Activision seeks money for controller compatibility

Following up on our earlier report, it appears that money is definitely the issue behind the lack of Guitar Hero III controller compatibility with Rock Band on the PS3.

"Unfortunately for Rock Band users, Harmonix has been unwilling to discuss an agreement that will allow us to provide that option in a manner that maintains the high standards people have come to expect from Activision," company spokesperson Maryanne Lataif told The Boston Globe.

"We believe we should be compensated for the use of our technology," she said.

Harmonix, who claims to have created a software patch to allow controller compatibility, says that it is committed to doing what is best for gamers.

"We are really and truly not looking at this from the financial standpoint," said company spokeswoman Spencer Saltonstall. "We are looking at this from the consumer standpoint."

She added that there are 7,000 people in China manufacturing guitars for Harmonix/MTV and that consmers should expect to see them on store shelves next month.

The controllers that come with the Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero III are compatible with Rock Band for that console, so it is currently only PS3 owners who are feeling frustrated.

"I think they're all sods," PS3 RockBand owner Tom Bramwell told our sister site Eurogamer.net.

"The irony is that I only bought the Guitar Hero III PS3 controller so I could use it with Rock Band instead of the Fender Stratocaster bundled with the Harmonix game itself. In other words, I extended my custom with Activision in order to do a thing it is now prohibiting out of a desire to prevent itself losing my custom."

Approximately 68,000 copies of Rock Band have been sold for the PS3, while the PS3 version of Guitar Hero III has sold over 247,000 copies.