Today I had an opportunity to listen in and record a conference call for Ultimate Band with a few of the developers.  Present to talk about both versions of the game were Tim Huntsman (senior producer), Mark McArthur (development director) and Mike Thompson (art director).  During the call they answered questions that the media had about the game and went in depth in areas about the development. 

Audio of the conference is available below by clicking the play button.  

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I’ve also transcribed a brief overview of the discussion:

00:01 - Introductions
00:01 - Tim comes on to introduce things Focus on boys When they pitched, no Rock Band, Wii still called Revolution
00:02 - Ultimate Band story behind it, your band in the game head to head play Wii/DS connectivity
00:04 - Is Rock Band/Guitar Hero competition?  No, different type of game, peripheral.  Accessibility, fun for casuals but also for hardcore.
00:06 - No Disney show songs, no unique to the franchise songs.  Classic rock with mainstream.  Songs from bands just starting to break.
00:07 - DLC? Was too late during development to add it in when Nintendo announced their online plan.  Hard drive space issue.
00:08 - Will Disney properties show up in the game?  Some bands will show up, but no Mickey Mouse.  Boys like instrument type games according to focus testing.
00:09 - Gameplay modes are talked about in detail including the game mechanic flourishes.
00:11 - What kind of instruments: Basic band stuff, drums, guitar, bass, vocal.
00:12 - What does the frontman do without a microphone: Didn’t want to do singing (sanity reasons because not everyone can sin).  Wanted to get people of the couch.  Thought went into what a frontman does and how to implement it.
00:14 - Why the huge deal about male/female versions of the song?  Came out of the character creator, makes it so you feel it’s YOUR band.  In the cinematics it’s YOUR band as well, so to fit it better it they went that way.
00:15 - How does the storymode enhance the game?  More experience for the gamer, not just playing through set lists.  Didn’t want to get on a bandwagon while making it, wanted it to be unique.
00:17 - Mark comes on to fill a question about how UB DS will work.  City Map used to go places.  Stylus controls.
00:18 - Hannah Montana with a different skin?  Boy version of the game.  Base with the game but enhanced quite a bit with features like the DS/Wii connectivity.
00:19 - DGamer explained.
00:20 - Mic on DS/Wii Mic coming out - Chance of microphone?  "There’s always a chance" with laughter
00:21 - Will there be WFC for duels?  No, not this time (for either version).
00:21 - Studio mode for the DS is explained in detail.
00:22 - Art question: Where did the influence for the art styles come from? Started out too old/too realistic, then too fantasy, then they found a happy medium.
00:23 - What would the art bring to the game explained.
00:24 - Process of the models used in the game and any outside sources gone into detail.
00:25 - Music section: How long did it take to narrow down the set list?  Time on YouTube, shared iTunes accounts looked at.  Took tons of time. Over 450 songs looked like.
00:27 - Design of the instruments: How long did it take to get the feel of them?
00:28 - Would the sequel be in the future? Out of his hands, but they’re hoping it does well.  They’d love to do another if asked.
00:29 - Closing thoughts before the line is opened up to media.
00:30 - Media lines have been opened.
00:31 - DS: Animations, were the visuals really looked at? Mo-cap and hand animations were used for both versions.
00:33 - Visual cues, are they there?  HUD was paid close attention to in both versions.  Crowd reaction tells you about your performance.
00:35 - Scoring system explained.
00:37 - What do they think of Wii Music due to it being similar talked about.
00:39 - Is there single card DS play?  No.
00:40 - Wrap up.