Harmonix Music Systems

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Harmonix Music Systems
Type Subsidiary
Founded 1995
Founder Alex Rigopulos, Eran Egozy
Headquarters Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
Industry Software & Programming
Owner Viacom
Parent MTV Networks
Website http://www.harmonixmusic.com

Harmonix Music Systems (Harmonix for short) is a video game development company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the United States. They are known in the industry for their acclaimed line of music video games and have won numerous awards for their titles.

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Harmonix was founded in 1995 by Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy who met while attending MIT.[1] The company was built on the premise that the experience of performing music could become accessible to those who would otherwise have trouble learning a traditional instrument.

The company's earliest product was The Axe: Titans of Classic Rock on PC CD-ROM. The Axe enabled consumers to easily perform unique instrumental solos by using a PC joystick. Harmonix then designed "CamJam", which performed similar functions, this time using simple body gestures to trigger music sequences.[1] CamJam was utilized at Disneyworld theme parks.[2]

In 1997, the Harmonix team focused on Japan. There, the first music video games were becoming increasingly popular and successful. These games included PaRappa the Rapper, Beatmania, and Dance Dance Revolution; all of which focused on bringing musical experiences to gamers through simple, understandable interfaces commonly found in games. It was these games that inspired Harmonix to develop its first music video game, FreQuency, which began development in 1999.[1][3]

To develop FreQuency, Rigopulos and Egozy formed a larger team, finding many of their new employees to be musicians.[3] Featuring songs by a number of underground electronica artists, FreQuency allowed players to perform and remix a variety of music. The game was backed by SCEA Vice President of Product Development, Shuhei Yoshida. Released in 2001 on the PlayStation 2, FreQuency was critically acclaimed and won numerous awards,[4] though it failed to become a mainstream success. Harmonix developed the a sequel to FreQuency, Amplitude, released in 2003. Several changes were made from its predecessor to broaden the game's appeal, from gameplay tweaks to a more mainstream soundtrack. And again, Amplitude achieved awards, critical praise,[5] and a small cult following, but it was not a financial hit.[1]

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, Sony Computer Entertainment released the Harmonix project EyeToy: AntiGrav. 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 RedOctane released the Harmonix-developed game Guitar Hero. The game features similar gameplay elements to FreQuency and Amplitude, in which the goal is for the player to hit color-coded buttons to the rhythm of passing button sequences, except that it utilizes a five-button guitar-shaped controller, designed uniquely for the game. Similar to Konami's peripheral-touting Bemani games, Guitar Hero became largely 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 that it was acquiring Harmonix on behalf of MTV.[6] Harmonix's last Guitar Hero game for RedOctane, Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s, was released in July 2007.

In its first project announced as part of MTV, Harmonix expanded upon the design of Guitar Hero with the game Rock Band, which incorporates three different peripherals: guitar/bass, microphone, and drums. Rock Band was first released in November 2007; a beatmatching iPod game entitled Phase was released the same month.[7]

Due to the nature of titles developed by Harmonix, a large percentage of staff members are well-known in the Boston and US music scene. These include:

  • Kasson Crooker and Sean Roche, members of the band Freezepop.
  • Jason Kendall, lead singer of the band The Amazing Crowns.
  • Daniel Sussman, member of The Acro-Brats.
  • Eric Brosius, Terri Brosius and Greg LoPiccolo, former members of Tribe.
  • Bryn Bennett, co-founder and lead guitarist in Bang Camaro
  • Keith Smith, singer/ guitarist for Anarchy Club., and former singer for C60.
  • Dan Schmidt, vocals and guitar in Honest Bob and the Factory-to-Dealer Incentives.
  • Helen McWilliams, Elena Siegman and 'Leanne', members of Vagiant.
  • Izzy "Sparks" Maxwell, member of Count Zero and Death of the Cool.
  • Naoko Takamoto, also known as Plural and a member of That Handsome Devil.
  • Ryan Lesser, Jason Kendall, Brian Gibson and Paul Lyons, members of Megasus.
  • Brian Gibson of Lightning Bolt and Megasus.
  • Phil Beaudreau and Johannes "Rash" Raasina, members of the band Shaimus.
  • Ryan Lesser, Dare Matheson, Matt Gilpin, and Jason Warburg, members of The Gert Jonnys.
  • Dan Teasdale, Chris Foster, and Rob Kay, members of Speck.
  • Pete Maguire, is a member of inter:sect.
  • Geoff Pitsch, also known as Father Octopus.
  • Scott Sinclair, member of the Model Sons.
  • John Drake, Jon Carter and Matt Boch, members of The Blanks.
  • Kurt Davis, frontman for The Konks

  1. ^ a b c d Interview with Alex Rigopulos at GameCritics.com
  2. ^ The Roar of IAAPA at livedesignonline.com
  3. ^ a b Behind the Scenes: Alex Rigopulos at GameSpot
  4. ^ FreQuency at Harmonix.com
  5. ^ Amplitude at Harmonix.com
  6. ^ http://www.harmonixmusic.com/p092206.html
  7. ^ http://www.phasegame.com/?p=6

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