The Ant Commandos, Inc. (TAC) was a designer, manufacturer and distributor of peripherals and accessories for
video game console
A video game console is an electronic device that Input/output, outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can typically be played with a game controller. These may be home video game console, home consoles, which are generally ...
s based out of
Chino, California
Chino ( ; Spanish for "Curly") is a city in the western end of San Bernardino County, California, United States, with Los Angeles County to its west and Orange County to its south in the Southern California region.
Chino's surroundings ha ...
. Their flagship products were a line of corded and wireless
guitar
The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
controllers for the
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...
music video game, ''
Guitar Hero
''Guitar Hero'' is a series of rhythm games first released in 2005, in which players use a guitar-shaped game controller to simulate playing primarily lead guitar, lead, bass guitar, bass, and rhythm guitar across numerous songs. Players match ...
''.
In 2006,
RedOctane
RedOctane, Inc. was an American electronic entertainment company best known for producing the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar Hero'' series, beginning in November 2005. RedOctane became a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision in 2006. In February 2010, Act ...
announced a lawsuit against The Ant Commandos alleging
unfair competition
Anti-competitive practices are business or government practices that prevent or reduce competition in a market. Antitrust laws ensure businesses do not engage in competitive practices that harm other, usually smaller, businesses or consumers. ...
, trademark infringement, and copyright infringement regarding their production of the guitar controllers. The Ant Commandos announced a counter claim on September 21, 2006, filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California against
Activision
Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one o ...
Publishing, Inc. and RedOctane, Inc. alleging that Activision and RedOctane copied the trade dress and design of their controller. Both suits were settled in December 2006, in an agreement which allowed TAC to continue selling ''Guitar Hero'' peripherals. In 2007, Activision, parent company of RedOctane, again filed suit against TAC, as well as against several former employees and clients of RedOctane, now working for TAC, alleging copyright infringement and misappropriating trade secrets, among other charges.
The guitar controllers that were sold were the Freedom Vs, the Rocking Vs, The Shredder, and Basses of all kinds. They also sold the Tac Thunderbox 28r Amplifier that could be used to play a real electric guitar, a real microphone, and had audio inputs for any game console.
As of January 2014, The Ant Commandos website is defunct, and the company has not released any products.
References
External links
The Ant Commandos official website
Video game companies of the United States
{{US-videogame-company-stub