Rock Band Dev, Harmonix, Has a New Game Up Its Sleeve
Staying true to their roots, today Harmonix announced a new card music game called Dropmix. Its a physical card game that allows you to mix tracks of popular songs.
Press Releases hit inboxes this morning, so let’s hear their pitch for this odd new Hasbro partnered venture.
Hasbro and Harmonix Revolutionize Music Gaming with the Launch of DROPMIX
Dropping Fall 2017, the First-of-its-Kind Music Mixing Game Features Songs by Afrojack, Bruno Mars, The Chainsmokers, Ed Sheeran, Fall Out Boy, The Jackson 5, Meghan Trainor, Sam Hunt, and many more.
PAWTUCKET, R.I. (MARCH 10, 2017) — Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS) today announced the September 2017 global launch of DROPMIX™, an all-new dynamic and fast-paced music mixing game. Developed in collaboration with legendary and award-winning video game developer Harmonix Music Systems, Inc., creators of Rock Band and Dance Central, DROPMIX uses cutting-edge technology that empowers players to create unique mixes of songs by playing cards on a game board connected to a mobile app.
“We continue to focus on creating cutting edge play experiences and DROPMIX delivers on this in a mind-blowing way. We teamed up with Harmonix to leverage their mastery in music gaming and combine it with our expertise in physical and digital play experiences,” said Samantha Lomow, senior vice president of Hasbro Brands. “DROPMIX gives players a fresh way to combine their favorite artists and songs, find new ones, and create their best ‘drop the mic’ moments.”
“Our collaboration with Hasbro has enabled us to create the next evolution of musical play,” said Steve Janiak, CEO of Harmonix. “DROPMIX offers an entirely new way to discover, experience and interact with music that’s social, fun and competitive. When players place their first cards on the DROPMIX board this September, when they hear their first mind-blowing mix, they’re going to be completely amazed.”
The game consists of an electronic DROPMIX Board, DROPMIX Cards, and the DROPMIX app, which will be free to download on the App Store for iPhone and iPad and on Google Play for Android devices. The DROPMIX cards feature some of the biggest hits in Pop, R&B, Dance, Indie, Country, Rock and Hip-Hop from around the world that players can combine in unexpected ways.
DROPMIX features hit songs from globally renowned artists and award-winning producers including, “Take Over Control” by Afrojack (ft. Eva Simons), “24K Magic” by Bruno Mars, “Closer” by The Chainsmokers” (ft. Halsey), “Sing” by Ed Sheeran, “Centuries” by Fall Out Boy, “I Want You Back” by The Jackson 5, “All About That Bass” by Meghan Trainor, “House Party” by Sam Hunt and many more.
When a DROPMIX card is placed on a Mix Slot, the electronic DROPMIX Board immediately starts playing the corresponding part of the song (bass, beat, loop or vocals) noted on the card. The board reads up to five DROPMIX Cards at time and the groundbreaking software in the app seamlessly combines the music within each card to create a unique mix. The DROPMIX cards include NFC chips; a technology commonly used in smartphones with digital wallets.
The DROPMIX Music Gaming System, which includes an electronic DROPMIX Board and 60 DROPMIX Cards across multiple music genres, will be available at major retailers and online in September 2017 for the suggested retail price of $99.99. In addition to the 60 DROPMIX Cards in the Music Gaming System, Hasbro will release Playlist Packs with 16 DROPMIX Cards for the suggested retail price of $14.99 and Discover Packs with five DROPMIX Cards for the suggested retail price of $4.99. The additional cards will be released on an ongoing basis throughout 2017 to allow players to collect and curate their own custom decks and create new and unexpected soundtracks each time they play. With 300 DROPMIX cards available in 2017 and millions of possible music-mix combinations, DROPMIX provides unlimited fun.
I don’t know if that does a great job explained exactly how its going to to work, but how do YOU suppose they explain a card based rhythm game? I’m sure it will make more sense as videos come out.
Harmonix has been kinda hovering in place trying to get their footing back after Rock Band 4 didn’t blow up. Recently they released the Kickstarter-backed Amplitude remake and the large Rivals update to the aforementioned Rock Band 4. Also, Rock Band VR will be coming to Oculus VR, presumably, later this year.
Will Dropmix bring them better fortune? Time will tell, but there’s definitely something to be said about constantly pushing the boundaries of your chosen lane and Harmonix has been doing that for decades.
