Rock Bonding: My Day At Harmonix

By Scott Jones

On a rain-blown morning earlier this week, I took the train up to Boston for a Rock Band media day. Walking into the Harmonix offices — located in a non-descript building above a Walgreen's -- to be completely honest, is an
underwhelming experience.

There is a receptionist. A lunch room. Offices. Desks. The occasional picture of a cat with a mustache drawn on it. I wondered if I was in the right place. The gray carpeting. The white walls. The flourescent lighting. Do they make Rock Band here…or do they sell insurance?

What did I expect? During the hundreds—possibly thousands—of hours I spent playing Guitar Hero I and II, some deep, rarely used part of my brain was forever devoted to imagining the Harmonix offices.

I pictured bare-chested gods with long, white beards. I saw them wielding huge magical hammers, hammers that no mortal could ever lift. I saw them pounding on anvils, driving those magical hammers down with such force that the resulting sparks could blind you and maybe set your T-shirt on fire, should you stand too close to these gods.

I kid…but only a little.

Instead, what I found was a group of affable, smart, and surprisingly humble people, who work long hours, and hope that everyone out there really, really likes their new game.

After the success of Guitar Hero I and II, the subsequent selling-off of the franchise to Activision, and their subsequent-subsequent new-found partnership with MTV, Harmonix doubled their staff size (currently hovering in the neighborhood of 150 people) and moved to these new offices, which were formerly occupied by some distant branch of Harvard U. In fact, the sudden-ness of their success and growth meant that the move happened so quickly that they didn't really have a
chance to settle into their new space and make it their own.

Thus the white walls, the bright lights, and the occasional sign that still bears the Harvard insignia and a cryptic label, such as "KOREAN INSTITUTE."

"It'll be cooler once we've had a chance to paint," one staffer said.

The only clue that a rock and roll video game was being made here: the poster of Frank Zappa on the bowl in the Men's Room.

There was a weary air about the office. Everyone looked drawn and tired, but still seemed to be just the tiniest bit giddy. Sure, there's more work to be done on the DLC front, but since Rock Band has gone gold, the bulk of the work is done.

Finally.

Was there any great exhalation of some kind? A sense of relief?

I pestered Rob Kay, Senior Designer, for an answer. "We had a little party last Friday," he said, grinning. "So some 'exhaling' was done there, yes."

Nearly every other game developer has Guitar Hero nights every Friday to blow off steam, I wondered: If you're the maker of Guitar Hero, then, well…?

Daniel Sussman, producer/project lead/crotch kicker (he infamously kicked former journo Kaiser Hwang of PSM square in the groin during my previous Harmonix visit after drinking about one thousand beers; according to Sussman, Hwang totally deserved it) had the answer.
"When Motley Crue played [in Boston] recently, we rented a bus and we took everybody over there, so they could drink and have a good time," he said. "We'll do stuff like that from time to time. Have a group outing. Get everyone together."

As for the game…know that I choose my words carefully when I say generally balls-out awesome. Yes, it's expensive. Yes, your wife/girlfriend/S.O. will probably leave you when he/she comes home to find a drum kit and microphone stand in your living room.

No matter. It's worth it.

I have some minor quibbles with the game, but overall, in an industry that thrives on sequels and derivations and playing-it-safe, this is a big, bold, bad-ass experiment. And it's a gaming experience that should not be missed.

In addition to the 50-plus tracks that ship with the game,
downloadable content will also be available, all of it 100-percent authentic (in other words, no covers), and it will feature entire albums. Imagine playing Who's Next, start to finish, and you'll immediately see the appeal of this.

While the game isn't necessarily kind to the lonely--the single-player experience isn't all that different from what you'll find in the Guitar Heroes of yore--if you do have friends/family/derelict roommates, you'll be right in your glory. The game's World Tour mode lets you and up to three pals make a band, then quite literally tour the world, gaining fans at gigs you play well at, and--you guessed it--losing fans at gigs you play poorly at.

Later on, after dark, there was a Rock Band night at a nearby bar called—ironically enough, considering my anvil-pounding fantasy--River Gods. I drank too much, as I always do. Sussman wasn't there, so my crotch was safe.

The joint was way too crowded. There were some technical issues--mostly due to lag woes on the TV--but they were resolved. Mostly. I squeezed in a quick game with three other folks, while being literally squeezed like a lemon into a corner. I stumbled out into the Boston night, beered to the nines, trying to make my way back to the Hyatt.

Though the Rock Band experience was already fading in my rearview mirror, despite the beer, I could still feel those butterflies in my stomach that I felt “playing”
the drums on Radiohead's "Creep." Trust me, when you experience that moment for yourself, when that song really kicks in, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.

It's transcendent. Angels sing. The darkness lifts. And for one brief moment, you, my friend, are a rock god.

http://www.rockband.com/

Comments

[kaiser]

i didn't deserve it!