest, I don't know why RB4 exists at all. It was like Alf coming back in pog form.
RB3 still has more than anyone could ask for if you still care about plastic instruments.
RB3 still has more than anyone could ask for if you still care about plastic instruments.
It has to be tied to a PC version because Microsoft and Sony are no longer interested in UGC like XNA on their console backends anymore.
That's where a PC version protects you - you're not at the whim of first party changing their mind every 5 years. And in this case MS and Sony are quite literally not allowing it.
I guarantee you that you will be able to eventually play it on non-oculus hardware.
Juke Joint Jezebel
Member
I'm curious as to whether the base chart making software, Reaper could be seperated from it's original XNA framework as a standalone PC program. I imagine author's could still approach the appropriate labels and artists for permission to acquire stems and tracks, and then use the old Reaper development forums to submit their finished chart and to provide all permissions they've recieved to Harmonix who could give it the once over and sell the chart on the official in-game store on consoles instead
paperspace
Member
Wow, I had no idea about this.
Well, it would be a lot more convenient to play it on PC. Mostly because the consoles are limited to one screen only, which means I have to set up the cables each time we want to play Rock Band.
Well, it would be a lot more convenient to play it on PC. Mostly because the consoles are limited to one screen only, which means I have to set up the cables each time we want to play Rock Band.
DrunkShogun
Member
The market has changed and the developer thought it would be a easy win so poor reception is deserved in this case.
GrantDaNasty
Member
Oops, my post was a tad confusing, but I was trying to imply you were the quoted user. My bad
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