Neversoft
Encyclopedia
Neversoft Entertainment (or simply Neversoft) is an American
video game developer
, founded in 1994 by Joel Jewett, Mick West and Chris Ward. Neversoft is best recognized for their line of Guitar Hero
and Tony Hawk
skateboarding
games, known as the Tony Hawk' s series. The company was acquired by Activision
in October 1999.
based in Westlake Village, California
. At that time the primary platforms were the 16-bit consoles
, the Mega Drive/Genesis and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System
. Games for these systems could be developed by very small teams, anywhere from two to ten developers. As a result it was much easier than at present to set up a game development company
, and several groups of people had already left Malibu to strike out on their own. Left Field Productions
and Paradox Development
being two extant companies that were founded in such a way, with others such as Clockwork Tortoise no longer in existence. Joel Jewett, a native of Montana
and a CPA
, was at the time head of development at the rapidly shrinking Malibu Interactive. He teamed up with Mick West, a game programmer
who had just completed working on "Battletech - A Game of Armored Combat" for the Mega Drive/Genesis, and Chris Ward, an Artist
. Both Chris and Mick were from Yorkshire
in England
, although they first met when they moved to California in 1993 to work at Malibu Interactive.
In July 1994, Neversoft was formed. They initially found work for Playmates Interactive Entertainment a then division of Playmates Toys
, who were about to release a line of toys called Skeleton Warriors and wanted a game to go along with the toys and the cartoon series. Neversoft began work on the game design, and moved into offices in Woodland Hills, California
. Neversoft worked on the Sega version for five months, over that time they hired another artist and a level designer. In December 1994 Playmates cancelled the game. They were not unhappy with the progress, but had decided that they needed to get on the 32-Bit bandwagon and develop the game for the new Sega Saturn
. 1995 was spent developing Skeleton Warriors for the Sega Saturn. Over the course of this year Neversoft grew rapidly, hiring three programmers, five artists, a level designer, a tester and an office administrator. Skeleton Warriors was finished in time for the 1995 holiday season, and Neversoft began looking for other work while they ported Skeleton Warriors to the PlayStation
.
In 1996, Neversoft continued to expand, swelling to over twenty employees. They worked for six months on a game based on Ghost Rider
for Crystal Dynamics
which was cancelled due to financial problems with the publisher. They got connected to the internet (previously all communications were done with phone and fax). With some excess capacity Neversoft started to develop a game of their own design, initially called Big Guns. The technology developed there was used in their next project, a conversion of the PC game MDK. Toward the end of 1996 Neversoft sold the idea for Big Guns to Sony Computer Entertainment
and they began development. 1997 was a tumultuous year for Neversoft. The MDK conversion took far longer than expected, and the Big Guns game (renamed Exodus) went through numerous design changes at the behest of Sony, and was eventually cancelled in November 1997. The company shrunk back to just twelve employees. Neversoft then spent the next few months shopping around their technology, meeting with numerous companies and looking for work.
In January 1998, just as Neversoft was about to run out of money, they had a fortunate meeting with Activision
who were looking for someone to re-develop Apocalypse
, a failed internal project featuring the voice of Bruce Willis
. The technology developed for Big Guns turned out to be ideal for the project, Activision was impressed and Neversoft began work on Apocalypse. In May 1998, Apocalypse was going very well, and Activision signed up Neversoft to develop a prototype for a skateboarding
game. This proceeded slowly as they could not spare many people from Apocalypse. The initial prototypes resembled the arcade game Top Skater
. Apocalypse wrapped up in October 1998 and development began in earnest on Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
(aka THPS) for the PlayStation and N64. By the end of 1998 the game development was in full swing and at this time Neversoft comprised 16 people: six programmers, five artists, three level designers, one producer and Joel, the President.
From 1998 through 2006, Neversoft developed 10 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
games and increased their employee count to over 150 people. In 2005, they also released Gun, a western adventure 3rd-person shooter. In 2006, Activision
acquired the Guitar Hero
IP, as well as Red Octane, and chose Neversoft as their developer. Neversoft developed several games in the franchise, breaking several records with Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
, until 2010 when the games following Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock
would be developed by Vicarious Visions
, developers of the Wii
ports and Guitar Hero: Van Halen
In light of this, 50 employees were laid off on February 11, 2010.
, was also developed for Activision in 1999. Like THPS, the technology for this game was based on the Apocalypse engine, which was in turn based on the Big Guns engine. Neversoft was now developing two major games in parallel, and expanded into two large teams. Activision acquired Neversoft in the summer of 1999 in a stock swap deal. The founders of Neversoft and several key employees signed four year employment agreements.
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 and Spider-Man were both released in 2000. Neversoft began work on Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
specifically for the PlayStation 2
. After both teams finished their projects they were merged into one large team. THPS3 was developed using the RenderWare
game engine. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
was released in 2001, followed by Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4
in 2002. In 2003 Neversoft reworked the game with a more story-oriented approach in Tony Hawk's Underground
, followed by a sequel in Tony Hawk's Underground 2
in 2004. Neversoft again split into two teams to began work on the internally-developed Gun and the seventh version of the Tony Hawk' s series — Tony Hawk's American Wasteland
.
Tony Hawk's Project 8
was developed and released in 2006. This was the first title under Neversoft that was developed as a next-gen title for the Xbox 360
and the PlayStation 3
. Tony Hawk's Proving Ground
was released in 2007. It is the second title for the PlayStation 3 and third for Xbox 360 in the Tony Hawk' s series. It was the last Tony Hawk game developed by Neversoft; the franchise moved to Robomodo
.
After Activision acquired RedOctane
and the Guitar Hero series, Harmonix
developed their last Guitar Hero game, Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s
, before they were acquired by MTV
. Neversoft became the developer for the Guitar Hero series beginning with Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
for the Xbox 360
and PlayStation 3
consoles, using their in-house game engine made from scratch instead of Harmonix's engine. Several Guitar Hero series games have been developed by Neversoft since 2007, including Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith
, Guitar Hero World Tour
(incorporating drums and vocals alongside guitar), Guitar Hero: Metallica
, Guitar Hero 5
, Band Hero
, and Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
video game developer
Video game developer
A video game developer is a software developer that creates video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game console, such as Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, or may develop for a variety of systems, including personal computers.Most developers also...
, founded in 1994 by Joel Jewett, Mick West and Chris Ward. Neversoft is best recognized for their line of Guitar Hero
Guitar Hero
Guitar Hero is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems and published by RedOctane for the PlayStation 2 video game console. It is the first entry in the Guitar Hero series. Guitar Hero was released on November 8, 2005 in North America, April 7, 2006 in Europe and June 15, 2006 in...
and Tony Hawk
Tony Hawk
Anthony Frank "Tony" Hawk , nicknamed "The Birdman" is an American retired professional skateboarder and actor. Hawk gained significant fame for completing the first 900 as well as his licensed video game titles distributed by Activision...
skateboarding
Skateboarding
Skateboarding is an action sport which involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard.Skateboarding can be a recreational activity, an art form, a job, or a method of transportation. Skateboarding has been shaped and influenced by many skateboarders throughout the years. A 2002 report...
games, known as the Tony Hawk
Activision
Activision is an American publisher, majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA. Its current CEO is Robert Kotick. It was founded on October 1, 1979 and was the world's first independent developer and distributor of video games for gaming consoles...
in October 1999.
History
Neversoft was founded in July 1994 by three employees of Malibu Interactive, (previously Acme Interactive) a division of Malibu ComicsMalibu Comics
Malibu Comics was an American comic book publisher active in the late 1980s and early 1990s, best known for its Ultraverse line of superhero titles. The company's headquarters was in Calabasas, California. Malibu imprints included Aircel Comics and Eternity Comics...
based in Westlake Village, California
Westlake Village, California
Westlake Village is a planned community that straddles the Los Angeles and Ventura county line. The eastern portion is the incorporated city Westlake Village, located on the western edge of Los Angeles County, California. The city, located in the region known as the Conejo Valley, encompasses half...
. At that time the primary platforms were the 16-bit consoles
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
, the Mega Drive/Genesis and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
. Games for these systems could be developed by very small teams, anywhere from two to ten developers. As a result it was much easier than at present to set up a game development company
Video game developer
A video game developer is a software developer that creates video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game console, such as Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, or may develop for a variety of systems, including personal computers.Most developers also...
, and several groups of people had already left Malibu to strike out on their own. Left Field Productions
Left Field Productions
Left Field Productions is an independent video game development studio located in Ventura, California, USA. Founded in 1994 by industry veterans John Brandwood, Jeff Godfrey and Mike Lamb, Left Field is probably best known for their time spent as a Nintendo third-party developer, during which they...
and Paradox Development
Paradox Development
Midway Studios - Los Angeles Inc. was an American-based video game developer. They are best known for fighting games such as the X-Men Mutant Academy and Backyard Wrestling franchises, as well as the Mortal Kombat action game spin-off Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks. The team was also responsible for...
being two extant companies that were founded in such a way, with others such as Clockwork Tortoise no longer in existence. Joel Jewett, a native of Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
and a CPA
Certified Public Accountant
Certified Public Accountant is the statutory title of qualified accountants in the United States who have passed the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination and have met additional state education and experience requirements for certification as a CPA...
, was at the time head of development at the rapidly shrinking Malibu Interactive. He teamed up with Mick West, a game programmer
Game programmer
A game programmer is a software engineer, programmer, or computer scientist who primarily develops codebase for video games or related software, such as game development tools. Game programming has many specialized disciplines all of which fall under the umbrella term of "game programmer"...
who had just completed working on "Battletech - A Game of Armored Combat" for the Mega Drive/Genesis, and Chris Ward, an Artist
Game artist
A game artist is an artist who creates art for one or more types of games. Game artists are responsible for all of the aspects of game development that call for visual art...
. Both Chris and Mick were from Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, although they first met when they moved to California in 1993 to work at Malibu Interactive.
In July 1994, Neversoft was formed. They initially found work for Playmates Interactive Entertainment a then division of Playmates Toys
Playmates Toys
Playmates Toys is a Costa Mesa, California toy manufacturer and a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Playmates Holdings Ltd , which was founded in 1966.-Proprietary brands:*Amazing Dolls*Amazing Pets*Kinder-Garden Babies*R.E.V.s*Waterbabies*WOW Pals...
, who were about to release a line of toys called Skeleton Warriors and wanted a game to go along with the toys and the cartoon series. Neversoft began work on the game design, and moved into offices in Woodland Hills, California
Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California
Woodland Hills is a district in the city of Los Angeles, California.Woodland Hills is located in the southwestern area of the San Fernando Valley, east of Calabasas and west of Tarzana, with Warner Center in its northern section...
. Neversoft worked on the Sega version for five months, over that time they hired another artist and a level designer. In December 1994 Playmates cancelled the game. They were not unhappy with the progress, but had decided that they needed to get on the 32-Bit bandwagon and develop the game for the new Sega Saturn
Sega Saturn
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console that was first released by Sega on November 22, 1994 in Japan, May 11, 1995 in North America, and July 8, 1995 in Europe...
. 1995 was spent developing Skeleton Warriors for the Sega Saturn. Over the course of this year Neversoft grew rapidly, hiring three programmers, five artists, a level designer, a tester and an office administrator. Skeleton Warriors was finished in time for the 1995 holiday season, and Neversoft began looking for other work while they ported Skeleton Warriors to the PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
.
In 1996, Neversoft continued to expand, swelling to over twenty employees. They worked for six months on a game based on Ghost Rider
Ghost Rider (comics)
Ghost Rider is the name of several fictional supernatural antiheroes appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Marvel had previously used the name for a Western character whose name was later changed to Night Rider and subsequently to Phantom Rider.The first supernatural Ghost Rider is...
for Crystal Dynamics
Crystal Dynamics
Crystal Dynamics is an American video game developer based in the San Francisco Bay Area and founded in 1992 by Judy Lang, Madaline Canepa and Dave Morris...
which was cancelled due to financial problems with the publisher. They got connected to the internet (previously all communications were done with phone and fax). With some excess capacity Neversoft started to develop a game of their own design, initially called Big Guns. The technology developed there was used in their next project, a conversion of the PC game MDK. Toward the end of 1996 Neversoft sold the idea for Big Guns to Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. is a major video game company specializing in a variety of areas in the video game industry, and is a wholly owned subsidiary and part of the Consumer Products & Services Group of Sony...
and they began development. 1997 was a tumultuous year for Neversoft. The MDK conversion took far longer than expected, and the Big Guns game (renamed Exodus) went through numerous design changes at the behest of Sony, and was eventually cancelled in November 1997. The company shrunk back to just twelve employees. Neversoft then spent the next few months shopping around their technology, meeting with numerous companies and looking for work.
In January 1998, just as Neversoft was about to run out of money, they had a fortunate meeting with Activision
Activision
Activision is an American publisher, majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA. Its current CEO is Robert Kotick. It was founded on October 1, 1979 and was the world's first independent developer and distributor of video games for gaming consoles...
who were looking for someone to re-develop Apocalypse
Apocalypse (video game)
Apocalypse is a 1998 third-person action game for the PlayStation, developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is notable for featuring actor Bruce Willis, who provides the main character's likeness and voice, as well as being the first game by Neversoft, prior to launching their...
, a failed internal project featuring the voice of Bruce Willis
Bruce Willis
Walter Bruce Willis , better known as Bruce Willis, is an American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles...
. The technology developed for Big Guns turned out to be ideal for the project, Activision was impressed and Neversoft began work on Apocalypse. In May 1998, Apocalypse was going very well, and Activision signed up Neversoft to develop a prototype for a skateboarding
Skateboarding
Skateboarding is an action sport which involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard.Skateboarding can be a recreational activity, an art form, a job, or a method of transportation. Skateboarding has been shaped and influenced by many skateboarders throughout the years. A 2002 report...
game. This proceeded slowly as they could not spare many people from Apocalypse. The initial prototypes resembled the arcade game Top Skater
Top Skater
Top Skater is an arcade game released by Sega in 1997, and built on the Sega Model 2 hardware. It was one of the first arcade games to feature a skateboard controller interface....
. Apocalypse wrapped up in October 1998 and development began in earnest on Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
-Reception:The game was very well-received by most critics, scoring an outstanding 92 on Metacritic based on 18 reviews for the PS1 version. IGN gave the N64 version of the game a 9.1 out of 10 praising the gameplay for "genius control, combo system and design" despite little criticism with sound...
(aka THPS) for the PlayStation and N64. By the end of 1998 the game development was in full swing and at this time Neversoft comprised 16 people: six programmers, five artists, three level designers, one producer and Joel, the President.
From 1998 through 2006, Neversoft developed 10 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
-Reception:The game was very well-received by most critics, scoring an outstanding 92 on Metacritic based on 18 reviews for the PS1 version. IGN gave the N64 version of the game a 9.1 out of 10 praising the gameplay for "genius control, combo system and design" despite little criticism with sound...
games and increased their employee count to over 150 people. In 2005, they also released Gun, a western adventure 3rd-person shooter. In 2006, Activision
Activision
Activision is an American publisher, majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA. Its current CEO is Robert Kotick. It was founded on October 1, 1979 and was the world's first independent developer and distributor of video games for gaming consoles...
acquired the Guitar Hero
Guitar Hero
Guitar Hero is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems and published by RedOctane for the PlayStation 2 video game console. It is the first entry in the Guitar Hero series. Guitar Hero was released on November 8, 2005 in North America, April 7, 2006 in Europe and June 15, 2006 in...
IP, as well as Red Octane, and chose Neversoft as their developer. Neversoft developed several games in the franchise, breaking several records with Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock is a music video game, the third main installment in the Guitar Hero series, and the fourth title overall...
, until 2010 when the games following Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock
Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock
Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock is a music video game and the sixth main entry in the Guitar Hero series for the PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360 consoles. The game was released September 24, 2010 in Europe, September 28, 2010 in North America and September 29, 2010 in Australia...
would be developed by Vicarious Visions
Vicarious Visions
Vicarious Visions is an American video game developer founded by the high school brothers Karthik and Guha Bala in 1990, which developed some PC and Game Boy Color games in late 90's and 2000. They later developed Terminus, which won two Independent Games Festival Awards in 1999...
, developers of the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
ports and Guitar Hero: Van Halen
Guitar Hero: Van Halen
Guitar Hero: Van Halen is the third and final band-specific rhythm video game in the Guitar Hero series. As with the previous games Guitar Hero: Aerosmith and Guitar Hero: Metallica, the game features 25 songs from Van Halen along with 19 additional songs from selected artists that have been...
In light of this, 50 employees were laid off on February 11, 2010.
Release history
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater (THPS), Neversoft's first game, was released on the PlayStation in October, 1999. Development of a sequel began immediately after its release. Spider-ManSpider-Man (2000 video game)
Spider-Man is an action video game based upon the Marvel Comics character of the same name. It is loosely based on the 1990s Spider-Man: The Animated Series. The game was developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. Released originally for the PlayStation and Nintendo 64 in 2000, the game...
, was also developed for Activision in 1999. Like THPS, the technology for this game was based on the Apocalypse engine, which was in turn based on the Big Guns engine. Neversoft was now developing two major games in parallel, and expanded into two large teams. Activision acquired Neversoft in the summer of 1999 in a stock swap deal. The founders of Neversoft and several key employees signed four year employment agreements.
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 and Spider-Man were both released in 2000. Neversoft began work on Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3, often abbreviated to THPS3, is a skateboarding video game in the Tony Hawk's series. It was developed by Neversoft and published by Activision in 2001 for the Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation. In 2002, it was published for the...
specifically for the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
. After both teams finished their projects they were merged into one large team. THPS3 was developed using the RenderWare
RenderWare
RenderWare is a computer and video game middleware from British games developer Criterion Software.-Overview:RenderWare is a 3D API and graphics rendering engine used in video games, Active Worlds, and some VRML browsers...
game engine. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3, often abbreviated to THPS3, is a skateboarding video game in the Tony Hawk's series. It was developed by Neversoft and published by Activision in 2001 for the Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation. In 2002, it was published for the...
was released in 2001, followed by Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4
-External links:* on the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine...
in 2002. In 2003 Neversoft reworked the game with a more story-oriented approach in Tony Hawk's Underground
Tony Hawk's Underground
Tony Hawk's Underground, abbreviated to THUG, is a skateboarding video game, available for the PlayStation 2, GameCube, Game Boy Advance, and Xbox platforms released in 2003. A PC version was released exclusively in Australia as a budget release in 2005. This version was ported by Beenox. In 2004,...
, followed by a sequel in Tony Hawk's Underground 2
Tony Hawk's Underground 2
Tony Hawk's Underground 2, also known as THUG 2, is the sixth installment in Neversoft's Tony Hawk's Series and sequel to Tony Hawk's Underground. Tony Hawk's Underground 2 was released on October 4, 2004 for the PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox, PC, and Game Boy Advance platforms...
in 2004. Neversoft again split into two teams to began work on the internally-developed Gun and the seventh version of the Tony Hawk
Tony Hawk's American Wasteland
Tony Hawk's American Wasteland, abbreviated to THAW, is a video game that was released for the PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360, Nintendo GameCube and PC on October 18, 2005. Part of the Tony Hawk series, the game was developed by Neversoft and published by Activision.The PC version of the game was ported and...
.
Tony Hawk's Project 8
Tony Hawk's Project 8
Tony Hawk's Project 8, officially abbreviated as THP8, is the eighth installment in the Tony Hawk series of video games. It was released on sixth-generation and seventh-generation consoles...
was developed and released in 2006. This was the first title under Neversoft that was developed as a next-gen title for the Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
and the PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
. Tony Hawk's Proving Ground
Tony Hawk's Proving Ground
Tony Hawk's Proving Ground is a video game developed by Neversoft for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 video game consoles; by Page 44 Studios for the PlayStation 2 and Wii; and by Vicarious Visions for the Nintendo DS...
was released in 2007. It is the second title for the PlayStation 3 and third for Xbox 360 in the Tony Hawk
Robomodo
Robomodo is a United States video game developer based in Chicago, Illinois. Robomodo was formed in early 2008.- Titles :*Tony Hawk: Ride *Tony Hawk: Shred...
.
After Activision acquired RedOctane
RedOctane
RedOctane was an American electronic entertainment company perhaps best known for producing the Guitar Hero series beginning in November 2005. RedOctane became a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision in 2006...
and the Guitar Hero series, Harmonix
Harmonix Music Systems
Harmonix Music Systems is an American video game development company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the United States...
developed their last Guitar Hero game, Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s
Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s
Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s is a music video game and the third installment in the popular Guitar Hero series...
, before they were acquired by MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
. Neversoft became the developer for the Guitar Hero series beginning with Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock is a music video game, the third main installment in the Guitar Hero series, and the fourth title overall...
for the Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
and PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
consoles, using their in-house game engine made from scratch instead of Harmonix's engine. Several Guitar Hero series games have been developed by Neversoft since 2007, including Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock is a music video game, the third main installment in the Guitar Hero series, and the fourth title overall...
, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is a music video game developed by Neversoft and distributed by Activision. It was released on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles, with a Wii version developed by Vicarious Visions, a PlayStation 2 version by Budcat Creations and with a PC and Mac version by Aspyr Media...
, Guitar Hero World Tour
Guitar Hero World Tour
Guitar Hero World Tour is a music video game developed by Neversoft and published by RedOctane and Activision. It is the fourth main entry in the Guitar Hero series...
(incorporating drums and vocals alongside guitar), Guitar Hero: Metallica
Guitar Hero: Metallica
Guitar Hero: Metallica is a music video game developed by Neversoft and distributed by Activision. The game was released in North America on the PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360 on March 29, 2009 and on PlayStation 2 on April 14, 2009, with a European release in May 2009...
, Guitar Hero 5
Guitar Hero 5
Guitar Hero 5 is a music video game and the fifth main entry in the Guitar Hero series. The game was developed by Neversoft and published by RedOctane and Activision, and released internationally in September 2009 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, 3 and Wii consoles...
, Band Hero
Band Hero
Band Hero is a spinoff video game as part of the Guitar Hero series of music video games, released by Activision on November 3, 2009, for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii and Nintendo DS consoles...
, and Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock
Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock
Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock is a music video game and the sixth main entry in the Guitar Hero series for the PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360 consoles. The game was released September 24, 2010 in Europe, September 28, 2010 in North America and September 29, 2010 in Australia...
.
Games developed
| Year | Game | Platform |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Skeleton Warriors Skeleton Warriors Skeleton Warriors was a 13 episode cartoon series created by Landmark Entertainment Group, which originally aired in 1993-1994 on CBS.-Summary:... |
PlayStation PlayStation The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000... , Sega Saturn Sega Saturn The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console that was first released by Sega on November 22, 1994 in Japan, May 11, 1995 in North America, and July 8, 1995 in Europe... |
| 1998 | Apocalypse Apocalypse (video game) Apocalypse is a 1998 third-person action game for the PlayStation, developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is notable for featuring actor Bruce Willis, who provides the main character's likeness and voice, as well as being the first game by Neversoft, prior to launching their... |
PlayStation |
| 1999 | Tony Hawk's Pro Skater Tony Hawk's Pro Skater -Reception:The game was very well-received by most critics, scoring an outstanding 92 on Metacritic based on 18 reviews for the PS1 version. IGN gave the N64 version of the game a 9.1 out of 10 praising the gameplay for "genius control, combo system and design" despite little criticism with sound... |
PlayStation |
| 2000 | Spider-Man Spider-Man (2000 video game) Spider-Man is an action video game based upon the Marvel Comics character of the same name. It is loosely based on the 1990s Spider-Man: The Animated Series. The game was developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. Released originally for the PlayStation and Nintendo 64 in 2000, the game... |
PlayStation |
| Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, often abbreviated as THPS2, is the second game in the Tony Hawk's series. It was developed by Neversoft and published by Activision in 2000... |
PlayStation PlayStation The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000... , Nintendo 64 Nintendo 64 The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil... |
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| 2001 | Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3, often abbreviated to THPS3, is a skateboarding video game in the Tony Hawk's series. It was developed by Neversoft and published by Activision in 2001 for the Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation. In 2002, it was published for the... |
PlayStation 2 PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan... , Xbox Xbox The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console... , Nintendo GameCube Nintendo GameCube The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia... |
| 2002 | Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 -External links:* on the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine... |
PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube |
| 2003 | Tony Hawk's Underground Tony Hawk's Underground Tony Hawk's Underground, abbreviated to THUG, is a skateboarding video game, available for the PlayStation 2, GameCube, Game Boy Advance, and Xbox platforms released in 2003. A PC version was released exclusively in Australia as a budget release in 2005. This version was ported by Beenox. In 2004,... |
PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube |
| 2004 | Tony Hawk's Underground 2 Tony Hawk's Underground 2 Tony Hawk's Underground 2, also known as THUG 2, is the sixth installment in Neversoft's Tony Hawk's Series and sequel to Tony Hawk's Underground. Tony Hawk's Underground 2 was released on October 4, 2004 for the PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox, PC, and Game Boy Advance platforms... |
PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube |
| 2005 | Tony Hawk's American Wasteland Tony Hawk's American Wasteland Tony Hawk's American Wasteland, abbreviated to THAW, is a video game that was released for the PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360, Nintendo GameCube and PC on October 18, 2005. Part of the Tony Hawk series, the game was developed by Neversoft and published by Activision.The PC version of the game was ported and... |
PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, Xbox 360 Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles... , Windows Microsoft Windows Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal... |
| Gun | PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, Xbox 360 | |
| 2006 | Tony Hawk's Project 8 Tony Hawk's Project 8 Tony Hawk's Project 8, officially abbreviated as THP8, is the eighth installment in the Tony Hawk series of video games. It was released on sixth-generation and seventh-generation consoles... |
PlayStation 3 PlayStation 3 The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles... , Xbox 360 |
| 2007 | Tony Hawk's Proving Ground Tony Hawk's Proving Ground Tony Hawk's Proving Ground is a video game developed by Neversoft for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 video game consoles; by Page 44 Studios for the PlayStation 2 and Wii; and by Vicarious Visions for the Nintendo DS... |
PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 |
| Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock is a music video game, the third main installment in the Guitar Hero series, and the fourth title overall... |
PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | |
| 2008 | Guitar Hero: Aerosmith Guitar Hero: Aerosmith Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is a music video game developed by Neversoft and distributed by Activision. It was released on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles, with a Wii version developed by Vicarious Visions, a PlayStation 2 version by Budcat Creations and with a PC and Mac version by Aspyr Media... |
PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 |
| Guitar Hero World Tour Guitar Hero World Tour Guitar Hero World Tour is a music video game developed by Neversoft and published by RedOctane and Activision. It is the fourth main entry in the Guitar Hero series... |
PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | |
| 2009 | Guitar Hero: Metallica Guitar Hero: Metallica Guitar Hero: Metallica is a music video game developed by Neversoft and distributed by Activision. The game was released in North America on the PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360 on March 29, 2009 and on PlayStation 2 on April 14, 2009, with a European release in May 2009... |
PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 |
| Guitar Hero 5 Guitar Hero 5 Guitar Hero 5 is a music video game and the fifth main entry in the Guitar Hero series. The game was developed by Neversoft and published by RedOctane and Activision, and released internationally in September 2009 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, 3 and Wii consoles... |
PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | |
| Band Hero Band Hero Band Hero is a spinoff video game as part of the Guitar Hero series of music video games, released by Activision on November 3, 2009, for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii and Nintendo DS consoles... |
PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | |
| 2010 | Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock is a music video game and the sixth main entry in the Guitar Hero series for the PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360 consoles. The game was released September 24, 2010 in Europe, September 28, 2010 in North America and September 29, 2010 in Australia... |
PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 |