RedOctane

Last updated
RedOctane, Inc.
Company type Subsidiary
Industry Video games
Founded1999;25 years ago (1999)
Founders Kai Huang
Charles Huang
DefunctFebruary 11, 2010 (2010-02-11)
FateClosed
Headquarters,
US
Key people
Kai Huang (CEO and Co-Founder),
Charles Huang (COO and Co-Founder)
Kelly Sumner (Chief Executive Officer)
Parent Activision (2006–2010)

RedOctane, Inc. was an American electronic entertainment company best known for producing the Guitar Hero series, beginning in November 2005. RedOctane became a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision in 2006. In February 2010, Activision closed the RedOctane division.

History

RedOctane was founded in 1999 by the brothers Kai Huang and Charles Huang. They got their beginnings operating the world's first online video game rental service, called WebGameZone. They soon began to create game accessories such as the Red Octane Ignition dance mat, joysticks, and other accessories to build upon already-existing musical games. After soon realizing that their game accessories were tied to the launch dates of the games they were producing for, Red Octane began producing games. Their first original game was a PlayStation 2 port of Roxor Games' arcade rhythm game In the Groove . [1]

RedOctane teamed with developer Harmonix Music Systems to release Guitar Hero in November 2005 for the PlayStation 2. The game was successful, and RedOctane released a sequel in 2006 for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360. [2] [3]

In May 2006, video game publisher Activision announced plans to acquire RedOctane, completing the deal on June 6, 2006. [4] Activision reportedly paid RedOctane $99.9 million in cash and common stock in the acquisition. [5] [6]

After the Activision buy-out and a split from Harmonix, who went on to develop competing game Rock Band , RedOctane utilized Activision owned Neversoft, the team responsible for the Tony Hawk skateboarding video game franchise, to take the helm on Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock , [7] which became available in November 2007.

Gaming news site Kotaku called Guitar Hero an "instant cult classic". In its 26 first months after release, Guitar Hero generated over $1B in sales. [8]

RedOctane released Guitar Hero World Tour in October 2008.

On February 11, 2010, Activision announced the closure of their RedOctane division. [9]

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Harmonix Music Systems, Inc., doing business as Harmonix, is an American video game developer company based in Boston, Massachusetts. The company was established in May 1995 by Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy. Harmonix is perhaps best known as being the developer of music video games series Dance Central and Rock Band, as well as being the original developer and creator of the Guitar Hero series before development moved to Neversoft and Vicarious Visions.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhythm game</span> Genre of music-themed action video game

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<i>Guitar Hero</i> (video game) 2005 music rhythm video game

Guitar Hero is a 2005 rhythm game developed by Harmonix and published by RedOctane for the PlayStation 2. It is the first installment in the Guitar Hero series. Guitar Hero was released in November 2005 in North America, April 2006 in Europe and June 2006 in Australia. The game's development was a result of collaboration between RedOctane and Harmonix to bring a Guitar Freaks-like game to United States.

<i>Guitar Hero II</i> 2006 video game

Guitar Hero II is a 2006 rhythm game developed by Harmonix and published by RedOctane for the PlayStation 2 and Activision for the Xbox 360. It is the sequel to Guitar Hero (2005) and the second installment in the Guitar Hero series. The game was first released for the PlayStation 2 in November 2006, and then for the Xbox 360 in April 2007, with additional content not originally in the PlayStation 2 version.

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<i>Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s</i> 2007 video game

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Guitar Hero is a series of rhythm games first released in 2005, in which players use a guitar-shaped game controller to simulate playing primarily lead, bass, and rhythm guitar across numerous songs. Players match notes that scroll on-screen to colored fret buttons on the controller, strumming the controller in time to the music in order to score points, and keep the virtual audience excited. The games attempt to mimic many features of playing a real guitar, including the use of fast-fingering hammer-ons and pull-offs and the use of the whammy bar to alter the pitch of notes. Most games support single player modes, typically a Career mode to play through all the songs in the game, as well as competitive and cooperative multiplayer modes. With the introduction of Guitar Hero World Tour in 2008, the game includes support for a four-player band including vocals and drums. The series initially used mostly cover versions of songs created by WaveGroup Sound, but most recent titles feature soundtracks that are fully master recordings, and in some cases, special re-recordings, of the songs. Later titles in the series feature support for downloadable content in the form of new songs.

<i>Rock Band</i> (video game) 2007 music video game

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<i>Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock</i> 2007 video game

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock is a 2007 rhythm game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is the third main installment and the fourth overall installment in the Guitar Hero series. It is the first game in the series to be developed by Neversoft after Activision's acquisition of RedOctane and MTV Games' purchase of Harmonix, the previous development studio for the series. The game was released worldwide for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii in October 2007. Aspyr published the Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X versions of the game, releasing them later in 2007.

<i>Guitar Hero World Tour</i> 2008 video game

Guitar Hero World Tour is a 2008 rhythm game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is the fourth main installment and the sixth overall installment in the Guitar Hero series. The game was launched in North America in October 2008 for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360 consoles, and a month later for Europe and Australia. A version of World Tour for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X was published by Aspyr in July 2009.

<i>Guitar Hero: Aerosmith</i> 2008 video game

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is a 2008 rhythm game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is the fifth installment in the Guitar Hero series and the first to focus on the career and songs of one rock band, Aerosmith. The game was released for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii on June 29, 2008, in North America, on July 27, 2008, in Europe, on August 6, 2008, in Australia, and October 9, 2008, in Japan. Aspyr published the Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X versions of the game, releasing them in October 21, 2008. The game was released. Guitar Hero: Aerosmith sold as both a bundle with a specially designed guitar controller as well as a game-only package.

<i>Rock Band</i> Series of rhythm video games

Rock Band is a series of rhythm games first released in 2007 and developed by Harmonix. Based on their previous development work from the Guitar Hero series, the main Rock Band games has players use game controllers modeled after musical instruments and microphones to perform the lead guitar, bass guitar, keyboard, drums and vocal parts of numerous licensed songs across a wide range of genres though mostly focusing on rock music by matching scrolling musical notes patterns shown on screen. Certain games support the use of "Pro" instruments that require special controllers that more closely mimic the playing of real instruments, providing a higher challenge to players. Players score points for hitting notes successfully, but may fail a song if they miss too many notes. The series has featured numerous game modes, and supports both local and online multiplayer modes where up to four players in most modes can perform together.

<i>DJ Hero</i> 2009 video game

DJ Hero is a 2009 rhythm game developed by FreeStyleGames and published by Activision. It is the first spin-off of the Guitar Hero series. It was released on October 27, 2009, in North America and on October 29, 2009, in Europe. The game is based on turntablism, the act of creating a new musical work from one or more previously recorded songs using record players and sound effect generators, and features 94 remixes of two different songs across numerous genres.

<i>Guitar Hero: Van Halen</i> 2009 video game

Guitar Hero: Van Halen is a 2009 rhythm game developed by Underground Development and published by Activision. It is the tenth installment in the Guitar Hero series and the third to focus on the career and songs of one rock band, Van Halen, following Guitar Hero: Aerosmith (2008) and Guitar Hero: Metallica (2009). The game was released in retail for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii systems on December 22, 2009, in North America, and in February 2010 for PAL regions. However, as part of a promotion with Guitar Hero 5 (2009), the game was shipped to Guitar Hero 5 purchasers in North America prior to its retail release. The game features 25 songs from Van Halen along with 19 additional songs from selected artists that have been inspired by the group. The gameplay UI from Guitar Hero: Metallica was carried over.

Cultural impact of the <i>Guitar Hero</i> series

Guitar Hero is a series of rhythm video games published by Activision in which players use guitar-shaped controllers to mimic the playing of numerous rock music songs in a score attack gameplay; later games in the series have included support for drums and vocals and playing as a full band. With over $2 billion in total sales worldwide, the game series has made a significant cultural impact, becoming a cultural phenomenon and recognizable in the popular culture. The series has been found to influence younger players into learning real instruments and has found application within the health care industry to help recovering patients.

References

  1. "RedOctane, Inc. (Company) - Giant Bomb". www.giantbomb.com. Retrieved 2016-04-27.
  2. Stevens, Jim (2008-10-16). "More guitar hero world tour tidbits". Mercury News . Retrieved 2010-09-22.
  3. Petersen, Brittany (2009-01-28). "The History Leading Up to Guitar Hero". PC Magazine. Retrieved 2010-09-24.
  4. "Activision Paid $100 mln for RedOctane". Next Generation. Archived from the original on 2012-09-05.
  5. Miller, Ross. "Activision paid nearly $100 million for Red Octane". Joystiq . Retrieved 2007-04-18.
  6. "Activision Buys RedOctane for $99.9M". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 2007-09-14. Retrieved 2007-04-18.
  7. Ostroff, Joshua (2007). "Battle of the Virtual Bands". Exclaim! Magazine. Archived from the original on 2007-11-09. Retrieved 2007-10-31.
  8. "Guitar Hero Goes $1 Billion". Kotaku.
  9. Chris Pereira. "Original Guitar Hero Publisher RedOctane Shut Down". Archived from the original on 2013-01-01.