Roxor Games

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Roxor Games, Inc. is a 25-person company based in Austin, Texas that develops video game software for the arcade and home markets. Founded in 2002, Roxor works with developers of open source software to deploy games on a Linux-based hardware platform in the arcade and on multiple home consoles. Although their most well known product, In The Groove , is proprietary software, the developers regularly contribute code back to the open source project StepMania upon which In The Groove is based.

Contents

Roxor Games, Inc.
TypePrivate
Founded2002;21 years ago (2002)
FateUnknown Status
HeadquartersAustin, Texas
ProductsTux Racer Arcade
In The Groove
Road Rebel

Products

Their first product was an arcade redemption version of Tux Racer, where tickets are dispensed based on how well the player collects fish while guiding Tux (the Linux penguin mascot) down one of four snow-covered hills. The sequel, Tux 2, featuring new characters and levels, was in market testing[ when? ].

Their second product was In The Groove , a series of games in the arcade dance game genre. Following the well-established practice of converting arcade systems via kits, Version 1.0 of In The Groove was released as an upgrade kit for existing arcade dance cabinets. Roxor Games then developed a PlayStation 2 version of In The Groove, which was the first game ever published by RedOctane in June 2005. In The Groove: PC/Mac was released in July 2006. [1] [2]

Pump It Up: In The Groove 2 was released in June 2005 both as an upgrade kit and in a dedicated cabinet manufactured by Andamiro (hence the addition of the Pump It Up name). In The Groove 2 debuted on the arcade earnings chart of Replay Magazine in September 2005, and remained in the top 15 for over 23 months. It hit #1 in February 2006.

However, following a lawsuit from Konami, [3] the maker of Dance Dance Revolution , the series was acquired by them, and development for In The Groove 3 was halted prematurely. Roxor has not produced any rhythm games since, but a group of people who had developed In The Groove (including Kyle Ward and Chris Foy) formed "Fun In Motion" and continued working with Andamiro to produce a spinoff of their existing intellectual property instead, leading to the creation of Pump It Up Pro and its sequels. This group now operates as Step Revolution, LLC.

Roxor's latest product is a driving game titled Road Rebel . It is a multiplayer car combat game featuring support for a wide variety of driving cabinets and network play. Road Rebel will be offered as both an upgrade kit and a dedicated cabinet. It is currently on market test with Namco's arcade division.

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<i>Tux Racer</i> Computer game

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<i>Pump It Up</i> (video game series) 1999 video game

Pump It Up is a music video game series developed and published by Andamiro, a Korean arcade game producer. The game is similar to Dance Dance Revolution, except that it has five arrow panels as opposed to four, and is typically played on a dance pad with five arrow panels: the top-left, top-right, bottom-left, bottom-right, and a center. Additional gameplay modes may utilize two five-panel pads side by side. These panels are pressed using the player's feet, in response to arrows that appear on the screen in front of the player. The arrows are synchronized to the general rhythm or beat of a chosen song, and success is dependent on the player's ability to time and position their steps accordingly.

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<i>In the Groove 2</i> 2005 video game

In the Groove 2 is the sequel to Roxor Games' 2004 arcade game In the Groove. It was released to arcades officially on June 18, 2005. It was available as an upgrade kit and as a dedicated cabinet developed by Andamiro. The price for a dedicated cabinet was $9,999 USD and the upgrade kit was US$2,999.

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In the Groove is a series of music video games that uses a four-panel dance pad. The series was first developed by Roxor Games during a time when four-panel dance games in the arcade market were on the decline. As of October 18, 2006, Konami has acquired the intellectual property rights to the series.

<i>Beatmania IIDX</i> (video game) 1999 music video game

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<i>Dance Dance Revolution X</i> 2008 video game

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<i>Konami Corp. v. Roxor Games Inc.</i>

On May 9, 2005, video game developer Konami Corporation sued Roxor Games, developers of In the Groove, a video game similar to Konami’s pioneering Dance Dance Revolution. In the Groove could be purchased as a kit that needed to be plugged into a Dance Dance Revolution arcade machine in order to be used.

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<i>StepManiaX</i> 2017 video game

StepManiaX is a rhythm game developed & published by Step Revolution, a studio formed by former developers of In the Groove, ReRave, and Pump It Up Pro. It is considered a spiritual successor to the In the Groove series. The name is a nod to the legacy of the open-source simulator StepMania, as many of the original StepMania developers were involved with the project. StepManiaX is derived from the same codebase, with modifications made to support the new game types, lights, touch support, connectivity, and the custom Android operating system and hardware that dedicated units run on.

References

  1. "Stepping out - Roxor Games hopes new releases will drive profit". Austin Business Journal. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  2. "In the Groove Review". IGN. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  3. "Konami, Roxor Settle In The Groove Suit". Gamasutra. Retrieved 18 August 2021.