Activision vs. Harmonix

In a story that would make any sane man go "WTF?!"...

The PS3 version of Rock Band comes with a slight... Issue. Unlike what was previously promised, the GH3 Les Paul controller does NOT work with the PS3 version of Rock Band. Harmonix was pretty surprised by this.

Well, according to this, Harmonix was totally on the ball. They'd already had the patch made and ready for about two weeks, submitted it to Sony, and it was ready to be released over PSN for automatic download once you plugged in the Rock Band disc.

Well, according to THIS, Activision says Harmonix is full of shit, and Activision's been trying to reach an agreement with Harmonix for a while now which keeps getting turned down.

Now, let's look at this carefully. What does Harmonix have to gain from disallowing GH3 controllers to be playable solely on the PS3 version? Well... Not much. With individual instruments not due out until February, there are a lot of people wishing they had a second controller for RB, thanks to two different duel modes and a full band mode that needs two guitar controllers to play. They're at nothing but a disadvantage.

What does Activision gain from the GH3 controller not being playable on RB? An edge on its opponent. People don't want to pay for a product they feel is inferior, especially when there are plenty of Guitar Hero controllers available to play GH3 with. Of course, this doesn't make much sense, either; with RB's individual controllers arriving so late, there are people who want individual controllers -now-, meaning they go to the GH controllers. Purchase of these controllers goes to Activision, and increase sales. This is a benefit, right? Apparently, Activision must not have thought so, as they still seem to be trying to reach an "agreement" with Harmonix.

This is pure speculation, mind you, but an "agreement" usually has terms in these situations, right? Harmonix wasn't looking to pay or be paid for their completely voluntary work to fix a problem with their game, and have constantly made open-arms approval of Activision and their GH controllers. Activision, on the other hand, feels there's still some issues to be settled first. It could be a monetary value, or a stock issue, or something completely arbitrary.

Or, we could go with the more realistic option and say Activision got caught in a rut when it turns out Harmonix fixed the problem, and Activision doesn't like looking like the lazy one, and is trying to save face. This isn't exactly surprising, as damage control is a large part of big business [for reference, see the Jeff Gerstmann issue at GameSpot, as they do fantastically horrible damage control on that whole problem]. However, this just feels as if it were a completely childish debate. While Harmonix did butt heads and claim it was Activision's fault before, they had since redeemed themselves by fixing it, and everything's ready to go as we speak. So why the hold-up, Activision? What issues hold back the ability to make some customers happy?

Maybe it all comes down to a money issue. However, I'm more inclined to believe Activision's just getting greedy with its newest total acquisition of Guitar Hero, and doesn't want to give Rock Band any edge whatsoever, looking at it from a strictly competitive point of view.

Which sucks, 'cuz, damnit, I need a second guitar for RB!