Bakotopia

All > Rants & Raves > Interests
Gaming with Gil - Ep. 9
Topics: Gamestor Gil, Video Games, october, 2008, Bakotopia, Bakersfield, News
Posted by Gilboa Wed Oct 1, 2008 12:49:44 PDT
Viewed 166 times
0 responses 1 comment Location: 3000 Mall View Rd # 1015, Bakersfield, CA 93306

Gaming with Gil - Ep. 9
Video gaming news from Bakotopialand's resident expert!



By Gamestor Gil, Bakotopia.com contributor

In 1995, the first Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) was held in Los Angeles.

During three days in May, 350 game companies showed 1,300 games for video game systems and personal computers. Total attendance was 28,000. Sony introduced the PlayStation in a $4 million booth, including an appearance by Michael Jackson. Sony announced the launch date of the PlayStation as Sept. 9, with a retail price of $299. Atari announced a price cut to $149 for the Jaguar system, and demonstrated its virtual reality product for the Jaguar. SNK Playmore showed the $500 NeoGeo CD system. The same year also saw the arrival of a tiny company by the name of “Harmonix.”

Harmonix was founded in by Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy who met while attending MIT. The company’s mission was to take the experience of performing music to a whole new level, even if you could not play an instrument. Their first creation was a music video game called Frequency released in November 2001. A sequel titled Amplitude was released in 2003.

After Amplitude, Harmonix teamed up with Konami to create the Karaoke Revolution franchise. Konami, known for their Bemani line of music games, published the “Karaoke Revolution” titles, of which Harmonix developed and released three volumes between 2003 and 2004. Also in 2004, Harmonix dove into the EyeToy project with “AntiGray.”

A departure from music games, the title used the PlayStation 2 EyeToy camera peripheral to enable one’s body to perform as a controller for a futuristic extreme sports game. In 2005, publisher Red Octane released the Harmonix-developed game Guitar Hero. The game features similar gameplay elements as FreQuency and Amplitude, also owing some inspiration from Konami’s own guitar-based video game series Guitar Freaks. Like Guitar Freaks, Guitar Hero uses a guitar-shaped controller designed uniquely for the game. Specifically, the Guitar Hero controller was designed with five color-coded fret buttons and a strum bar. As most of you know, Guitar Hero became quite successful, both critically and commercially, resulting in the well received 2006 sequel Guitar Hero II, also developed by Harmonix.

In September 2006, MTV Networks announced it was acquiring Harmonix on behalf of MTV for $175 million. Harmonix’s last Guitar Hero game for RedOctane, Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the ’80s, was released in July 2007 - fulfilling their contractual obligation with the game publisher.

Harmonix released Rock Band in November 2007. As Harmonix’s first game in partnership with MTV, Rock Band expanded upon the design of Guitar Hero by incorporating three different peripherals: guitar/bass, microphone, and drums. Now as we speak, Rock Band 2 (software only) on the XBOX 360 is out, while the software and hardware bundle will be available on Oct. 19. Versions of the game for the Wii, PS3 and PS2 platforms will be about the same time.

Also coming out in October is Guitar Hero World Tour - or if you prefer, Guitar Hero IV. It will be the first game in the Guitar Hero series to feature drum and microphone controllers for percussion and vocal parts.

There, now you see what a big deal it was for Harmonix to get up and running.

What’s Coming Up!
Week of Oct. 7: NBA 2K9 X360; Fracture X360; NBA Live 09 X360; NBA 09 The Inside PS3; Bleach: Dark Souls DS; Guilty Gear 2: Overture X360; Midnight Club: LA Remix PSP; Crash Bandicoot: Mind Over Mutant X360.
Week of Oct. 14: Dead Space (X360); Rock Revolution (PS3); Saints Row 2 (X360); SOCOM: U.S. Navy Seals Confrontation (PS3); Golden Axe: Beast Rider (X360); Blitz: The League II (X360); Dance Dance Revolution Universe 3 (X360); SCORE International Baja 1000 (X360).

• Gamestor Gil can also be heard live Tuesday mornings on KRAB 106.1 FM with Meathead, Rocky Nash and Francis at 9 a.m.

E-mail feedback, questions and comments to: gil@gamestor.com with“Bakotopia” in the subject line.

Gamestor (East Hills Mall) - 661-871-7900

Also printed in Bakotopia magazine, issue, 38, 10-2-08

Send to a Friend

Report a Violation

Comment From: matt

Rock Band 2 was pretty impressive. I can't believe the amount of songs available. You seriously need to mass produce the "pro" kickdrum you developed at the store!