rock band 2 ain't even out yet, but i'm already ready to speculate on rock band 3.

with guitar hero entering the 'band simulation' genre, with mechanics in place to create your own tracks of existing music it seems they've got a little leverage on the folks at harmonix.

but harmonix mission since day 1 has always been a little different then the other guys. they're not interested in making high selling games, thier mission statement has always been to bring the joys of making music to the masses.

as per power gloves most recent blog, he goes on to discuss 'drum practice' in which you can select from a handful of sounds for your drumkit and play along to mp3's you've ripped to your hard drive.

here's what i'm thinking. rather than allow you to create note charts for existing songs, which in reality is not all that difficult (homebrew heads have been doing it since guitar hero 2, pick a difficulty, place gems logically, sync gems to musc, repeat), i think harmonix is gonna go bigger (or at least very different).

i have a feeling they are gonna put an end to the whole 'why don't you learn how to play a real instrument' argument by allowing users to create thier OWN SONGS, not just charting notes to existing material. whats to stop harmonix from including soundfont kits for bass/drums/guitar? its not all that far fetched. select your instrument, select a sond font, and then you can tool around on the guitar much like the aforementioned drum practice. all they need is a mechanic in place for spanning more than one octave, and viola, on a simple level, your making new music.

this could be revolutionary. kids all know how to pick up and play a rock band guitar, while if you hand your average kid a guitar and ask them to play a C chord, you'll probably get nothing but a blank stare.

bringing music to the masses has always been harmonix goal, and i don't think any of this is too far fetched. bring on the angry musicians!