Harmonix "looking hard" NGP and 3DS, thinking about Facebook and smartphones

Harmonix's Greg LoPiccolo has said the Rock Band developer is seriously considering portable, mobile and social development.

"We’re in close touch with Nintendo and with Sony," the vice president of product development told Industry Gamers.

"We’re looking hard at both of those platforms and trying to determine if there might be a fit between some of our ideas and that hardware."

LoPiccolo added that the developer hasn't "drawn any definitive conclusions" yet.

On the subject of Facebook apps, he was cagier, saying straight ports of existing games probably wouldn't work, but not ruling out tie-in content.

"There may be some Facebook related experience that makes sense where we really feel 'this is compelling and unique and we can add a lot of value.' That’s another thing we’re looking at very closely," he said.

"... Things where we’re like, 'oh we built this and now let’s try to port it over to this thing and hope it works' ... that kind of thing generally doesn’t work very well," he added later.

LoPiccolo echoed these sentiments when asked about smartphones.

"Certainly we, like everybody else in the industry, are mesmerized by these developments and how quickly they’re moving and what they mean to us. ... Our first obligation is to come up with something that we really think is a compelling experience, whatever the platform. Then, based on that, figure out how to deliver," he said.

Harmonix produced a version of Rock Band for the PSP< as well as mobile versions. Thanks, Go Nintendo.