News - Guitar Hero franchise switching developers; UPDATED
Posted by Justin Fassino at 02:00:06 AM EST on 1.17.2007.
UPDATE- According to Gamespot, Activision has filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark office for the terms "Guitar Villain" and "Drum Villain." Both these terms were applied for late last year, and according to the filing, would cover game software (including downloadable content, arcade games, and games sold with controllers) as well as online leaderboards.
This information does imply some sort of new addition to the Guitar Hero franchise, though when gamers will be seeing it, if ever, is still unclear. Patents and trademarks are often filed but then expire without action ever being taken on them.
In any case, let the speculation begin.
The Guitar Hero franchise went from an under-the-radar music game to a huge sensation almost overnight, allowing gamers everywhere with little to no guitar skills the ability to rock out to their favorite ballad and metal fantasies.
Now the series is picking up shop and moving to a new developer. Neversoft, the team behind the Tony Hawk games, will tackle the next installment.
This move might have been foreseen with the acquisition of the Guitar Hero license by Activision late last year; after all, Neversoft is owned by the Santa Monica-based company.
The official Neversoft website confirms the team switch, with the Woodland Hills, CA studio now hiring programmers, producers, and graphic artists, among others, if they've got the skills. Additionally, Neversoft is looking for PS3-capable title and graphics engineers, which all but assures a Playstation 3 release of a Guitar Hero game.
What does all this mean for Harmonix, the original dev team? Unfortunately or fortunately (depending on how you look at it), it looks like their Guitar Hero days are finished for the future. But that's not to say they aren't already working on other projects.
When more info on the next Guitar Hero drops, GAF will have it.
Posted by Justin Fassino at 02:00:06 AM EST on 1.17.2007.
UPDATE- According to Gamespot, Activision has filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark office for the terms "Guitar Villain" and "Drum Villain." Both these terms were applied for late last year, and according to the filing, would cover game software (including downloadable content, arcade games, and games sold with controllers) as well as online leaderboards.
This information does imply some sort of new addition to the Guitar Hero franchise, though when gamers will be seeing it, if ever, is still unclear. Patents and trademarks are often filed but then expire without action ever being taken on them.
In any case, let the speculation begin.
The Guitar Hero franchise went from an under-the-radar music game to a huge sensation almost overnight, allowing gamers everywhere with little to no guitar skills the ability to rock out to their favorite ballad and metal fantasies.
Now the series is picking up shop and moving to a new developer. Neversoft, the team behind the Tony Hawk games, will tackle the next installment.
This move might have been foreseen with the acquisition of the Guitar Hero license by Activision late last year; after all, Neversoft is owned by the Santa Monica-based company.
The official Neversoft website confirms the team switch, with the Woodland Hills, CA studio now hiring programmers, producers, and graphic artists, among others, if they've got the skills. Additionally, Neversoft is looking for PS3-capable title and graphics engineers, which all but assures a Playstation 3 release of a Guitar Hero game.
What does all this mean for Harmonix, the original dev team? Unfortunately or fortunately (depending on how you look at it), it looks like their Guitar Hero days are finished for the future. But that's not to say they aren't already working on other projects.
When more info on the next Guitar Hero drops, GAF will have it.
