Harmonix is one of those big game studios that marches to the beat of its own drum. Harmonix is fond of making the music in its video games more than just background noise. Harmonix likes to make music the entire focus and purpose of the game.
Back in the early 2000's when Sony introduced the PlayStation 2, Harmonix was a very big deal. It's first two games, Amplitude and Frequency were all about the music. Although both gained a cult following, neither really took off. Harmonix had better luck with Rock Band, Guitar Hero and Dance Central, all of which were all about the music.
Since then, interest in music-based gaming has worn off considerably, but Harmonix believes that it still has a special appeal to a certain core set of gamers as well as the PS2 early adopters. It recently released a music-based shooter game called Chroma, but now it plan to make a new version of its first game, Amplitude.
"Amplitude is an awesome game," Harmonix said on its Kickstarter project page. "We want to make a successor for modern consoles but we need your help. These games became legendary for their unique soundtracks, their snappy, frenetic action and the zen-like 'flow states' that players entered into when they got into the groove."
Since Amplitude isn't exactly blockbuster material, Harmonix is putting the game's fate in the hands of its fans with a Kickstarter crowd-funding project.
"Still, there was a quiet clawing in the back of our minds," Harmonix said. "Pleas from Amplitude fans, strangers on the street, and veterans of the studio - we needed to revisit this era of gaming and update it for the modern age."
So far, Amplitude has raised more than $64,000 of its ambitious $775,000 goal. Harmonix only has 18 more days to prove that there is enough interest in music-based games out there. Even though Harmonix admits that Amplitude is all about nostalgia, it is still hopeful that the game will become a reality.
"This project is intended to be a love letter to old-school PS2 fans, but we need to know that this is something you actually want," Harmonix said. "This is the project we desperately want to make, but we can't do it without your interest and support. Help us prove that there is a place for challenging, high-polished rhythm-action games in the modern age."
If Harmonix raises enough money to make Amplitude, the game will be available on the PS3 and PS4 by March 2015.
