Licensing of wireless technology is too costly for EA to pack in wireless guitars in Xbox 360 version.
Harmonix co-founder Alex Rigopulos has revealed to OXM that the Xbox 360 Rock Band bundle will not include wireless guitars - citing high costs associated with licensing the wireless technology from Microsoft.
"The cost of wireless technology on the Microsoft side is higher, and to be able to offer those bundles at a price point that would be reasonable for consumers it was necessary," said Rigopulos in an OXM podcast.
This will means the PS3 bundle with have a slight edge over the Xbox 360 counterpart thanks to the inclusion of a wireless guitar. Xbox 360 gamers will need to purchase the wireless version separately.
However, both versions of the game will only feature wireless functionality with the guitars, with both the drum kit and microphone being wired only.
Rock Band is scheduled for release this Holiday season in North America with the game now expected in early 08 across Europe.
Daggre wrote at 04:26 on 11 September 2007
As long as there's a version with NO controllers it's fine by me
I just won't buy the bundle, that's all. As long as there are wireless controllers sold separately and I'm not forced to buy wired ones, I have no problem with them making a bundle with wired controllers. NO chance I'll buy it though - wired controllers are last gen in my opinion.
I do wish MS would open the licensing a bit on their wireless tech though. I think it really hurt them with GH2 and obviously it continues... If the PS3 had a version of GH2 I think MS would have relented, but it's hard to say. I will say that the MS wireless tech is a lot better than PS3 for several reasons:
1. The PS3 controllers lose connection sometimes, when they're less than 10 feet away from the console. I've seen it a lot and there are lots of others reporting the same problems. Probably a Bluetooth issue but who cares, it sucks when you're trying to game.
2. The PS3 only allows one wireless headset, while the 360 allows up to 4. Pretty big deal in a game like Warhawk when you're trying to play split screen and online at the same time (only one of you can hear voice or you route it through the TV which sucks).
3. Bluetooth has a limit of 7 active devices at a time. So 4 controllers, a headset and a keyboard only leave you with 1 extra slot for another device. Right now this hasn't been a problem for me personally but MS doesn't appear to have this limit (or at least it's higher - they can support at LEAST 8 wireless devices w/ 4 controllers and 4 wireless headsets supported).