Neon is a
light synthesizer
Music visualization or music visualisation, a feature found in electronic music visualizers and media player software, generates animated imagery based on a piece of music. The imagery is usually generated and rendered in real time and in a way ...
developed by
Jeff Minter
Jeff Minter (born 22 April 1962) is an independent English video game designer and programmer who often goes by the name Yak. He is the founder of software house Llamasoft and has created dozens of games during his career, which began in 198 ...
('Yak') and
Ivan Zorzin ('Giles'). It was based on an enhanced version of the graphics engine originally to be included in
''Unity'', which became an independent project after Unity was cancelled in 2004.
A version of Neon is used as the default visualiser for the
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation ...
. The authors have retained the rights to implement the software on other platforms and contexts (a Microsoft Windows version was due in 2006 but the release has been hampered by rights issues).
The Xbox 360 version, implemented into the media player and activated whenever music is played, is actually the "First Wave" of Neon. Up to four people can control it with the same number of gamepads, or it can be run autonomously via the "v-crew" code.
Jeff Minter's ''
Space Giraffe
''Space Giraffe'' is a fixed shooter video game by Jeff Minter and Ivan Zorzin of Llamasoft. The game was released on 22 August 2007 for Xbox 360 through Xbox Live Arcade. The main graphics engine is based on the Neon Xbox 360 light synthesize ...
'' uses the Neon engine, as does Llamasoft's subsequent games
Gridrunner Revolution and Minotaur Rescue.
See also
*
Psychedelia (light synthesizer)
''Psychedelia'' is an early light synthesizer developed by Jeff Minter and published by Llamasoft in 1984. It was converted to the MSX and ZX Spectrum by Simon Freeman.
Usage
''Psychedelia'' allowed a user to generate a light show on the scree ...
*
Trip-a-Tron
*
Virtual Light Machine The Virtual Light Machine (VLM) is a light synthesizer developed by Jeff Minter in 1990. It was installed into a number of electronics, including the Atari Jaguar CD and Nuon DVD players.
The Virtual Light Machine is similar to what would later ...
External links
Official site for NeonThe Neon X360 Manual, describing control modes
Music visualization software
Llamasoft software
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