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Pachter: Activision was right to buy RedOctane |
Listed in: Wii, PS3, Xbox 360, PC Gaming Tags: Activision, Harmonix, Michael Pachter, MTV, Neversoft
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Joystiq's Alexander Sliwinski reports that in noting one of the big pink elephants of the gaming industry at the moment - Activision purchasing peripheral manufacturer and Guitar Hero rights holder Red Octane instead of Harmonix - Michael Pachter of Wedbush Morgan noted that at the end of the day he thinks it's good for consumers and will only make Activision and Neversoft work more. Pachter explains:
Would you pay $150 million dollars for someone who ripped off Konami's Guitar Freaks? The game is fun, I totally respect Harmonix, I'm sure Red Octane turned to them with Guitar Hero and said let's figure out a way to rip off Guitar Freaks and help sell our peripherals ... I think at the end of the day, the MTV/Harmonix game Rock Band will be a good game, it will cannibalize market share. I think it's good for consumers and it'll make Activision and Neversoft work harder on Guitar Hero III.
The situation is that Red Octane has been purchased by Activision, while Octane's former developer Harmonix, was purchased by MTV. Since then the companies have been on separate paths. The clincher here is that Red Octane retains the rights to Guitar Hero and - most importantly - the guitar.
Pachter notes that if the look of Harmonix's new project, Rock Band, or even if the guitars the game will hypothetically use comes anywhere close to the look of Guitar Hero, then Red Octane definitely has every right to sue. Harmonix also has to figure out how to copyright a drum peripheral so that Red Octane doesn't develop their own version.
Pachter's notes: "I guess what's interesting here is Harmonix/MTV telling us that this game, with its four peripherals and the game, is coming out in less than six months and yet we have no more details."
The bottom-line? Rock Band is new, involved a lot of problems on the technical side, and has big corporations tied up with it. In short: it's a risk. Pachter says: "Activision didn't buy the wrong company, MTV bought the wrong company."
Via Joystiq
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