Harmonix plans Amplitude reboot after successful Kickstarter campaign

Harmonix, the game developer best known for its music franchises like Rock Band and Dance Central, has raised enough cash to build a remake of a cult classic launched in 2003 on the PlayStation 2.

With just hours to spare, Harmonix's Kickstarter crowdfunding goal of $775,000 to build a new version of its PlayStation 2 title Amplitude was reached on Thursday. As of this writing, the funding has grown to nearly $815,000 with just a few hours left.

"You did it," the Harmonix team wrote to the supporters. "We honestly can't believe it - we get to make another Amplitude and play it with you guys. It's incredible."

Amplitude, which launched in 2003, was a music game that required players to hit buttons as tracks were playing in the background and match notes. If the player was able to successfully match the notes, he or she could get to the end of the song.

At first glance, it might seem rather odd that Harmonix decided to reboot Amplitude. The game received high scores from game media, but failed to attract buyers. Harmonix blamed its relative financial failure on the inability to show gamers exactly how the title worked, but over the last several years, more people have picked it up and played it, finding it to be a fun experience. That latent approval on the part of gamers prompted Harmonix to bring the game back.

It wasn't clear whether Amplitude, which will be released digitally on the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4, would actually get the funding Harmonix desired. At the beginning of this week, in fact, it had raised less than half of the $775,000 Harmonix was seeking before a late surge.

Now that Amplitude has reached its goal, Harmonix is making a push for $1.125 million before the Kickstarter is over. If the pledging reaches that figure, the company will build online head-to-head multiplayer into the title.