My Success Is Failure

Still under the weather, new song a comin' the second I stop being so nasal. My singing voice isn't perfect, I know, but any little bit helps. You'll probably be getting a song sometime around the 20th.

In gaming news, Bobby Kotick talks about opportunities lost:
Another acquisition that could have gone quite differently was that when Activision was looking at purchasing Guitar Hero from RedOctane, he stated that he didn't look in Harmonix's direction, which he felt was "somewhat a failed developer of music games." Kotick alluded that had he taken the trip to Boston to meet Harmonix, the "world of Guitar Hero would have been rewritten."

This is quite interesting. It also highlights the key differences between Rock Band and Guitar Hero.
Harmonix is a company of musicians making video games. Activision is a company of gamers making a music experience. Harmonix focuses on band dynamics, and getting good songs, Activision focuses on features and difficulty.

But it's interesting to see what would have happened should the two meet. I think I can make a few predictions:
1. The DLC scene would change dramatically. It would probably be a teensy bit more expensive (i.e. $2.50 instead of $2 per song) to compensate for Harmonix being less eager to put out more SKUs.

2. Better importable shit. For example, imagine if the AC/DC Track Pack not only featured a playable AC/DC, but you could import their likenesses and costume pieces into the main Rock Bandtar Hero game. Activision (at least Kotick) wants MOAR GAYMEZ, but Harmonix hates switching out discs. You get the star power of Aerosmith, Metallica and the like, without having compromise the overall songlist.

3. Green Day: Rock Band would have come out before The Beatles: Rock Band. Shit, imagine how everyone would have reacted: "Oh great, ANOTHER band centric game? Who did they get this time? NickelHOLY SHIT IT'S THE BEATLES!!!"