Tech: Harmonix: Lots of failures before major “Rock Band” success
- I was watching people interact with our product, and the realization came crashing down on me – we had spent 18 months on a music system that was fundamentally flawed.
- Harmonix co-founder Alex Rigopulos • On a karaoke system that Harmonix developed that turned out to be a big failure. It was one of many miscues for the company before hitting on a formula that would bring them lasting success – music games with peripherals. With the help of Red Octane, they created the early “Guitar Hero” games, then took it in a whole new direction with “Rock Band.” Regarding a fairly unpopular poll question we asked the other day, whether the company had sold out, Rigoulos says “we didn’t feel that way at all. We felt that our time had finally come to compete in the big leagues.” A great interview that deserves to be read in full. • source