CVG has interviewed Harmonix Design Director Rob Kay about the Wii version of Rock Band, which is due out later in the year. The main topic of discussion was the possibility of downloadable content, which has proved to be a selling point for many buyers of the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 versions. During the interview, Rob explained that because of the size restrictions of the Wii’s storage capacity, downloadable content just isn’t feasible.

The Wii has a hard drive capacity of 512 MB, as opposed to the 20gig Xbox 360 and 40gig PS3. An average size for a three-song package is nearly 100mb, or 1/5 of the Wii’s storage capacity. This won’t do, and because of restrictions with putting these songs on portable storage (such as SD cards) the game will launch without DLC. Rob Kay states that this is a good example for the Wii’s need for a hard drive, and when looking at the insane sales of Rock Band’s DLC it is no wonder why he thinks that.

While it is regrettable that the Wii edition will miss out on DLC, it is even crappier that the system will be closer to the neutered Playstation 2 version. Missing “Band World Tour” mode is like missing half of the game, and while the Wii version should be a fun alternative for anyone without a next-generation console I doubt it is a true replacement.

Those white drums do look awesome, though. Damn, Nintendo! Get your act together!

 
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