Neversoft rocking Guitar Hero

Tony Hawk developer's site proclaims it is hiring staffers for the best-selling rhythm series. RedOctane confirms studio's involvement.

When Activision bought RedOctane last year, it was the stuff of game-industry fairy tales. The country's number two publisher shelled out nearly $100 million to acquire the independent publisher after Guitar Hero, its upstart rhythm game, went from the depths of Kentia Hall to the top of the game charts.

For those about to rock, we salute you!

As of December 2006, the PS2-exclusive Guitar Hero and Guitar Hero II had sold a combined 2.33 million units. The franchise will expand its following when it arrives on the Xbox 360 in March. There will also be the inevitable sequels, perhaps including a rumored '80s heavy-metal edition mentioned in next month's Electronic Gaming Monthly. Activision also recently patented the titles "Guitar Villain" and "Drum Villain," hinting at possible spin-offs.

Guitar Hero's success has also boosted the fortunes of its developer, Harmonix Music Systems. After earning much acclaim but little coin for Frequency (2001) and Amplitude (2003), the company finally had a monster hit that outshone even its biggest previous success, the Karaoke Revolution series. Last September, Harmonix was bought by MTV for a staggering $175 million in cash.

With Harmonix off the stage, it was unclear which studio would help RedOctane with Guitar Hero development duties. Now, that question appears to be answered. This week, the Neversoft Web site (pictured) began running ads that it was hiring developers for the Guitar Hero series, although no specific positions were mentioned. Activision declined to comment further on Neversoft's work on the Guitar Hero series. However, RedOctane reps confirmed the shop's involvement to GameSpot this afternoon--but would not say more as of press time.

66 Comments

  • The_AI

    Posted May 25, 2007 5:52 pm PT

    No more Guitar Hero by Harmonix? NOOOOOOOOOO!!! I don't trust Neversoft to make Guitar Hero. Heck, right now they can barely handle Tony Hawk, and GUN wasn't particularly memorable.

  • goskateboard

    Posted Mar 3, 2007 1:44 pm PT

    GH+Wii=sweet

  • Neo_Hishota

    Posted Jan 27, 2007 9:19 am PT

    I think this could work out for the best (at least for the song selection). Neversoft has a talent for getting artists that don't usually give their songs to games to change their ways. The soundtracks for the TH games have been (mostly) awesome. I'm not worried about the soundtrack because of this. They still have to prove themselves for note placement, levels, and characters, though.

    The actual music (the covers) was done by WaveGroup, which is a 3rd party, so Neversoft can continue to use them.

  • bengino

    Posted Jan 24, 2007 8:46 pm PT

    i just don't think it is a great move to have Harmonix entirely out of the picture. MTV simply isn't MUSIC television anymore as they hardly play any music videos. I own both GH 1 and 2 and track listing wise i prefer the first title to the second, if they do bring some of the great tracks we've had in recent years (instead of the run of the mills, generic drones we get year in and out) maybe the series can have a lasting effect.

    As far as Activision is concerned i have not been impressed with the Tony Hawk series despite having many in my collection (i purchased the first 3 for the N64) so let's hope they don't bomb another possible stable.

  • Poison_Me_Rum

    Posted Jan 22, 2007 7:34 am PT

    More Guitar Hero can never be a bad thing.

    Though I wish you could somehow add Guitar Heros original track listing into the sequel. All those great tracks being combined with all the new features of Guitar Hero 2.

    Also, MORE OUTFITS!

  • jacnewforce07

    Posted Jan 20, 2007 2:49 pm PT

    PREDICTION-GUITAR HERO 3 FOR THE PS3...BLUETOOTH CAPABILITY..

  • sluGGish_09

    Posted Jan 20, 2007 1:11 am PT

    Its gunna have downloadalbe songs i bet...

  • Ace_Gunner

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 10:25 am PT

    I guess that means we can say goodbye to Freezepop in Guitar Hero. And I think this will only be the start of a slow decline for the GH series.

  • humptygrumpty

    Posted Jan 18, 2007 12:48 pm PT

    drum villain better be on wii!

  • soadandy

    Posted Jan 18, 2007 10:33 am PT

    can the 360 own more please?

  • UkuleleSHIMA

    Posted Jan 18, 2007 10:01 am PT

    Look, the reason Harmonix was so great at making this game is that those guys are MUSICIANS!!!! They understand not only was is good music but how to disect it and play with the intricacies and nuances of the music. Just because Neversoft used put some good songs in their Tony Hawk games doesn't necessarily mean they can connect with the tunes and translate the musical experience as well as the Harmonix guys. Harmonix "gets" music. That's what they do. I'm very leary about Activision's decision here. On the other hand, I think Neversoft will do great things with the presentation of the game.

  • Contelis

    Posted Jan 18, 2007 9:31 am PT

    So much good news. First a possible 80's version (which, to me, could be the greatest of the series), we might get spin offs, and now Neversoft is working on GH3. I certainly hope they do well on it. I was disappointed with GH2. Neversoft is getting bigger and better, so maybe they'll now have the big bucks behind them to do something extraordinary (I hope).

  • LordAndrew

    Posted Jan 18, 2007 9:24 am PT

    Maybe he didn't like the music. Not everyone has the same taste in music.

  • damion_10_7

    Posted Jan 18, 2007 9:17 am PT

    " "I just don't understand the appeal of this game."

    Clearly you've not played it! "

    Either that or he played it, sucked really bad, then decided to hate on it instead.

  • puablo

    Posted Jan 18, 2007 8:14 am PT

    "I just don't understand the appeal of this game."

    Clearly you've not played it!

  • gatsbythepig

    Posted Jan 18, 2007 7:03 am PT

    I just don't understand the appeal of this game.

  • axillia

    Posted Jan 18, 2007 6:11 am PT

    I hope they don't screw it up.

  • Tudio

    Posted Jan 18, 2007 4:18 am PT

    way great news but there is a problem, is guitar hero sequels for the ps3 or xbox 360 or what. cause according to ign.com the ps2 gh controllers dont work on the ps3. and that really is pissing me. other than that the new guitar hero2 for 360 has new songs and downloadable songs and now im thinking of buying a xbox 360 just for it now

  • fahad2mail

    Posted Jan 18, 2007 3:18 am PT

    thats a great newz.

  • twoism

    Posted Jan 18, 2007 1:55 am PT

    NEVERSOFT, If you're reading this, you guys have one of the biggest franchises in your hands now.. Please don't mess it up!!!

  • Chief_Kuuni

    Posted Jan 18, 2007 1:45 am PT

    give me two

  • hoverboy

    Posted Jan 18, 2007 12:50 am PT

    @TryMe01 everybody seems to want this game for the Wii, and maybe i am one of them.

    GH controllers > Wii-mote for this game. Myself, I would pick it up on the 360 over the others for Xbox Live alone. Since I finished Zelda I prety much haven't played on the Wii. Xbox Live = reason to keep on playing the same ol' game. GoW, Rainbow 6 Vegas... Anyhow, GH2 (and 3) will be sweet if they nail the Live part: new songs every month or so, co-op play, contests. And the achievements for GH2 look sweet too. Heh, achievements = reason to play any game :-)

  • BrideInDream

    Posted Jan 18, 2007 12:25 am PT

    microsoft is so bad!!! they can't let other company have an exclusive especially sony!!! they're taking all the exclusive!!! why can't sony buy GoW so it wouldn't be exclusive for xbox?!?!

  • Fallout_red

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 10:21 pm PT

    I will really miss Harmonix. Lets hope Neversoft makes something as good as previous GHs.

  • gamesfreak4ever

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 10:17 pm PT

    i knew this was going to happen sooner or later

  • reggie186

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 9:55 pm PT

    No way, Diesel. Neversoft is cool.

  • VixDiesel

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 8:18 pm PT

    They're going to ruin the series.

  • BlizZardMAn

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 8:15 pm PT

    cause guitar hero is the ****

  • nmandude

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 7:52 pm PT

    why have half of the news articles in the last week been about guitar hero?

  • Soldier_Shadow

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 7:41 pm PT

    the learning curve for guitar hero 1 was actually pretty good because it gradually increased the difficulty and use of the pinky with each song and i was able to complete all the songs much easier than when i first picked up the game. hopefully neversoft doesnt butcher the game and add crap to it, it better be the same game engine and visuals or ill be mad.

  • msp2008

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 6:39 pm PT

    I think it's entirely probable that they could develop it for the wii. If they wanted to use the controller ports from the gamecube that would be a possibility right? The graphics surely arent to tough for the wii to run.

  • okassar

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 6:09 pm PT

    The learning curve to Guitar Hero sucks but when you get used to it,it's really fun.I just wish there were some kind of string instead of buttons.

  • LoserMike

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 6:02 pm PT

    Uhh!!! The website says they're looking for a PS3 programmer. I guess that means Guitar Hero 3 is coming out for 360, PS2, and PS3. Wonder why not the Wii.

  • LoserMike

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 6:00 pm PT

    Homsar13
    well, Neversoft has put in some awesome tracks for the Tony Hawk series. we'll see where this goes...

    and does anyone know why Harmonix isn't developing GH anymore?

    Harmonix was bought by MTV and Activision bought Red Octane. Red Octane owns the rights to the Guitar Hero Franchise, Activision has internal developers, Neversoft is one of them. So probably they're using Neversoft because either MTV is making it's own music game and doesn't want to help Activision or Activision is using Neversoft to save money so they won't need to outsource and pay royalties to an outside developer.

  • OfficialBed

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 5:50 pm PT

    neato

  • HyperMetaDragon

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 5:35 pm PT

    All I care about, for this article, is the mention of Guitar Hero II for 360. Rock on!

  • Homsar13

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 5:34 pm PT

    Well, Neversoft has put in some great tracks for the Tony Hawk series. We'll see where this goes...

    as for Harmonix,
    does anyone know why they aren't going to develop GH anymore?

  • Homsar13

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 5:34 pm PT

    well, Neversoft has put in some awesome tracks for the Tony Hawk series. we'll see where this goes...

    and does anyone know why Harmonix isn't developing GH anymore?

  • Tsioe18

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 5:30 pm PT

    To me this is a good news bad news scenario. Bad news is: Harmonix is gone. Good news Neversoft is in. Neversoft is awesome. I love the Tony Hawk games, and I'm sure they will keep giving the fans what they want with Guitar Hero.

  • djHaQ

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 5:26 pm PT

    death_burnout: Only the 360 (and PS3?) version though, I believe.

  • dn3datomiced

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 5:21 pm PT

    So, could someone explain to me WHY Harmonix isn't going to be working on it?

  • finaleve

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 5:18 pm PT

    Meh, as soon as MTV bought Harmonix, I wasn't going to buy any more of the GH series. There will be tons of emo music now and not enough good songs. It's not about what was popular, but what sounded good and had some really good challenges in a song. MTV will probably not focus on the latter, thus the downfall of the GH series.
    And with this article, its almost inevitable.

  • TryMe01

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 5:04 pm PT

    everybody seems to want this game for the Wii, and maybe i am one of them.

    Also, Tony Hawk only gets a mention in the first two words of this article, what the hell!?

  • death_burnout

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 5:04 pm PT

    their were a few guitar hero refferences in P8

  • RoC1909

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 5:01 pm PT

    Yup, let's continue to make the game for other platforms and say a big FU to the people with PS3's that would like to play it. I'm sure some form of adapter that allows you to press a button to start the game is sure going to break the bank and might in fact, allow a multitude of others to buy the game.

  • Doolum

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 4:59 pm PT

    Guitar Hero seems to dominate the news these days.

  • ARandoMan

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 4:55 pm PT

    This sucks.

  • DouglasBuffone

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 4:55 pm PT

    man, tony hawk and guitar hero blended into an amazingly wierd game!

  • yinyang3

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 4:51 pm PT

    How does this help out the Tony Hawk series?

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