PS3 music peripherals to be title agnostic (i.e., open !)

[patsu]

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2008/08/18/ps3-music-peripheral-compatibility-update/

For the most part, this means that the titles with musical peripherals will work with the other’s software. A few specific examples include: Guitar Hero: World Tour’s guitars and drums will work with Rock Band 2 and Konami’s Rock Revolution software.

And yes, you guessed it, Rock Band 2’s guitar and drum set will work with Guitar Hero: World Tour and with Rock Revolution.

Conversely, Rock Revolution’s drum set will work with both Guitar Hero: World Tour and Rock Band 2.
In addition, Guitar Hero: World Tour and Rock Band 2 will both support the SingStar microphones.
We’re still working hard to ensure compatibility between the Guitar Hero and Rock Band titles currently on the market, and we hope to have an announcement on that shortly.

Thanks Sony again. This is the kind of user level integration and openness I want.

 

[Freak'n Big Panda]

Sony goes to great lengths to make their platform as open as possible, I do wish MS would follow suit.

 

[betan]

I think we have different understanding of openness.
It looks to me, the whole peripheral mess is due to openness of PS3 platform (actually, lack of standards specifically).
On the other hand 360 has propriety but standard controller interface which effectively enables interoperability between different software and controllers.

Very good news though. I wonder how they convinced Activision.

BTW, I didn't know GH:World Tour had drums?

 

[patsu]

Actually, I have no clue how the 360 side looks. The openness comment is made in reference to the current PS3 situation and the business relationships between the involved vendors.

I don't even know the extent of the technical scope (e.g., whether it's a standardized controller interface in the firmware and SDK; a HDD installed, pluggable 3rd party driver; or just private arrangement between the 4 vendors to share some common game code).

 

[PARANOiA]

Sony goes to great lengths to make their platform as open as possible, I do wish MS would follow suit.

360 already has compatibility with instruments. That's a big part of why RB was more successful on 360 than PS3.

 

[Arwin]

And not that Rockband still hasn't launched on the PS3 outside the US?

 

[PARANOiA]

And not that Rockband still hasn't launched on the PS3 outside the US?

Of course not. What is it you're suggesting?

 

[patsu]

It doesn't matter what 360 does though. For PS3 owners, the important thing here is the music peripherals are now interoperable on the PS3. I hope it's like what betan mentioned (A standardized controller interface).

If I were them, the next step is to use that elusive Cell power to implement some creative input mechanisms:
* PS Eye
* Motion sensing
* Add-on for real musical instruments (I'm praying for this, one way or another)

With some careful planning and lotsa luck, the results might even be seen on existing music titles.

 

[PARANOiA]

It doesn't matter what 360 does though. For PS3 owners, the important thing here is the music peripherals are now interoperable on the PS3. I hope it's like what betan mentioned (A standardized controller interface).

Oh I agree completely. I was simply pointing out that a poster incorrectly stated MS needs to catch up, when it's Sony that's catching up to MS.

Stuff like this needs to be built in the ground up with controller design IMO. It's one of those things where it would be nice if all controllers worked across all games. Sometimes it works well (I can even use my guitar to play other games, which came in handy for Bomberman when I had a crowd over!)

Oh and an afterthought... why don't they just make these controllers work with any system? 360/PS3/PC/whatever. Like the high-end arcade sticks. Oh, to dream.

 

[Freak'n Big Panda]

I think we have different understanding of openness.
It looks to me, the whole peripheral mess is due to openness of PS3 platform (actually, lack of standards specifically).
On the other hand 360 has propriety but standard controller interface which effectively enables interoperability between different software and controllers.

Very good news though. I wonder how they convinced Activision.

BTW, I didn't know GH:World Tour had drums?

PS3 as a platform uses far fewer proprietary interfaces then 360. Users can buy off the shelf hdds, web cams, headsets, card readers, etc. That's what I meant by open. Sony choose to stick with industry standards and MS went all proprietary.

 

[patsu]

Stuff like this needs to be built in the ground up with controller design IMO. It's one of those things where it would be nice if all controllers worked across all games. Sometimes it works well (I can even use my guitar to play other games, which came in handy for Bomberman when I had a crowd over!)

Abstraction can be done after the fact if they are similar enough (In fact, they are often done after the fact in the early days). The announcement is for future games afterall. The existing game compatibility will require some rework but given the very well-defined functions, it should not be impossible.

Oh and an afterthought... why don't they just make these controllers work with any system? 360/PS3/PC/whatever. Like the high-end arcade sticks. Oh, to dream.

They seem to be doing it by game genre. The arcade sticks are doable because all of them have similar buttons for fighting games. The same goes for steering wheels. Musical instruments are more varied but they are now "harmonized".

Cell-enhanced input is a natural extension after that.

 

[obonicus]

Oh and an afterthought... why don't they just make these controllers work with any system? 360/PS3/PC/whatever. Like the high-end arcade sticks. Oh, to dream.

The PS3 is able to share quite a few peripherals with the PC. I just bought a PS3 fighting stick and it just plugged into the PC. I've heard reports that the PC Saturn gamepads also work seamlessly with the PS3, as do racing wheels. For MS... well, I've heard that they just aren't interested in allowing non-licensed peripherals. It's internet knowledge, so it's bound to be inaccurate.

 

[PARANOiA]

The PS3 is able to share quite a few peripherals with the PC. I just bought a PS3 fighting stick and it just plugged into the PC. I've heard reports that the PC Saturn gamepads also work seamlessly with the PS3, as do racing wheels. For MS... well, I've heard that they just aren't interested in allowing non-licensed peripherals. It's internet knowledge, so it's bound to be inaccurate.

360 stuff works with PC (guitars, arcade stick, etc) but it doesn't work the other way (PC into 360).

Does the PS3 work with PC peripherals like wheels and such? If not, then it sounds the exact same on that side of the fence, too.

 

[patsu]

PC Steering wheel for PS3 and PC:
* http://store.videogamecentral.com/pc-racing-wheel-g25.html
* http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/10/04/amazing-porsche-911-turbo-s-steering-wheel-for-ps3-and-pc/

The truth lies somewhere in-between. The PS3 has common drivers for SATA HDD, USB and Bluetooth cameras, mouse, keyboards, tablets, headset, etc.. The connectors and protocols are all standard, so you can indeed plug PC devices to PS3 and expect some basic/common support. But it depends on the specific devices and applications whether they will work well together.
e.g., MS's Siderwinder steering wheel does not work on GT5P, according to the net. The other USB wheels are said to work though.

 

[Arwin]

Does the PS3 work with PC peripherals like wheels and such? If not, then it sounds the exact same on that side of the fence, too.

Bar a few exceptions, PS2 steering wheels have been compatible with PC and vice versa all the way back to the early days of the Playstation 2. I bought a Logitech Wingman F1 GP to use with Gran Turismo 3, for instance, and have used the Driving Force Pro with the awesome DTM mod for F1GP (DTM mod being awesome for having some of the best force-feedback effects ever, even today).

Since the PS2 all USB based peripherals could at least plug in to the PC and worked. It's almost a shame that this has decreased somewhat today - the sixaxis would have been nice to be fully supported on the PC, and ditto the PS Eye, though typically drivers pop-up anyway. Someone just practically finished the PS Eye driver for Linux, so a PC version is probably not be far off.

Today though Microsoft is very slowly getting the edge in some areas, with the Vision and the 360 controller being natively supported by Windows.

 

[catisfit]

Does the PS3 work with PC peripherals like wheels and such? If not, then it sounds the exact same on that side of the fence, too.

Yes. I've plugged my PC steering wheel into PS2 and now PS3 with no problems at all, even force feedback works correctly.

It's definitely a good thing because my wheel is better than any console wheel in production and is second only to the G25 (which also works on PS3).

 

[Fafalada]

Does the PS3 work with PC peripherals like wheels and such?

It supports a large variety of USB controllers(PC or otherwise, out of those I tried, the only one that wouldn't work was the 360 controller), as well as various USB->console adaptors, so those that used their old console controllers on PC can often plug it straight to PS3 as well.

 

[PARANOiA]

That PC -> PS3 stuff is surprising and pleasing, but the PC -> PS2 is shocking. I feel like I've lived in a box for all these years That's somewhat incredible... though it makes me concerned when reading about the MS potential acquisition of Logitech discussed a while back, given they'd likely want to take this option away as much as possible.

The problem with console-specific controllers (for me) is that I'm on my fourth arcade stick, now, and it is a terrible waste. I know I could pony up for one of the super heavy duty ones, but I shouldn't need to fuss with that stuff. If I knew each peripheral could move to a new machine - a wheel, camera, headset, etc - I wouldn't treat them like disposable nonsense.

Anyway, on topic, it's great that future music games should work with each other as much as possible (not counting drum differences and whatnot). With the new devices they're launching soon that are basically electronic instruments, lets hope cross-game functionality is in mind, pushing to platform independence too.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Seems to me the hardware has always been PS3 compatible, but there wasn't a unified way of reporting inputs to the games. The developers were choosing their own formats for controller presses, and these didn't match the other developers. From the blog article, it sounds to me like Sony has got together and drafted a standard controller data format, so all music peripherals will report the same data in the same format for software to use however it wants.

I think Sony have been fabulously open in peripheral approach yet lacked the software control of MS that guaranteed compatibility, something that is being addressed here. I wonder if it's extending to a universal controller structure so all peripherals will work with all games?

 

[AntShaw]

Joystiq has just updated their peripheral compatibility matrix for the music games. It's easy to follow, and to the point. It includes the recent news from Sony in regards to their update with the upcoming releases.

http://www.joystiq.com/Instrument-Compatibility-Matrix/