When we learned that Activision hadtrademarked “Drum Villain”in early 2007, our suspicions became aroused. We waited, and the only thing that happened was Neversoft taking the reins of theGuitar Heroseries, and Harmonix taking their ball and going to Electronic Arts to create the multi-instrument titleRock Band.
So what of these drums? According to Neversoft’s Brian Bright, another studio within Activision was indeed working on a drum-oriented title at the same time work was being done onGuitar Hero III. When Activision’s development and marketing dollars started being consumed byGH III, the potentialDrum Hero/Villaingame was shelved.
“We [even] had a prototype kit,” he told us during aGuitar Hero: World Tourpress demonstration. “It was made of wood [from] Home Depot. It was back when Red Octane had partnerships with Harmonix; that was the drum kit being shown to everyone.”
After the drum project was put on hold, it was eventually absorbed by Neversoft, who ran with it forGuitar Hero: World Tour. As for the drum concept, Bright told us, it’s really not groundbreaking — it just makes sense.
“I mean, it’s fun,” he said. “It’s a fun thing. It’s not the greatest idea ever. It’s just like, ‘Cool, let’s play drums.'”
