lumberofdabeast
2007-12-21, 11:01 AM
To you, the forumgoers here at Giant in the Playground:
Odds are, you already know about Guitar Hero (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar_Hero_III:_Legends_of_Rock) and Rock Band (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_Band_%28video_game%29), so I'm gonna skip over the basic introductions to each. The important part is, Activision recently acquired Red Octane, meaning that it got the Guitar Hero franchise in the process; Harmonix, on the other hand, joined up with MTV Games to make Rock Band. I got Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, and thought it was a terrible game, especially in comparison to Guitar Hero II. But that's all right, Harmonix had nothing to do with that dung pile, and surely Rock Band was going to be better. And, indeed, it was. And all was well for a time.
Eventually, though, it surfaced that the PS3 Gibson Les Paul guitar controller that came with Guitar Hero III was incompatible with the PS3 version of Rock Band. Harmonix, feeling that guitar controllers should be an industry standard, made a patch to fix this, even though it meant they would sell less of their own Fender Stratocaster guitar controller down the line. It was supposed to be out some time ago. But it has yet to be released. Why? Because Activision blocked it, refusing to allow it to be released until Harmonix paid them an undisclosed sum of money. Even though they have no real legal right to do so, Sony is backing them up nonetheless, possibly out of fear of getting sued by Activision.
Let me reiterate that.
Activision is charging Harmonix for the release of a patch that Harmonix made for Harmonix's game that would let Activision's guitar controller work with Harmonix's game.
This is clearly one of the most asinine decisions Activision has ever made, and frankly, even though I have the 360 version of the game and am thus unaffected by this problem, I won't stand for it. And neither should you. Which is why I ask you to do three things today.
1) Let Activision know that you're unhappy with their decisions. Sign this online petition (http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?ps3gtr&1) showing your displeasure with Activision for blocking Harmonix's patch out of shortsighted corporate greed. Email Activision, or write them letters.
2) Stop buying Activision products. No more Call of Duty, no more Tony Hawk, no more Guitar Hero. Blizzard and Activision are merging; cancel your WoW subscription, and as hard as this may be, ignore StarCraft II. Activision may ignore the petition, but they won't ignore a substantial loss of income; but they won't have the substantial loss of income unless you refuse to buy their products.
3) Spread the word! Send this message, however you choose to word it, to the other forums that you visit, as well as any mailing lists you're a part of. Tell your gamer friends and family to stop supporting Activision. Let everyone know.
Thank you for your time, and I hope you join our cause.
Jonathon Hodges
Known on the GiantITP forums as lumberofdabeast
Odds are, you already know about Guitar Hero (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar_Hero_III:_Legends_of_Rock) and Rock Band (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_Band_%28video_game%29), so I'm gonna skip over the basic introductions to each. The important part is, Activision recently acquired Red Octane, meaning that it got the Guitar Hero franchise in the process; Harmonix, on the other hand, joined up with MTV Games to make Rock Band. I got Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, and thought it was a terrible game, especially in comparison to Guitar Hero II. But that's all right, Harmonix had nothing to do with that dung pile, and surely Rock Band was going to be better. And, indeed, it was. And all was well for a time.
Eventually, though, it surfaced that the PS3 Gibson Les Paul guitar controller that came with Guitar Hero III was incompatible with the PS3 version of Rock Band. Harmonix, feeling that guitar controllers should be an industry standard, made a patch to fix this, even though it meant they would sell less of their own Fender Stratocaster guitar controller down the line. It was supposed to be out some time ago. But it has yet to be released. Why? Because Activision blocked it, refusing to allow it to be released until Harmonix paid them an undisclosed sum of money. Even though they have no real legal right to do so, Sony is backing them up nonetheless, possibly out of fear of getting sued by Activision.
Let me reiterate that.
Activision is charging Harmonix for the release of a patch that Harmonix made for Harmonix's game that would let Activision's guitar controller work with Harmonix's game.
This is clearly one of the most asinine decisions Activision has ever made, and frankly, even though I have the 360 version of the game and am thus unaffected by this problem, I won't stand for it. And neither should you. Which is why I ask you to do three things today.
1) Let Activision know that you're unhappy with their decisions. Sign this online petition (http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?ps3gtr&1) showing your displeasure with Activision for blocking Harmonix's patch out of shortsighted corporate greed. Email Activision, or write them letters.
2) Stop buying Activision products. No more Call of Duty, no more Tony Hawk, no more Guitar Hero. Blizzard and Activision are merging; cancel your WoW subscription, and as hard as this may be, ignore StarCraft II. Activision may ignore the petition, but they won't ignore a substantial loss of income; but they won't have the substantial loss of income unless you refuse to buy their products.
3) Spread the word! Send this message, however you choose to word it, to the other forums that you visit, as well as any mailing lists you're a part of. Tell your gamer friends and family to stop supporting Activision. Let everyone know.
Thank you for your time, and I hope you join our cause.
Jonathon Hodges
Known on the GiantITP forums as lumberofdabeast