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Amplitude clears funding goal, races toward finish line
Harmonix has successfully matched its $775,000 goal on Kickstarter for Amplitude with 21 hours remaining in the campaign. The Dance Central developer recently admitted that its crowdfunding goal amounted to "less than half of the project budget for the game," the rest of which will come from the studio's wallet. Harmonix held a telethon via Twitch to raise funds for the game, performing songs and playing the original Amplitude for viewers. The original Amplitude achieved cult-hit status after its 2003 release on PlayStation 2. The game was a follow-up to Harmonix's 2001 music game for PS2, Frequency. Harmonix's goal with the new version of Amplitude is to re-create the frenetic action of the rhythm games, where players guide a ship down a colorful highway and press buttons to match notes in line with the music being played at the time.
Harmonix scores Freezepop, Super Meat Boy composer, more for Amplitude
There's going to be less talk, more rokk for Harmonix's Amplitude Kickstarter campaign going forward, as the band Freezepop has joined the fight to bring a new version of the 2003 PS2 cult classic to life. The band, which frequently collaborates with Harmonix, won't be alone in their quest, as plenty of other high-profile artists are ready to lend their talents to the project. Danny Baranowsky (Super Meat Boy, Crypt of the Necrodancer), Anamanaguchi (Scott Pilgrim vs. The World), C418 (Minecraft), Jim Guthrie (Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP) and Kasson Crooker (FreQuency, Amplitude) will all contribute original music to the game should it reach its funding goal, Harmonix announced via Kickstarter update. As of this writing, the campaign is just shy of $400,000 with a goal of $775,000. Harmonix has until 5 p.m. EST, May 23 to reach their goal. If the crowdfunding campaign fails, Harmonix has said that Amplitude will go "back on the shelf." [Image: Harmonix]
Harmonix: Without Kickstarter, Amplitude 'goes back on the shelf'
Since Harmonix launched its Kickstarter project for a successor to the Amplitude series earlier this month, one of the pervading questions the developer fielded is just why it opted to go the crowdfunding route for the cherished, cult classic game. While Harmonix developed popular games like Dance Central and the upcoming Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved, the developer reiterated that it is an "independently owned and operated studio" in a recent blog, and that some of its projects are so ambitious in scale that it cannot "responsibly make it completely out of pocket." Normally, that means a publisher foots the bill for the game, but that isn't the case for Harmonix. "We've sought other options out before coming to Kickstarter: there aren't publishing funds waiting in the wings or some third party who's eager to offset our costs – either we fund the game here, or the game goes back on the shelf," Harmonix Director of Publishing and PR John Drake wrote. The Kickstarter project's goal is $775,000, which Drake clarified is "less than half of the project budget for the game," and that even with $800,000 coming from Kickstarter backers, the developer would "be risking more of Harmonix's money than we probably should – all because we want to make this game so badly." As for the developer's choice to turn to crowdfunding, Kickstarter may not be the appropriate route to fund the game, but not because Harmonix is "too big" for the platform. Rather, it may not be big enough: Looking back to our six-month analysis of the video game crowdfunding space ending November 2013, of the 186 projects that were funded on the platform, just eight earned over $775,000 (4.3 percent). As of this writing, the project is sitting at $254,149 with eight days to go before the campaign closes. Meanwhile, Microsoft's recent announcement that it will begin offering the Xbox One without its Kinect camera elicited some strong reactions from Harmonix, which relied heavily on the device's support. [Image: Harmonix]
The first Fantasia trailer in a long, long time (about a month)
Harmonix's Fantasia: Music Evolved is a motion-controlled song-conducting game with tunes from a range of classic and modern artists. The latest trailer gives us a taste of Elton John's "Rocket Man." If anything, watch it just to hear a lovely melody. [Image: Disney]
Xbox One without Kinect is great for consumers, terrible for Kinect game developers
Sure, a $100 price drop on the Xbox One is great for us. First things first, it's less money to fork over for a new game console. Second, no Kinect, which means no all-seeing eye judging our tawdry lifestyle. But what if you're a Kinect game developer? What if you're, say, a member of the studio with the most successful third-party game franchise for Kinect, and you're in the middle of making an exclusive Disney game for it? Oh, great. Super great. - johntdrake (@johntdrake) May 13, 2014
Harmonix reacts to Kinect-less Xbox One in tweets, statement
Harmonix is the studio behind Xbox One Kinect game Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved, plus Xbox 360's Dance Central franchise, which also relies on Kinect – so Microsoft's announcement of a Kinect-less Xbox One hitting the market for $100 cheaper in June could have a direct impact on how Harmonix does business. Today, we see two reactions from Harmonix: gut and official.
Run endlessly to the beat with Harmonix's new mobile game
Harmonix's Record Run, a free-to-play game that creates endless runner stages from the local music on your mobile device, is out now on iOS. The idea is to duck, jump, and weave through a crowded street; think the video to The Verve's "Bitter Sweet Symphony," except with the exact opposite attitude and your own choice of music. Moving on from that terrible analogy, Harmonix says Record Run will be available soon on Google Play and Amazon Marketplace. Elsewhere, the Rock Band studio is keeping busy with music-based shooter Chroma, which is in alpha, as well as a return for Amplitude. At the time of writing, the PS3 and PS4 rhythm-action game's Kickstarter sits at just over $180,000, with 14 days left to meet its $775,000 goal. [Image: Harmonix]
'Rock Band' team hits Kickstarter to fund a remake of its cult classic, 'Amplitude'
The team behind Rock Band and Dance Central wants to return to its roots, but needs your help to do so. That's right, Harmonix Music Systems is revisiting the PlayStation 2 cult classic Amplitude and have turned to Kickstarter to fund development. Harmonix says that while making Rock Band, the plan was to use the new beat-matching tools it developed for that game and apply them to a sequel to its classic rhythm title. That fell by the wayside, however, as publisher-funded games naturally took priority over a passion project. For the new version, Harmonix plans to apply the improvements afforded by the last 11 years (namely: widescreen HDTVs, more powerful consoles, the development team's talent) and marry them with the original's game-play. Because Sony still owns the property, the game's only been announced for PS3 and PS4 release, though. One aspect of the original that won't make the cut, however, is online play -- you'll have to make due with leaderboards and local multiplayer.
Harmonix bets Amplitude HD's future on Kickstarter
Rock Band and Dance Central developer Harmonix has posted a Kickstarter to fund a sequel to Amplitude, its rhythm action game from the PlayStation 2 era. The company is currently seeking $775,000 for the project, using the crowdfunding platform to gauge legitimate interest. "Legitimate" in this context being people who put their money where their mouth is. "Our aim with this Kickstarter is to be humble in our expectations. The current goal is to make a faithful Amplitude 'HD' - the core experience from PS2 re-developed for modern gaming devices," the company notes on its Kickstarter page. "We certainly have LOTS of crazy ideas that could blow this concept out. Your contribution, feedback, and community input will decide where this project will land and how many crazy ideas we can incorporate!" If successful, the new Amplitude will be available on PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4, which makes sense because Sony owns the intellectual property. A cross-buy code will be given to the first 1,000 pledges at the $15 tier and a code is standard with the $20 tier. The game is currently scheduled to drift down the super note highway in March, 2015.
Fantasia: Music Evolved adds Rocket Man and Ffffff-orget you
Harmonix's Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved wants you to rock out with your Amadeus out. The Kinect rhythm game has revealed that Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes," Gorillaz'zs "Feel Good Inc," Cee Lo Green's (sanitized) "Forget You," Elton John's "Rocket Man," and the original rock star Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" will be added to the previously revealed track list. Our German is a little rusty, but we believe that Mozart song translates to: "A Little Pimpin' in the Night." If you'd like to see what Fantasia is like, check out our own Reviews Director Richard Mitchell playing it at GDC in this flailtastic video.
Harmonix announces 'rhythm-runner' Record Run for mobile
Harmonix announced the development of a new free-to-play game at PAX East in Boston today called Record Run. Described by the developer as a "rhythm-runner," the game is "coming soon" to as-yet-undetermined mobile platforms. Record Run features gameplay that compares to Gaijin Games' Bit.Trip series, according to Harmonix head Alex Rigopulos. The game uses songs from players' mobile devices as the backdrop for its levels, which features a character running down a sidewalk, avoiding obstacles and collecting music records, all seen during Rigopulous' presentation. He noted that Harmonix has "lots of other irons in the fire on mobile" aside from Record Run. [Image: Harmonix]
Fantasia: Music Evolved video preview
We haven't been shy about praising Harmonix's Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved thus far. Based on our experience with it at GDC 2014 last week, that's not likely to change anytime soon. We tried the latest version of Fantasia, running on Xbox One, and the Kinect-powered experience was delightful from top to bottom. Whether you're intuitively creating your own synthesizer solo in "Ziggy Stardust" or ringing bells hanging from the horns of a giant stag – no, really – the level of creativity and craftsmanship on display is always apparent. You can witness the magical madness yourself in our video preview. Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved is slated to arrive this year on Xbox 360 and Xbox One.
Harmonix's 'Fantasia' gets a multiplayer mode, new songs
Harmonix is letting us in on a few more details about its upcoming game Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved. During a demo last week at GDC the company showed us a new discovery realm of the game called "The Hollow," a new multiplayer mode and took the wraps off of six new tracks coming to the colorful music-conducting game. Similar to the underwater world we saw at E3, The Hollow is a part of the game meant for exploration rather than structured gameplay -- and the forest scene has a ton to explore. Much like the other discovery realms in the game, parts of world start to come into color the more songs you play, with a little taste of your completed songs incorporating itself into the world. Areas of The Hollow we saw had magical mushrooms that you could play (not that kind of magical shrooms; these), as well as fairies you can interact with and an elk with playable bells in its antlers. It all looks pretty amazing, and is something we could definitely see ourselves spending hours exploring.
Harmonix announces music shooter 'Chroma,' sign up for alpha testing now
Rock Band and Dance Central developer Harmonix is going full Chris Gaines with free-to-play, first-person shooter Chroma. The multiplayer class-based arena gunner for PC has that Harmonix music twist with bullets on a beat and finding the flow in the music activating jump pads for easier arena traversal. The game is being developed in partnership with Hidden Path Entertainment (Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Defense Grid: The Awakening). Chroma's closed alpha will begin this month and sign-ups are available now at PlayChroma.com. The game will continue its development on Valve's Steam Early Access through the year and is expected to be in a publicly playable state sometime this fall. We recently had the chance to try out the alpha and the game is still finding its voice, with Harmonix representatives acknowledging this is the earliest the studio has ever shown a game. If you sign up for the alpha, you are signing up for a game very much in development where feedback will matter. The good news is that if you decide to participate, you're getting involved in one of the more interesting concepts we've seen for a shooter. Players who can find the rhythm to rampage will have a distinct advantage in this game. [Image: Harmonix]
Rock Band and Guitar Hero creator's next game is Chroma, a free-to-play rhythm-based shooter (yes, really)
Harmonix is charting new territory yet again. The studio that birthed both Guitar Hero and Rock Band, and the only third-party game-development house that created a successful Kinect franchise (Dance Central), announced a new game today: Chroma. Unlike the studio's last several games, Chroma is headed exclusively to the PC (via Steam) as a free-to-play title. Also unlike Harmonix's last several games, Chroma is wildly experimental, blending first-person shooting with pulsing electronic beats and garish visuals. The music game studio is even working with an outside team, Hidden Path Entertainment: the same folks behind critically acclaimed shooter Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. If you're still wondering what type of game Chroma is at this point, that's understandable: There's no such thing as a music-based first-person shooter. That is not a thing that exists (well, unless you wanna count Midway's terribly amazing Revolution X). So let's break it down: In Chroma, you play one of five classes (standard FPS fare, from basic assault to heavy "tank"), with weapons and abilities varying based on the class you choose. In the two game modes we played at DICE 2014, we were on a team with other writers battling for control of various points within a level or battling for control of a cart being pushed one way or another (think: Team Fortress 2). Pretty normal shooter stuff so far, right? The musical wrinkle comes into play whenever you shoot or jump. Fire a sniper rifle shot on the downbeat and connect? That's a one-hit kill. Jump on the downbeat? You'll go a little higher. Better yet, jump on a downbeat on a jump pad and chain your button presses to the beat to continuously jump from pad to pad (this all makes more sense in Chroma's stylized future-world setting, promise). You can fire most guns whenever you want, and jump at any time, but timing actions to the beat makes a world of difference. That is Chroma's bizarre, fascinating premise.
Rumor: Harmonix cancels unannounced Xbox One Kinect game [Update: Harmonix responds]
Harmonix has allegedly canceled development on an unannounced Kinect game for Xbox One. So says the LinkedIn profile of Rob Stokes, senior level designer at Harmonix, as spotted by internet sleuth Superannuation (via Kotaku). Harmonix announced in mid-2012 it had several projects in the works that weren't related to Rock Band or Dance Central. Fantasia: Music Evolved, a motion-based Kinect rhythm game for Xbox One and Xbox 360 that is a successor to Disney's original Fantasia film and its sequel Fantasia 2000, was announced last year. The other projects are unknown, though it's important to note that Harmonix posted a job listing for a "combat designer" in 2012 for an unannounced game on "next-generation hardware." Last year, Harmonix ceased its weekly DLC drop for Rock Band and suffered two waves of layoffs. We've reached out to Harmonix for comment on the matter. We'll update this post accordingly. Update: We've received word from a Harmonix representative, who said the company has "nothing else to confirm today other than a heads up that we've got a lot of stuff happening that you'll hear about soon." Head past the break for the full statement.
Harmonix lets go a 'small number' of employees
Harmonix has laid off a handful of employees today, a spokesperson tells Joystiq: "We can confirm that a small number of Harmonix employees were let go today. This decision was made due to shifting staffing priorities for Harmonix's multiple future projects." One of those let go was Dan Crislip, a sound designer on Rock Band. Harmonix saw a similar round of purging in April, complete with the same spokesperson quote. The studio is currently working on Fantasia: Music Evolved.
Fantasia: Music Evolved rings in a new realm, The Haven
The newest realm in Xbox One's Fantasia: Music Evolved is a wintry wonderland called The Haven, and it features songs from Kimbra, Fun and Vivaldi, along with two remixes of each track. Players will awake a singing yeti and explore dark caves, all in the name of conducting music.
Fantasia: Music Evolved scores Fallout 3 composer Inon Zur
Fantasia: Music Evolved will not only feature the imposing presence of sorcerer Yen Sid, but the original works of Inon Zur, a wizard of a different sort. Zur has a long history of composing music for video games, having accompanied players across irradiated wastelands in Fallout 3 and beneath besieged castles in Dragon Age: Origins. Disney has announced Zur will conjure the original soundtrack to Fantasia: Music Evolved and produce new orchestral versions of classic songs by Vivaldi ("Four Seasons: Winter: First Movement") and Mussorgsky ("Night on Bald Mountain"). He also arranged the orchestral mix of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," one of several contemporary songs that players can reshape in the game. Fantasia: Music Evolved is a motion-driven music game being developed by Harmonix for Kinect on Xbox 360 and Xbox One. Look and listen for it sometime in 2014.
Viacom loses appeal against paying Harmonix hundreds of millions
The long and winding road of Viacom owing former Harmonix owners hundreds of million of dollars may finally be at an end. The Hollywood Reporter notes that the Delaware Supreme Court agreed with prior arbitration and rulings that Viacom owes $299 million with interest to the owners of the company at the time of Viacom's Harmonix acquisition in 2006 (which it would sell in 2010). The legal dispute started getting heavy in late 2010, shortly after Viacom announced its intentions to sell the developer, when the former Harmonix owners sued the conglomerate for performance pay they were owed. Viacom attempted a counter-suit, but by the end of 2011 it was decided by an arbitrator that Viacom would need to pay. Harmonix's law firm estimates the payout, including another dispute with the company, totals some $533 million. Viacom has not released a statement and Harmonix had no comment on the ruling.
