EA to Publish Harmonix Rhythm Game

March 7, 2007 12:01 AM

Last year, formerly independent rhythm game developer Harmonix Music Systems, best known for the Guitar Hero titles as well as Frequency (PS2) and Amplitude (PS2), was acquired by media giant MTV. In an earlier unrelated deal, Activision purchased publisher RedOctane, which owned the rights to the Guitar Hero franchise itself. Since that purchase, it was revealed that Tony Hawk developer Neversoft would be handling Guitar Hero going forward, leaving the future activities of Harmonix unclear.

On Tuesday night, during an EA Partners event, Electronic Arts and Harmonix announced that EA would be publishing Harmonix's next title. No information regarding the game was revealed, including its target platforms. Shacknews has learned that an announcement is expected to be released at approximately 5:00am Pacific time today, though the extent of the details to be announced is unclear. The news comes as little surprise, as EA recently indicated that it plans to enter the rhythm genre. Also being published by EA is the Xbox Live Arcade rhythm game Boom Boom Rocket, from Project Gotham Racing and Geometry Wars (X360) developer Bizarre Creations.

EA Partners is Electronic Arts' publishing arm dedicated to independent third party developers. Current projects working through the EA Partners program include Valve's upcoming Half-Life 2-related games, Crytek's Crysis, Flagship Studios' Hellgate: London, and Pandemic Studios' Mercenaries 2: World in Flames (PS2, PS3, X360, PC).

Update: As expected, a press release was issued at 5:00am. It confirmed that EA Partners will handle distribution and marketing of Harmonix's next game, but offered no further details.

Chris Remo

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thorsen1nk

 reply
March 7, 2007 12:57 AM

Wow, this article looks awfully famililar in both structure and content...

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6166925.html
- Chris Remo
  
   reply
  March 7, 2007 1:00 AM
  
  You're right, it certainly does. Not sure what to tell you, though. I got home and wrote it up.
  - thorsen1nk
    
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    March 7, 2007 1:09 AM
    
    How about giving us cred for breaking this, for starters. That'd be cool. We cred you guys when you break things, especially on rumor control.
    - Chris Remo
      
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      March 7, 2007 1:14 AM
      
      We link to you guys all the time when it's exclusive news. This was something that was simply announced at an event. You link to us if we originate a story, just as we link to you if you originate one. You'd never link to us for simply being the first ones to post a story about something that was revealed at an event you also attended (and there's no reason you should). I don't see how this is any different.
    - Mr.Fusion
      
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      March 7, 2007 1:36 AM
      
      lol gamespot, what a joke
    - Bantis
      
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      March 7, 2007 1:38 AM
      
      haha, learn to read timestamps. But cute none the less!
    - o0JediBeavis0o
      
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      March 7, 2007 1:41 AM
      
      Owned by CST.
    - MikkleThePickle
      
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      March 7, 2007 1:45 AM
      
      lol indeed
    - silentzero
      
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      March 7, 2007 2:38 AM
      
      ouchies!
    - node
      
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      March 7, 2007 3:17 AM
      
      Well, I used to think GameSpot was professional. Are you serious?
    - mr.sleepy
      
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      March 7, 2007 3:28 AM
      
      LOL. The only thing Gamespot "breaks" is the record for Most Advertisements Placed on a Gaming Website in the history of the internet. It's like trying to navigate a dirty prostitute.
      - mr.sleepy
        
         reply
        March 7, 2007 3:33 AM
        
        I have every right to complain about this considering I've been reading gamespot since it was "Nuke+", nearly (for fucks sake) 10 years ago.
        
        GodZilly
        
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        March 7, 2007 3:41 AM
        
        Maybe you should have tried payed subscription. It removes the ads.
        
        mr.sleepy
        
         reply
        March 7, 2007 3:58 AM
        
        LOL, by that logic why don't I go grab a wrench and then hit myself in the face with it?
        
        GodZilly
        
         reply
        March 7, 2007 4:08 AM
        
        You complained about the site being hard to navigate due to the amount of ads so I suggested a way to get rid of the ads.
        
        If that seemed illogical to you then yeah, you probably should smash that wrench in your face. Darwin was right.
        
        mr.sleepy
        
         reply
        March 7, 2007 4:38 AM
        
        Are your parents siblings?
        
        There's no LOGICAL reason to PAY to use an ad-free Gamestop as long as Shacknews is around for FREE.
        
        You are the one who does not understand logic! Darwin, etc.!
        
        GodZilly
        
         reply
        March 7, 2007 4:51 AM
        
        If Shacknews was ad-free and free yes. But Shacknews is not ad-free. Granted, much less ads but it's not ad-free.
        
        melt_core
        
         reply
        March 7, 2007 4:54 AM
        
        https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/722/
        
        GodZilly
        
         reply
        March 7, 2007 5:00 AM
        
        This would help him making Gamespot easier to navigate and thus making our whole discussion a waste of time. Thanks a lot for wasting our time, jerk!
        
        I kiiiiid! I kiiid!
    - pandastrong
      
       reply
      March 7, 2007 6:15 AM
      
      thanks for giving me another reason not to read gamespot
- OrkO
  
   reply
  March 7, 2007 1:33 AM
  
  http://www.shacknews.com/ja.zz?id=13971842
- skitzo
  
   reply
  March 7, 2007 1:33 AM
  
  The shack is on CT, this was posted 11 minutes before your article.
  - gndagger
    
     reply
    March 7, 2007 1:34 AM
    
    He knows. Where do you think he got it from?
- [deleted] 1014085309
  
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  March 7, 2007 1:42 AM
  
  [deleted]
  - skitzo
    
     reply
    March 7, 2007 1:43 AM
    
    It's celebrity internet gaming news site suicide. :(
- [deleted] 1014085309
  
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  March 7, 2007 1:56 AM
  
  [deleted]
- [deleted] 638123641
  
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  March 7, 2007 2:36 AM
  
  [deleted]
- [deleted] 2048834275
  
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  March 7, 2007 2:45 AM
  
  [deleted]
  - silentzero
    
     reply
    March 7, 2007 2:48 AM
    
    I have a terrible feeling that the quality of the musical selection will become more and more limited after all of this deflating back and forth between developer and publisher.
    
    I can't wait for Guitar Hero: 50 Cent Edition
  - zohar79
    
     reply
    March 7, 2007 7:17 AM
    
    Agreed. The content and structure of the two articles are completely different.
    - SinistarX
      
       reply
      March 7, 2007 7:43 AM
      
      With the exception of the EA Partners paragraph. But if EA gave that info to everybody, there's no reason it wouldn't show up in all articles related to this announcement.
- Flynn
  
   reply
  November 29, 2007 11:21 PM
  
  god, gamespot sucks
  what's next, firing an editor for giving an unfavorable reviews to one of your advertiser?