Daily Archives: March 17, 2009

The Stupidly Fantastic Idea Open Letter to Electronic Arts

Dear EA (and other developers),

I was having dinner with a friend of mine and we were discussing how much fun we have playing Rock Band (Lots of fun!) with the Rock Band Stage Kit (Lots more fun!).

While I was on the subject of Dead Space, he suggested that EA should support it as another peripheral.

Please, for the love of all that is awesome:  Make this happen.

Granted, this is a small, niche audience.  But it is an audience that craves more use out of their Rock Band Stage Kit than just being a stage kit.  I’m not saying put it into every game.  I’m not sure that Tiger Woods Golf is the type of title that needs this sort of enhancement, but just consider it for a couple of other games.

Imagine, if you will, Dead Space with on demand strobe lighting and smoke.  Or lighting effects that match the action on screen.  Red alerts on screen, red hues in your family room, and not just from your television.  That much more immersion from a title that’s already pretty engaging.

Burnout Paradise could have smoking tires.  Not all the time, of course.  But I think that a red, yellow, green countdown would make the race starts much more exciting.

The upcoming Dante’s Inferno is easy.  I’m just guessing here, of course at possible stage scenarios, but use the stage kit LEDs for lighting effects.  Cool blue lights while walking over traitors trapped in the ice.  Got lightning in any stage?  A single strobe light flash would be fantastic for setting that mood.

The possibilities are pretty open.  As long as it’s not overdone, the lighting effects could definitely enhance the dramatic effects of a scene, similar to how creative lighting is used on stage.  Sure, it’s gimmicky, but it’s additional value to a piece of hardware that I and many others have already purchased.

Sincerely,

Someone who bought the Stage Kit and is looking for additional reasons to keep it connected all the time.

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