Instruments made it work, says Harmonix' LoPiccolo

Harmonix' Greg LoPiccolo has said that the gameplay has been in the company's games all along, but it just took a while for them to present it in a way that people would grasp what it was about.

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, the project leader for Guitar Hero and Rock Band said that they put a lot of work into Frequency and Amplitude - which he considered somewhat ground-breaking concepts in their time.

"I remain really proud of them - I think they're great games - but the thing we learned from those games is that an abstract concept is very hard for people to get their heads around," he said.

Music/rhythm games such as Beatmania and Guitar Freaks appeared in Japan a decade ago, but only caught on in the US over the past two or three years.

LoPiccolo didn't blame hesitancy on the part of publishers to try something new as the reason the games took so long to catch on in the US.

"In the case of Harmonix, I have to say that we have a lot of gratitude and appreciation for the publishers that did roll the dice on us. I think we've gotten a pretty fair shake in terms of publishers being willing to bet on our concepts," he said.

Harmonix wasn't completely discouraged by the lack of commercial success for Frequency and Amplitude.

"Our takeaway was, we believe in this gameplay, we think this gameplay is relevant to an American audience. How can we present it in a way that is more accessible?"

The obvious breakthrough came when Harmonix moved away from the more abstract concepts in their earlier games to the simple concept of playing the part of a rock and roll musician.

"If we put an instrument in your hands, then you are able to make that mental leap. 'Oh, I'm playing the part of a guitar player or a drummer, and this is what I am supposed to do.' I think that was really what made it work."

In a way, Harmonix' experience was similar to what Nintendo was able to do with the Wii - concentrating on an interface that everyone understood.

"It is driven from the same place," LoPiccolo said. "Bridging that gap and making it a little more accessible and a little more familiar to people is a big deal."

The complete interview with Harmonix' Greg LoPiccolo will be published on Tuesday.