Forbes writer defends "knockoff" slam against Rock Band
Earlier in the week, Forbes writer Peter C. Beller became the industry's latest whipping boy after taking ironic (and comical) shots at Harmonix for knocking off Activision's Guitar Hero to develop Rock Band. Calling Rock Band "a shameless knockoff of Guitar Hero," many chalked the remarks up to a journalist swallowing public relations fluff, often served to the gaming unaware in hopes to strike a cord with the readership of an unrelated industry publication.
Surprisingly, Beller has come to the defense of his statements saying, "If you define knockoff as "a copy or imitation of someone or something popular" the way Merriam-Webster does, then I think Rock Band fits the bill nicely." Beller continued, explaining he is aware Harmonix was the development team behind both titles but made the statement to outline that Activision has strong competition regardless of how profitable its franchises are. Unfortunately, in the statement made to GameDaily, Beller failed to explain why his editorial was so slanted. In fact his statement failed to explain anything, really.
Surprisingly, Beller has come to the defense of his statements saying, "If you define knockoff as "a copy or imitation of someone or something popular" the way Merriam-Webster does, then I think Rock Band fits the bill nicely." Beller continued, explaining he is aware Harmonix was the development team behind both titles but made the statement to outline that Activision has strong competition regardless of how profitable its franchises are. Unfortunately, in the statement made to GameDaily, Beller failed to explain why his editorial was so slanted. In fact his statement failed to explain anything, really.











Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
The Rev @ Jan 23rd 2009 1:55PM
If anything Guitar Hero is a knock off of Rock Band.
I know GH Came first but WHO made Guitar Hero first?
Harmonix
Who made Rock Band?
Harmonix
Who shamlessly ripped off what Harmonix did after MTV games bought Harmonix?
Activision
Who publishes Guitar Hero?
Activision
This guy's a moron NEXT!
Steve @ Jan 23rd 2009 12:12PM
What?? That's like him just saying "No, I'm right, you're wrong" but then not giving any explanation.
Rick @ Jan 23rd 2009 12:22PM
I was thinking the same thing. It's hard for him to battle stupidity with only more of it.
Jon @ Jan 23rd 2009 12:18PM
yea um since when does forbes know anything about gaming? they should keep their mouths shut before they make fools of themselves.
C. T. @ Jan 23rd 2009 12:27PM
Too late.
Tony @ Jan 23rd 2009 12:22PM
Really, in that case, so is Guitar Hero World Tour... yet he doesn't point that out.
Sounds like he's just covering his ass so people can't show him up.
Brandon @ Jan 23rd 2009 12:25PM
I'm sure that they haven't played either game, lol
I own both games, and although obviously they are similar in gameplay the two games are very different. In single player story, even the mechanics behind the game play. ( refering to star power, over drive, solo areas, linking frets, etc)
very funny forbes...stick to rich people crap.
Sinnix @ Jan 23rd 2009 12:27PM
His definition of "knockoff" isn't complete. That term also insinuates that the imitation is of lesser quality where the majority consider Rock Band to be the "pinnacle" or "evolution" of the Guitar Hero series.
jax sedrin @ Jan 23rd 2009 12:30PM
By that definition, how is Guitar Hero not a knock-off of GuitarFreaks?
mirage @ Jan 23rd 2009 12:35PM
I guess his definition makes Forbes a knock off of Fortune magazine. By the way I did as much research as Beller did for his article. :)
Jimmy James 70 @ Jan 23rd 2009 12:31PM
Smells to me that Forbes is trying to gain publicity with the video game crowd (and they are getting it)... No such thing as bad publicity, right? Stupid or not. People now know Forbes is covering video games. They just don't have any respect. They got a steep hill to climb now... Nothing like starting at the bottom.
waynow @ Jan 23rd 2009 12:31PM
If hes trying to save face, he has failed! he is just embarassing himself further
Ghoti @ Jan 23rd 2009 12:46PM
What a jerk.
Shellshock @ Jan 23rd 2009 12:50PM
"I'm better than you but I'm not telling you why" isn't a good reasoning in the 21st century
Jer @ Jan 23rd 2009 12:53PM
I guess describing Rock Band as "the next evolutionary step beyond Guitar Hero" just wouldn't have been incendiary enough. There always has to be some infantile remark made by the media. And they're supposed to be the educated ones.
phr3qu3ncy441 @ Jan 23rd 2009 12:58PM
actually i think you may have contradicted yourself there... creating the relationship of 'media' and 'educated ones'.
not that there aren't smart people in the media, but my observation of it has kind of established an unfavorable trend.
i would think like analysts or experts that the media refer to or present may hold more water as being the educated ones. of course, they're not infallible either.
Jer @ Jan 23rd 2009 1:03PM
I get what you're saying, but this guy's job requires him to have a degree. Therefore, he would be educated whether he sounds like it or not. Just because he's book smart doesn't mean he has any common sense.
cj99 @ Jan 23rd 2009 12:57PM
Maybe this guy needs to define "shameless" for us too. The clear meaning of the phrase "shameless knockoff" is very different from his Websters terminology alluding to "imitation of the popular". It's a cludge response to an ill- considered and biased initial statement. He's quite the "journalist". Maybe he should look that one up.
Neuromancer @ Jan 23rd 2009 1:26PM
What a maroon.
aggrazel @ Jan 23rd 2009 1:32PM
Unless he can 5-star a song on expert on either game, his opinion is moot, IMO.
mynk @ Jan 23rd 2009 6:28PM
so whatcha want
beastie boys
expert bass
rock band 2
Gloqwi @ Jan 23rd 2009 1:43PM
Let me get this straight...you ARE aware that they were made by the same team, so you think that they shamelessly ripped of themselves?
Deck @ Jan 23rd 2009 1:52PM
I don't know what there is for him to attempt to justify, he got it blatantly wrong.
Psycho300x @ Jan 23rd 2009 1:53PM
He is a retard. He needs to stop commenting on things that are obviously above his level of comprehension.
Snuggles @ Jan 23rd 2009 2:08PM
After reading the article, and now this, I've lost respect for Forbes.
If the editor would allow such statements in an article that is blatant misinformation and a rather low cheap shot at a rival company then that says more about the editors than the writer.
HaVoC @ Jan 23rd 2009 3:12PM
There is a big difference in the wording. ("knockoff" and "shameless Knockoff") Beller was writing about a subject he knew nothing about and never bothered to research. And, Bellers definition is incomplete. Whether Beller was sucking up for the article, or IMO completely incompetent, he and Forbes owe a correction and an apology to the Rock Band developers and producers.
Axon @ Jan 23rd 2009 3:50PM
He's just making himself look worse. Rock Band is, of course, within the same genre as Guitar Hero, but RB took the experience to another level.
Secondly, I'm not sure if you can knockoff your own creation, even if the intellectual property rights to that creation happen to be owned by your former employer for whom you created that intellectual property for.
Third, Guitar Hero itself is a copy, by this guy's definition. As is Guitar Hero: World Tour.
theboy @ Jan 23rd 2009 5:39PM
Just thought I'd share the comment I posted on his article. HELLARIOUSSS
Posted by smackeh | 01/23/09 05:37 PM EST
So basically, in response to your defense that you posted to all these commenters... You are basically saying that, theoretically, if I bought the name, say "Final Fantasy", and made a crappy hack job "sequel" that introduced absolutely nothing new, and then the original creators created another franchise that was similar except improved upon it almost every way conceivable, but gave it a different name... they would be shameless knockoffs of me? AWESOME. I LOVE YOUR LOGIC!
Daniel @ Jan 23rd 2009 5:43PM
whatever. Forbes is just a shameless knockoff of Fortune anyway.