RedOctane Is Back, And ‘Guitar Hero' Finally Gets Spiritual Successor
For those who connected the dots, it's probably one of the more minor shocks of recent weeks. Fans of the genre have been well aware for months that another Embracer Freemode company, peripheral manufacturer CRKD, recently and somewhat incongruously announced a Gibson Les Paul controller as the latest addition to its line-up. Until then, CRKD was much more traditional with its products, including its retro-style NEO S pad, the miniature Atom controller, and the superb Nitro Deck and Nitro Deck + for Switch — something which seemed more likely to be its next big step in line with the Switch 2.
Naturally, the RedOctane team leaned into this perfectly planned pairing pretty heavily in today's announcement trailer:
The studio will be led by industry veteran Simon Ebejer, who previously served as production director on Guitar Hero at Neversoft, then held roles as studio head at Vicarious Visions (Band Hero), before jumping up a couple of grades to VP of operations at Blizzard Entertainment. With RedOctane, he's leading a team containing both legacy Guitar Hero and DJ Hero developers and new talent.
RedOctane Games has also enlisted the services of Charles and Kai Huang, co-founders of the original Guitar Hero franchise, as special advisors on its (re?)debut title, which will be announced later in the year. The team aims to work on a community-first basis, speaking directly with rhythm game fans from the start and throughout.
For Embracer, which has spent the last year or more attracting much more negative headlines from its restructuring and redundancies, RedOctane Games is an interesting bet on nostalgia — sentimentality I'm absolutely on board with on a personal level. Still, there was a reason that many other players and I consigned Guitar Hero sessions to arcades.
Maybe — hopefully — RedOctane and CRKD hit the right notes together. Judging by their first-ever blog post, you can see the passion is obviously there. Now, CRKD, make that Switch 2 Nitro Deck. And some Rock Band drums.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
2 days ago
- New York Times
Doris Lockhart Saatchi, 88, Critic and Collector of Cutting-Edge Art, Dies
Doris Lockhart Saatchi, an American-born collector of contemporary art and art writer who played a leading role in giving movements like Minimalism and Pop Art wide exposure in both Britain and the United States, died on Aug. 6 in London. She was 88. Her death, in a hospital, was confirmed by her longtime nurse, Mary Ann Paydoen, who said the cause was chronic kidney disease and other ailments. Ms. Saatchi lived in the Belgravia section of London. It was in the 1970s that she and her husband at the time, the British advertising executive Charles Saatchi, began assembling what The New Criterion magazine described in 1986 as 'one of the finest collections' of contemporary art in the world, buying hundreds of works by artists like Donald Judd, Brice Marden, Andy Warhol, Robert Ryman and Carl Andre. A year earlier, in 1985, the couple had opened a museum for their collection in a converted paint storage warehouse in the North London neighborhood of St. John's Wood. It quickly became a leading showcase for contemporary artists on both sides of the Atlantic, from 'shallow-spaced and gleaming, smooth-surfaced art to an art of porous surfaces, flickering light, and a shifting space,' the art critic Sanford Schwartz wrote in The New Criterion. With Mr. Saatchi's money — he had made his fortune in part as the adman who helped make Margaret Thatcher prime minister of Britain — and his wife's discerning eye, the couple had the resources to give modernist art exceedingly wide visibility in both Britain and America. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Queen emotional as veteran goes ‘off script' to honour King's cancer battle
The Queen appeared visibly emotional as a war veteran went 'off script' to pay tribute to the King's cancer battle at a VJ Day memorial ceremony. Charles and Camilla joined Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and 33 veterans aged from 96 to 105 who served in the Far East and Pacific at a national service of remembrance in Staffordshire on Friday. VJ Day on August 15 marks the 80th anniversary of the end of the six-year war, but much of the celebration in 1945 focused on VE (Victory in Europe) Day in May, with those who served in the Far East labelled The Forgotten Army. Yavar Abbas, who was a captain in the 11th Sikh Regiment, took to the stage at the National Memorial Arboretum to read extracts from his diaries during his time in Burma in 1945, but took a moment to pay tribute to his 'brave king' first. Camilla looked at her husband sitting next to her and appeared to wipe away a tear as Mr Abbas, 105, originally from Lucknow in India, said: 'I make no apologies for briefly going off the script to salute my brave king, who is here with his beloved queen in spite of the fact that he is under treatment for cancer.' Applause rang out among the crowd of around 1,500 guests as Mr Abbas said he had also battled cancer, adding that he hoped it would bring 'comfort' that he had been rid of the disease himself for 25 years. He added: 'I salute him for gracing this occasion, because by his presence here, he has gone a long way to make sure that his grandad's 14th Army is never given the sobriquet again of The Forgotten Army.' The ceremony was hosted by actress Celia Imrie and featured readings by actor Robert Lindsay and veterans, as well as musical performances from the National Children's Choir of Great Britain, Jennifer Pike and the Royal Corps of Signals Pipes and Drums. Ahead of the service, the King, in a pre-recorded audio address to the nation, vowed that the sacrifice of heroes who fought and died in the campaigns 'shall never be forgotten'. He also significantly acknowledged the devastation caused by the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki which led to Japan's surrender, describing the 'immense price' paid by its citizens as one 'we pray no nation need ever pay again'. He said: 'Please know that the courage and camaraderie displayed in humanity's darkest hour is a flame that shall blaze for eternity – a beacon that honours our past and guides our future.' After the service of remembrance, which started with a two-minute silence and a Red Arrows flypast, the King made his way to the Far East corner of the arboretum, where he met Silas Sarbah and Khadak Chettri, the grandsons of Second World War soldiers, as well as William Slim, the great-grandson of General Bill Slim, who led the so-called Forgotten Army. He viewed tributes at the Burma Railway memorial, which is constructed from 30 metres of original track from the so-called 'Railway of Death', and took a moment of reflection at the Burma Star Memorial and the Chindit Memorial, before heading to a reception for VJ veterans and their families. The King and Queen were joined by the Prime Minister and Lady Starmer, as they met some 30 veterans who served in the Far East during the Second World War for the British and Commonwealth Armed Forces, accompanied by their families and carers.
Elle
3 days ago
- Elle
'Only Murders In The Building' S5 Trailer Just Dropped And It Hints At A Massive Plot Twist
Only Murders In The Building season five is set to premiere on September 9, yet luckily for fans of the show, a trailer for the upcoming fifth season was released on August 12. The two-and-a-half-minute sneak peak features the show's protagonists Charles (Steve Martin), Oliver (Martin Short) and Mabel (Selena Gomez) as they pull up their sleeves to solve the mystery of the latest murder: the death of the building's doorman, Lester (Teddy Coluca). The beloved doorman was killed off at the end of season four, and his death is thought to be connected to a prolific New York City mobster, who he was spotted with on the night of his death. As per Hulu's logline, the premise is as follows: 'After Lester dies under suspicious circumstances, Charles, Oliver, and Mabel refuse to believe it was an accident. Their investigation plunges them into the shadowy corners of New York and beyond — where the trio uncovers a dangerous web of secrets connecting powerful billionaires, old-school mobsters, and the mysterious residents of the Arconia. The trio discovers a deeper divide between their storied city they thought they knew and the new New York evolving around them — one where the old mob fights to hold on as newer, even more dangerous players emerge.' Returning alongside the trio is Michael Cyril Creighton (Howard), Meryl Streep (Loretta), Richard Kind (Vince), Nathan Lane (Teddy), Téa Leoni (Sofia), and Da'Vine Joy Randolph (Detective Donna). Besides the usual familiar faces, new season is set to boast a number of newcomers including Logan Lerman, Bobby Cannavale, Beanie Feldstein, Jermaine Fowler, Keegan-Michael Key, Christoph Waltz, Dianne Wiest, Renée Zellweger, as seen in the trailer. ELLE Collective is a new community of fashion, beauty and culture lovers. For access to exclusive content, events, inspiring advice from our Editors and industry experts, as well the opportunity to meet designers, thought-leaders and stylists, become a member today HERE.
