Alex Rigopulos

Last updated

Alex Rigopulos
Born
Alexander Peter Rigopulos

1970s
Boxford, Massachusetts, U.S.
Occupation(s)Co-founder/creative director, Harmonix, musician

Alexander Peter Rigopulos (born 1970s in Boxford, Massachusetts) is an American video game designer and musician, best known as the former CEO and current creative director of Harmonix Music Systems, a company he founded with Eran Egozy in 1995. He is also a member of the band Newfane with his brother Chris Rigopulos.

Contents

Career

Rigopulos, born in Boxford, Massachusetts, is a graduate of Deerfield Academy along with two other brothers. He graduated with a B.S. in music and theater arts in 1992 and an M.S. in media arts and sciences in 1994 from the Media Lab at MIT. [1] While there, he met Egozy, an electrical engineer, and they discovered ways to create interactive music devices. After they received their degrees, the two formed Harmonix to create music video games such as Frequency and Amplitude , but the company became highly successful with its contributions to both the Guitar Hero and Rock Band series of games, both which used specially designed controllers based on instruments like guitars and drum kits to mimic the playing of numerous rock songs. Rigopulos and Egozy were listed in Time magazine's 2008 list of the 100 most influential people for their work on Rock Band. [2]

In May 2014, amid layoffs at Harmonix, Rigopulos announced that he would step down as CEO, being replaced by Steve Janiak, while he would become the chief creative officer for the company. [3]

Rigopulos personally cites Japanese game designers Masaya Matsuura, Tetsuya Mizuguchi, and Keita Takahashi as some artists that have inspired his work at Harmonix. [4]

In August 2010, Rigopulos joined the advisory board of the AbleGamers Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to bringing the rich world of digital entertainment to people with disabilities. [5] In September 2015, he joined the advisory board for the crowdfunding platform Fig. [6]

Rigopulos also donated $2,000 to the ScoreHero website, a website used to track Guitar Hero and Rock Band scores. He donated $9600 to the Colbert Super PAC in 2011. [7] He was also one of the highest backers of the Kickstarter campaign for Double Fine Productions' Broken Age , which led to a character named Alex, loosely based on Rigopulos' own image and voiced by Rigopulos, being included in the game. [8] In April 2015, rock band The Warning met their GoFundMe goal thanks in large part to Rigopulos. [9]

Related Research Articles

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.

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

Rhythm game or rhythm action is a genre of music-themed action video game that challenges a player's sense of rhythm. Games in the genre typically focus on dance or the simulated performance of musical instruments, and require players to press buttons in a sequence dictated on the screen. Many rhythm games include multiplayer modes in which players compete for the highest score or cooperate as a simulated musical ensemble. Rhythm games often feature novel game controllers shaped like musical instruments such as guitars and drums to match notes while playing songs. Certain dance-based games require the player to physically dance on a mat, with pressure-sensitive pads acting as the input device.

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

Guitar Hero is a 2005 music rhythm video game developed by Harmonix and published by RedOctane for the PlayStation 2. It is the first main 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 Encore: Rocks the 80s</i> 2007 video game

Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s is a music rhythm game and the third installment in the popular Guitar Hero series. It was released in July 2007 in North America and Europe, and in August 2007 in Australia.

Guitar Hero is a series of music rhythm game video games first released in 2005, in which players use a guitar-shaped game controller to simulate playing primarily lead, bass guitar, 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, and both 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

Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix, published by MTV Games and distributed by Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions were released in North America on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was released on December 18, 2007 and the Wii version on June 22, 2008. Harmonix previously developed the first two games in the Guitar Hero series, which popularized gameplay of rock music with guitar-shaped controllers. After development of the series was shifted to Neversoft, Harmonix conceived Rock Band as a new title that would offer multi-instrument gameplay.

Eran Egozy is an Israeli chief technical officer and VP of engineering of Harmonix Music Systems, a company he founded with Alex Rigopulos in 1995. He also works as professor of the practice at MIT.

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

Rock Band is a series of rhythm games developed by Harmonix, principally for home video game consoles. 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 are scored for successfully-hit notes, while 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>The Beatles: Rock Band</i> 2009 video game

The Beatles: Rock Band is a 2009 music video game developed by Harmonix, published by MTV Games, and distributed by Electronic Arts. It is the third major console release in the Rock Band music video game series, in which players can simulate the playing of rock music by using controllers shaped like musical instruments. Centered on the popular English rock group the Beatles, The Beatles: Rock Band is the first band-centric game in the Rock Band series. The game features virtual portrayals of the four band members performing the songs throughout the band's history, including depictions of some of their famous live performances, as well as a number of "dreamscape" sequences for songs from the Abbey Road Studios recording sessions during the group's studio years. The game's soundtrack consists of 45 Beatles songs; additional songs and albums by the Beatles were made available for the game as downloadable content.

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.

<i>Green Day: Rock Band</i> 2010 video game

Green Day: Rock Band is a 2010 rhythm game developed by Harmonix and published by MTV Games. It is the fifth major console release in the Rock Band music video game series and it allows players to simulate rock music by using controllers shaped like musical instruments. The game's setlist consists of songs by American rock band Green Day. Rock Band features virtual depictions of the three band members performing the songs in new venues designed for the game.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rock Band Network</span> Former service that allowed user-generated songs to be added to Rock Band video games

The Rock Band Network was a downloadable content service designed by Harmonix with the help of Microsoft to allow musical artists and record labels to make their music available as playable tracks for the Rock Band series of rhythm video games, starting with Rock Band 2. It was designed to allow more music to be incorporated into Rock Band than Harmonix themselves could produce for the games, and it was seen as a way to further expand the games' music catalog into a wide variety of genres. The Network started closed beta testing in July 2009. The Rock Band Network Store was publicly available on March 4, 2010 for all Xbox 360 players in selected countries. Rock Band Network songs were exclusive to the Xbox 360 for 30 days on each song's release, after which a selection of songs would be made available on the PlayStation 3.

<i>Rock Band 3</i> 2010 music video game

Rock Band 3 is a 2010 music video game developed by Harmonix. The game was initially published and distributed by MTV Games and Electronic Arts, respectively, in late October 2010. Mad Catz took over both roles and re-released the title on November 23, 2011. It is the third main game and the 6th major console installment in the Rock Band series. As with the previous titles, Rock Band 3 allows players to simulate the playing of rock music and many other subgenres using special instrument controllers mimicking lead and bass guitar, keyboard, drums, and vocals. Rock Band 3 expands upon previous games by including three-part vocal harmonies — previously used in The Beatles: Rock Band and Green Day: Rock Band — plus support for MIDI-compatible keyboards, electronic drumkits, and even use of a real guitar in "Pro" mode.

<i>Fantasia: Music Evolved</i> 2014 video game

Fantasia: Music Evolved is a 2014 motion-controlled music rhythm game developed by Harmonix for the Xbox 360 and Xbox One with Kinect. The game is the interactive successor to Walt Disney's 1940 animated film Fantasia and its 1999 sequel Fantasia 2000, both of which it is based upon.

<i>Rock Band 4</i> 2015 music video game

Rock Band 4 is a 2015 music video game developed and published by Harmonix. Rock Band 4 allows players to simulate the playing of music across many different decades and genres using instrument controllers that mimic playing lead and bass guitar, drums, and vocals. As the fourth main installment and the 7th major console installment in the Rock Band franchise, it was released for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on October 6, 2015. Mad Catz, who also developed new instrument controllers for the game, marketed and distributed the title worldwide at launch; Performance Designed Products (PDP) took over manufacturing and distribution by the end of 2016. The game shipped with more than sixty licensed songs; additional songs are available as downloadable content, which includes a library of over 2000 existing songs from prior installments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fig (company)</span> Crowdfunding platform for video games

Fig was a crowdfunding platform for video games. It launched in August 2015. Unlike traditional crowdfunding approaches like Kickstarter, where individuals can back a project to receive rewards, Fig used a mixed model that includes individual backing and the opportunity for uncredited investors to invest as to obtain a share of future revenues for successful projects. At the end of 2017, four projects had begun generating returns, returning 245% to Fig investors.

References

  1. ↑ Interview with Alex Rigopulos Archived 5 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine at GameCritics.com
  2. ↑ Van Zandt, Steven (1 May 2008). "Alex Rigopulos & Eran Egozy". Time . Archived from the original on 12 May 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2008.
  3. ↑ Grubb, Jeffrey (29 May 2014). "Harmonix lays off 37 and replaces CEO". Venture Beat . Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  4. ↑ Behind the Games: Alex Rigopulos at GameSpot
  5. ↑ "Alex Rigopulos joins the Advisory Board of The AbleGamers Foundation". Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 26 September 2010.
  6. ↑ Hall, Charlie (3 September 2015). "Harmonix partners with crowdfunding site Fig, takes seat on advisory board". Polygon . Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  7. ↑ Federal Election Commission colbertsuperpac.com January 31, 2012 Retrieved May 17, 2023
  8. ↑ Machkovech, Sam (28 April 2015). "Broken Age Act Two review: Good adventures come to those who wait". Ars Technica . Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  9. ↑ Sweeney, Chris (16 April 2015). "'The Warning' Hits GoFundMe Goal, Drops EP in Same Week". Boston . Metrocorp . Retrieved 4 January 2019.
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