14 DAY TRIAL // In the aftermath of the success that Rock Band experienced in North America and after the initial report of good sales on the European videogames market despite its higher than expected price, Harmonix is now saying that it has paired up with Q Entertainment to get the game ported to the Japanese market.
There are certain difficulties in taking a title that focuses on music simulation and porting it to such a different culture. The journey that Rock Band made from North America to Europe has been largely uneventful, as some European tracks were added and some of the more "American" ones became available as downloadable content. But Japan has a whole other music scene, with very different tastes and a lot of uniqueness, so the guys at Q Entertainment really have their work cut out for them in bringing Rock Band to the Japanese public.
Q Entertainment has recently released games such as Lumines and Every Extend Extra and, as Harmonix says, has "experience designing progressive and engaging games many of which have a heavy focus on integrating music elements into gameplay." This is clearly referring to Rez, a sort of shooter that incorporates music into the core gameplay mechanic.
The project is still in the early stages of development and Harmonix is not keen on offering details. We do not know whether some of the tracks that Rock Band comes with in Europe and in North America will still be in the Japanese version or if we are looking at a completely new line-up of bands and songs. We also do not know what other elements of the game might be localized so that the Japanese public better enjoy the game.
Japan is a big market for rhythm-based games and Rock Band, if it's well ported, will have a great shot at some pretty big sales numbers, which it sorely needs since Guitar Hero: World Tour seeks to take on Rock Band later in the year.