Posted by Ben Huber on Mar 6, 2015 in
Videogames 
No, your eyes aren’t deceiving you: Harmonix has announced Rock Band 4. For real. For Xbox One and PS4. For 2015. There’s not a ton of details yet, and no screenshots yet either, but several big promises: almost all your DLC and music from previous games will work with it, and they’re working hard to ensure all old instruments work as well: “The Sony instruments were wireless via a USB dongle; that’s pretty straightforward. Things are complicated on the Xbox side, and I’m not prepared to talk specifics yet […].” Only one instrument will be left out: the keyboard. Oh well? Harmonix promises that more details will be on the way soon, until then you can read this article at Polygon about how they’re making it happen. Read more…
Tags: Harmonix, Rock Band
Posted by Bob Muir on Mar 4, 2015 in
Videogames 
Full disclosure: I backed Harmonix’s Amplitude reboot on Kickstarter, for more than the retail fight of the game. But considering the game only barely got funded, I like to think I helped get the game exist at all. Obviously this won’t be for everyone (and since Sony owns the rights, it’s only on PS3 and PS4), but if you’re a fan of music games and never played the original (or its predecessor FreQuency), you’ve been missing out. It might not end up as easily accessible as Rock Band Blitz and its no-fail states, but Amplitude is a proven design that’s really fun, especially on the higher levels. Check out this first trailer to see what the modern version looks like. There are only a few licensed tracks, with the majority of the music to be made by in-house musicians who have done great work in the past.
Read more…
Tags: Harmonix, PS3, PS4
Posted by Bob Muir on May 6, 2014 in
Videogames 
Before Harmonix took music gaming by storm with Guitar Hero, Rock Band, and Dance Central, they were putting out other, smaller games that were no less interesting. One fan-favorite (and personal favorite) was Amplitude, a 2003 sequel to a 2001 game (FreQuency) about “mixing” electronic music by switching between various instrument tracks to fill in the song. It was a direct precursor to Guitar Hero, which would put the focus on one track with more notes (or one track per player in Rock Band), though Harmonix has revisited the core gameplay with Rock Band Unplugged on PSP and Rock Band Blitz on digital platforms. Now, there’s a chance of a full sequel! Read more…
Tags: Harmonix, Kickstarter, Music, PS3, PS4
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 18, 2014 in
Videogames 
Harmonix is a studio that makes videogames focused on music. They’ve made some of my favorite games, like FreQuency/Amplitude, Guitar Hero (the first two), Rock Band, Rock Band Blitz, and Dance Central. Now they’re making their first PC game, a free-to-play FPS. But it’s not your standard arena shooter, of course; everything flows according to the music. Shooting and reloading on the pulsating beat of the music will help propel your team to victory. As the music shifts, the arenas can change, like sniper towers shooting up from the ground. Of course, you can just shoot whenever you want, but it seems like trying to time things with the music will produce better results. The game is still in an early alpha state, but you can sign up to test it here. I love the concept, but I hope Harmonix considers bringing it to PS4 or Xbox One, or even Mac, because right now only PC users will be able to play it. Read more…
Tags: Harmonix, Music
