Educational Establishment
- Harmonix has developed a wide array of brands through more than a decade.
“The Axe” was music improvisation software. It had not had a possibility to reach its audience and was too complicated for it. It was just software, a mechanism, for other companies to use in their products. Moreover, its creators could not sell it, because essentially there were almost no proper products to run it. As the software on computer platforms, it would have had a very small niche that is not reaching its audience.
Games “Amplitude” and “Frequency” for PlayStation sound interesting; they followed the trend of button-mashing, but the main problem was they also were too complex for the aimed audience. The developers’ mistake was they did not acknowledge that mass-audience games should foremost be fun, not complex. What is more, it was too expensive to bring people to try “Amplitude”.
“Karaoke Revolution” was a good and straightforward product. The main audience, Japan, was set correctly, because Japanese love to sing their favorite tunes in the company of friends. So with this game, they can do it whether with microphone or headset at home. Moreover, players can set high scores and compete with other players. This ties players to the game, making it replayable. To add to that, brand name is simple and attention-grabbing.
“EyeToy: AntiGrav” was a successful product, mainly because it introduced Sony PlayStation’s interactive camera. It brought unique, simple and addictive experience that appealed to its wide audience.
“Guitar Hero” and “Rock Band” are ground-breaking products that did not have any competitors at the time of release. They brought new unique experience at a reasonable price, meeting the desire of its potential audience to feel like rock stars as close as it was possible (it reflects in simple and clear brand names). In addition, they are both competitive and fun to play.
- In the beginning, Harmonix positioned their products as the ones that make music more accessible to many people out there who want to make it. Later, the position shifted. They started to provide a gaming experience, during which people imitate they play songs of famous musicians in order to feel like them, and have fun alone or with friends.
- Their first product, “The Axe”, was a software program for musical improvisation, while “Frequency” and “Amplitude” are console games in which the player needs to use gamepad buttons to go through the tunnel, activating the wall of sound comprising of different instruments along the way. These three products were all difficult and complex in first plays for the average individual Harmonix was aiming. The experience of working on these products made them understand that their potential customer wants to have fun in the first place, and that this fun does not go with utter complexity, and difficulties in availability of the gameplay. So, in my opinion, the experience with “Frequency” and “Amplitude” gave them and understanding that this process should be performed with a particular device with buttons, which must be ergonomic, simple and easy to accustom to and use on a day-to-day basis. “Karaoke Revolution” may have led to an acknowledgement of the fact that music-related gaming experience can be fun and competitive at the same time, and that couple of people can share this experience at the same time within the limits of their homes. Moreover, “The Axe” was a correct step in a long perspective; it must have been a software foundation for almost all their music-related games.
- In my opinion, Harmonix should have planned out everything regarding their first products more carefully and precisely – how to launch them and where, how to promote and sell them exactly, and consider long-term partnership with related companies. They should have been more responsible, firmly stick to their goal, and develop more complex strategies,
