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Ex-DJ Hero Devs Creating New Music Game For iPhone
The DJ Hero series was a classic case of "wrong place, wrong time." In spite of being – in my opinion – one of the most innovative and enjoyable music game franchises ever, developer FreeStyle Games was caught up in both a massive restructuring at Activision and a widespread decline of the music genre.
So, it's good to see that at least some of the FreeStyle team are continuing to work in the interactive music space. In an article in the Guardian, some former FreeStyle staffers talk about 8linQ, a new joint venture between Music in Colour (comprised of some ex-FreeStyle employees), Reactify, and Metropolis Group.
8linQ's first project is Say What?, a music game that breaks from the traditional Guitar Hero "runway" formula. The game scrolls side to side, displaying various icons that correspond to lyrics in the song. The Guardian article gives the example of the word "I" in a song, which would require to to tap a picture of an eye onscreen.
According to managing director Chris Lee, this new format should appeal to a more diverse, casual audience – making it perfect for iPhone. He says the team was heavily influenced by games like Cut the Rope and Trainyard, which have found success in the mobile space.
Lee commented, "They're cute, you're allowed to fail and it doesn't matter. Far too many games can fall into the trap of having a game mechanic based on failure, and the fear of failure driving you to do stuff. We don't think that's what the mobile audience wants."
Say What? will release in the UK on July 20, no word on an American date yet. It will feature songs by Sony Music artist including the UK rock band the Zutons.
Via: Eurogamer
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