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The Guitar Hero logo
The Guitar Hero logo

Guitar Hero is a series of music video games published by RedOctane, in partnership with Activision. The series is notable for its use of a plastic guitar-shaped peripheral to simulate the playing of music, represented on-screen by colored notes that correspond to fret buttons on the controller. The games support individual play as well as cooperative and competitive modes for two players. The series has used a range of both licensed and independent rock music tracks from the 1960s to present, many of which are master tracks from the bands. In total, six games have been released for video game consoles, while games have been released for mobile phones and the Nintendo DS handheld gaming system.

The series was developed by Harmonix Music Systems from 2005 to 2007 before development duties of the series were transferred to Neversoft, whose first effort, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock was released on October 28, 2007 in North America.

The Guitar Hero franchise has become a cultural phenomenon, making many appearances in popular culture, and the games have become extremely popular as party games and hobbies. The series has sold 23 million units, earning US$1.6 billion at retail.[1][2]

History

Harmonix

The controllers bundled with Guitar Hero releases (from left to right): Gibson SGs for Guitar Hero & Guitar Hero II (PlayStation 2) and Gibson X-Plorer for Guitar Hero II (Xbox 360) & Guitar Hero III (PC)

The original Guitar Hero was released on the PlayStation 2 in November 2005 and was developed by Harmonix. Harmonix had been previously known for developing music video games such as Frequency and Amplitude for the PlayStation 2, both of which were praised for enabling players to perform and create music using a DualShock controller as if it were a musical instrument.[3]

Guitar Hero is unusual because it comes packaged with a controller peripheral modeled after a black Gibson SG guitar. Rather than a typical gamepad, this guitar controller is the primary input for the game. Playing the game with the guitar controller simulates playing an actual guitar, except it uses five colored "fret buttons" and a "strum bar" instead of frets and strings. The development of Guitar Hero was inspired by Konami's GuitarFreaks arcade game, which at the time, had not seen much exposure in the North American market; RedOctane, already selling guitar-shaped controllers for imported copies of GuitarFreaks, approached Harmonix about creating a game to use an entirely new Guitar controller. The concept was to have the gameplay of Amplitude with the visuals of Karaoke Revolution, both of which had been developed by Harmonix.[4][5][6][7] The game was met with critical acclaim and received numerous awards for its innovative guitar peripheral and its soundtrack, which comprised 47 playable rock songs (most of which were cover versions of popular songs from artists and bands from the 1960s through modern rock). Guitar Hero has sold nearly 1.5 million copies to date.[8]

The popularity of the series increased dramatically with the release of Guitar Hero II for the PlayStation 2 in 2006. Featuring improved multiplayer gameplay, an improved note-recognizing system, and 64 songs, it became the fifth best-selling video game of 2006.[9] The PlayStation 2 version of the game was offered both separately and in a bundle with a cherry red Gibson SG guitar controller. Guitar Hero II was later released for the Xbox 360 in April 2007 with an exclusive Gibson X-Plorer guitar controller and an additional 10 songs, among other features. About 3 million units of Guitar Hero II have sold on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360.[10]

The final game in the Guitar Hero series to be developed by Harmonix was Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s for the PlayStation 2, which was released in July 2007.[11] The expansion reskinned the visuals from Guitar Hero II, and featured a shorter track list with no bonus songs, and was not as well received as the previous two games. Some reviewers considered Rocks the 80s as Harmonix's contractual obligation, given that, as described below, Harmonix would no longer be working on the Guitar Hero series.[12]

Transition

Both RedOctane and Harmonix were experiencing changes in 2006. RedOctane was bought by Activision in June while it was announced in September that Harmonix would be purchased by MTV Networks. As a result of the two purchases, Harmonix would no longer develop future games in the Guitar Hero series. Instead, developing would go to Neversoft, a subsidiary of Activision known for developing the Tony Hawk's series of skateboarding games.[13] Neversoft was chosen to helm the Guitar Hero series after Neversoft founder, Joel Jewett, admitted to the RedOctane founders, Kai and Charles Huang, that his development team for Tony Hawk's Project 8 went to work on weekends just to play Guitar Hero.[14] In 2007, Harmonix and MTV Games released a new music title through rival publisher Electronic Arts, called Rock Band. It expanded upon the gameplay popularized by the Guitar Hero series by adding drum and microphone instruments, allowing players to simulate playing songs as bands, though this functionality has now been implemented in Guitar Hero World Tour.

Neversoft

The Gibson Les Paul guitar controller bundled with Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation 3 releases of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (pictured is the Xbox 360 guitar controller). A similar Gibson Les Paul guitar controller is bundled with the Wii release, but is white, and requires the Wii Remote to be inserted in the back. For in-store demos on the Xbox 360, a wired Les Paul controller is used.

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock was released in late 2007 for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, PC, and Mac platforms. The title is the first installment of the series to include wireless guitars bundled with the game and also the first to release a special bundle with two guitars. The game includes Slash and Tom Morello as playable characters in addition to the existing fictional avatars; both guitarists performed motion capture to be used for their characters' animation in the game.

Guitar Hero World Tour, previously named Guitar Hero IV, is the fourth full game in the series and was released on October 26, 2008 for PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii. Analysts had expected that future Guitar Hero games in 2008 would include additional instrument peripherals to compete against Rock Band;[15] Guitar Hero World Tour was confirmed as in development following the announcement of the merger between Activision and Vivendi Games in December 2007.[16] Activision's CEO Bobby Kotick announced on April 21, 2008 that Guitar Hero World Tour will branch out into other instruments including vocals.[17] Guitar Hero World Tour includes drums and is packaged with a new drum set controller.[18] A larger number of real-world musicians appear as playable characters, including Jimi Hendrix, Billy Corgan, Sting, and Ozzy Osbourne. Guitar Hero World Tour also features custom song creation that can be shared with others.[18]

On September 4, 2007, Billboard announced that the band Aerosmith was "working closely with the makers of Guitar Hero IV, which will be dedicated to the group's music."[19] On February 15, 2008, Activision announced that Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, an expansion game to the series, would be released on June 29, 2008.[20][21][22] Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is developed by Neversoft for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions, while the Wii version of the game is developed by Vicarious Visions and the PlayStation 2 version is developed by Budcat Creations.[23] The game features a track selection composed of 60% of Aerosmith songs, with other songs from Joe Perry's solo work or artists that have inspired or performed with Aerosmith, including Run D.M.C..

Activision's 2008 SEC filings cited that they plan to release Guitar Hero: Metallica by the first quarter of 2009, according the Wedbush Morgan Securities.[24] In addition, Metallica's next album, Death Magnetic, was available as downloadable content for Guitar Hero III simultaneously with the release of the album, with the content being forward-compatible with the upcoming Guitar Hero World Tour.[25]

Other games

Guitar Hero III Mobile was released for mobile phones in 2007 and 2008, and was developed by MachineWorks Northwest LLC. The base version of the game includes 15 songs from both Guitar Hero II and Guitar Hero III, and has released a three-song add-on pack every month since January 2008. The title has been downloaded by users one million times, with both Verizon and Hands-On Mobile claiming that over 250,000 songs are played a day on the platform.[26] Another mobile phone game, Guitar Hero III: Backstage Pass was developed by Hands-On Mobile and released in July 2008; in addition to the usual Guitar Hero elements, the game adds simulation of the management of the player's band on its way to success.[27] Hands-On Mobile also secured worldwide rights for a mobile game based off of Guitar Hero World Tour.[28]

The "Guitar Grip", developed by Vicarious Visions for the Nintendo DS series Guitar Hero: On Tour provides four fret buttons for the game, while strumming is done on the DS touchscreen.

Guitar Hero: On Tour was released on the Nintendo DS handheld system on June 22, 2008. The game includes a peripheral, dubbed the "Guitar Grip", a rectangular device that fits into the second slot of the Nintendo DS. The peripheral only features the first four fret buttons and a strap so the Nintendo DS can be held sideways comfortably for play. The game also includes a guitar pick shaped stylus for use with strumming in the game, which players move across the touchscreen.[29] Guitar Hero: On Tour was developed by Vicarious Visions, who also ported the Guitar Hero games to Nintendo's Wii console. A sequel, Guitar Hero: On Tour Decades, was announced at the 2008 E3 conference, and will allow players to share songs from either game via the DS's wifi capabilities.[30]

Activision and RedOctane have also worked with Basic Fun, Inc. to produce Guitar Hero Carabiner, a handheld electronic game that features ten of the songs from Guitar Hero and Guitar Hero II.[31][32] The songs include electronic cover versions of: "Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple, "Heart-Shaped Box" by Nirvana, "You've Got Another Thing Comin'" by Judas Priest, "Cherry Pie" by Warrant, "Surrender" by Cheap Trick, "Message in a Bottle" by The Police, "Killer Queen" by Queen, "Rock This Town" by Stray Cats, "Misirlou" by Dick Dale, and "Jessica" by The Allman Brothers Band. The songs run for about 30 seconds except for "Jessica" that is about one minute long. The unit is shaped like a small guitar, and can be attached via a loop to a backpack or the like, similar to a carabiner. The gameplay is similar to the Guitar Hero series; as notes on the screen scroll down, the player must hit one of five fret buttons on the device in time with the music to score points. Unlike the other games, there is no strumming action that is needed to play each note. There is a whammy bar button to use on long notes (the whammy is not optional.) The screen is a LED screen placed where the strum bar is originally. The length is about nine inches. There is a collapsable neck for easier carrying. The Guitar Hero Carabiner requires three AAA batteries. The volume has five notches, and the levels are easy, medium, and hard.

Future games

Activision and RedOctane have trademarked the titles "Guitar Villain", "Drum Villain" and "Keyboard Hero".[33] RedOctane originally trademarked the titles "Drum Hero" and "Band Hero", but the work performed towards the Drum Hero title was eventually folded into the gameplay for Guitar Hero World Tour.[18] Activision plans to release "multiple new Guitar Hero SKUs" in 2009, according to Activision Publishing CEO Mike Griffith.[34] Industry analysts expect that three expansions to World Tour will be made before the next major title in the series.[35] Activision is expecting to triple the number of games released under the Guitar Hero title by 2010.[36] Slash, in describing the band-specific Guitar Hero titles for Aerosmith and Metallica in an interview with Rolling Stone, stated that "Those are two ones that I think gives [the ''Guitar Hero'' series] some credibility. And they're doing a Hendrix one, which is great",[37] hinting at the development of Guitar Hero: Hendrix.[38] Activision has also trademarked the name Guitar Hero Modern Hits, but no additional details on this have been made available.[39]

On September 12, 2008, Activision purchased FreeStyleGames, a small developer of music games, to help produce localized downloadable content for Guitar Hero games and another yet-to-be announced music game;[40] industry rumors have confirmed the game is based on the "DJ Hero" trademark that Activision filed in early 2008, and would utilize a turntable controller to allow the player to be a virtual disc jockey.[41][42] The DJ Hero title was discovered through an impromptu announcement made during an interview with Activision’s Brian Bright and Joystiq. Brian was quoted as saying “Activision’s doing a DJ Hero game, and I can’t comment on what we’re doing. But… we’re working on the future and next gen. If I wasn’t excited about it I wouldn’t be there.”[43]

Gameplay

The player in Guitar Hero must play the colored notes on the fret board in time to the music as they scroll through the target at the bottom. The score and current score multiplier are shown on the bottom left. The Rock Meter dial and Star Power indicator are shown on the bottom right. The remainder of the screen shows the player's character and band as they perform to the music.

The core gameplay of the Guitar Hero games is a rhythm game similar to Harmonix's previous music games such as Frequency and Amplitude. The guitar controller is recommended for play, although a standard console controller can be used instead.[44][45] The game supports toggling the handedness of the guitar, allowing both left-handed and right-handed players to utilize the guitar controller.[44][45]

While playing the game, an extended guitar neck is shown vertically on the screen (the frets horizontal), and as the song progresses, colored markers indicating notes travel down the screen in time with the music; the note colors and positions match those of the five fret keys on the guitar controller. Once the note(s) reach the bottom, the player must play the indicated note(s) by holding down the correct fret button(s) and hitting the strumming bar in order to score points. Success or failure will cause the on-screen Rock Meter to change, showing how well the player is playing (denoted by red, yellow, and green sections). Should the Rock Meter drop below the red section, the song will automatically end, with the player booed off the stage by the audience. Successful note hits will add to the player's score, and by hitting a long series of consecutive successful note hits, the player can increase their score multiplier. There is a window of time for hitting each note, similar to other rhythm games such as Dance Dance Revolution, but unlike these games, scoring in Guitar Hero is not affected by accuracy; as long as the note is hit within that window, the player receives the same number of points.[44][45]

Selected special segments of the song will have glowing notes outlined by stars: successfully hitting all notes in this series will fill the "Star Power Meter". The Star Power Meter can also be filled by using the whammy bar during sustained notes within these segments. Once the Star Power Meter is at least half full, the player can activate "Star Power" by pressing the select button or momentarily lifting the guitar into a vertical position. When Star Power is activated, the scoring multiplier is doubled until Star Power is depleted. The Rock Meter also increases more dramatically when Star Power is activated, making it easier for the player to make the Rock Meter stay at a high level. Thus, Star Power can be used strategically to play difficult sections of a song that otherwise might cause the player to fail.[44][45]

Notes can be a single note, or composed of two to four notes that makes a chord. Both single notes and chords can also be sustained, indicated by a colored line following the note marker; the player can hold the sustained note(s) keys down for the entire length for additional points. During a sustained note, a player may use the whammy bar on the guitar to alter the tone of the note. Also, regardless of whether sustains are hit early or late, if the fret is held for the full duration of the hold, the game will always award the same amount of score increase for the note. In addition, the games support virtual implementations of "hammer-ons" and "pull-offs", guitar-playing techniques that are used to successfully play a fast series of notes by only changing the fingering on the fret buttons without having to strum each note. Sequences where strumming is not required are indicated on-screen by notes with a white outline at the top of the marker instead of the usual black one, with Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock adding a white-glowing effect to make these notes clearer.[44][45] Guitar Hero World Tour features transparent notes that are connected by a purple outline; players may either simply tap the correct fret for these notes without strumming or utilize a touchpad on World Tour's guitar controller to "slide" along these notes. World Tour also adds an open string note for bass players, represented by a line across the fret instead of any note gems, that is played by strumming without holding down any fret buttons.

Gameplay of a whole band in Guitar Hero World Tour playing Billy Idol's "Rebel Yell". On top is vocalist, bottom from left to right: Guitar, Drums, Bass

Guitar Hero World Tour introduces drums and vocal tracks in addition to lead and bass guitar. Drum tracks are played similar to guitar tracks; the player must strike the appropriate drum head or step down on the bass drum pedal on the controller when the note gems pass the indicated line. Certain note gems, when using a drum controller that is velocity-sensitive, are "armored", requiring the player to hit the indicated drum pad harder to score more points. Vocal tracks are played similar to games such as Karaoke Revolution where the player must match the pitch and the pacing of the lyrics to score points.

While the song is playing, the background visuals feature the players' chosen avatar, along with the rest of the band performing in one of several real and fictional venues. The reaction of the audience is based on the performance of the player judged by the Rock Meter. Guitar Hero II added special lighting and other stage effects that were synchronized to the music to provide a more complete concert experience.[44][45]

Game modes

In Guitar Hero III's two-player "Battle Mode", each player attempts to interfere with their opponent's performance while avoiding being distracted by those thrown by the opponent.

The main mode of play in the Guitar Hero games is Career Mode, where the player and in-game band travel between various fictional performance arenas and perform sets of four to six songs. It is by completing songs in this mode that the songs are unlocked for play across the rest of the game. Players can choose their on-stage character, their guitar of choice, and the venue they wish to play in. In this mode, the player can earn money from his/her performances that is redeemable at the in-game store, where bonus songs, additional guitars and finishes, and bonus content can be unlocked. Quick Play mode is a quicker method of playing songs, as it allows the player to select a track and difficulty, selecting the character, venue, and guitar for the player based on the song chosen. After successfully completing a song, the player is given a score, a percentage of how many notes they hit and a rating from three to five stars, depending on his/her final score on the song.[44][45]

The games have also added multiplayer modes. Cooperative modes allow two players to play lead and either bass or rhythm guitar on the same song, working together towards the same score. A competitive Face-Off mode allows two player to play against each other at different difficulty levels, each attempting to earn the best score on a song. Guitar Hero III introduced Boss Battles, in which two players face off against each other, attempt to collect "distractions" to throw at their opponent, trying to make them lose. With Guitar Hero World Tour, up to four players can play cooperatively on lead and bass guitar, drums, and vocals, while a total of eight players can compete in a Battle of the Bands. The Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii versions of the games support multiplayer modes over their respective network services.

The four difficulty levels for each song afford the player a learning curve in order to help him/her progress in skill. The first difficulty level, Easy, only focuses on the first three fret buttons while displaying a significantly reduced amount of notes for the player to play. Medium introduces the fourth (blue) fret button, and Hard includes the final fret button while adding additional notes. The addition of the orange fret button forces players to move their fingers up and down the neck. Expert does not introduce any other frets to learn, but adds more notes in a manner designed to challenge the player and to simulate the player's hands to move in a sequence similar to a real guitar. A difficulty added in "World Tour" is Beginner, which requires any fret to be held down while strumming the basic rhythm.[44][45]

Characters and customization

When playing through Career mode or in other parts of the Guitar Hero games, the player has the option to select one of several pre-created avatar characters, who will be shown performing on stage as the player attempts a song, but otherwise has no effect on the gameplay. A certain number of characters are available at the start of the game, but the player must spend in-game money earned by successful performances to unlock other characters. Many of the characters reappear throughout the series, though some games feature a smaller number of characters. Games that feature caricatures of celebrity artists, such as Guitar Hero III and Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, include the ability to unlock those artists as playable characters. Guitar Hero World Tour will introduce the ability for players to create their own characters.

In addition to unlocking characters, in-game money can be used to buy alternative outfits for these characters and guitars that they are seen playing with. The guitars can also be customized with special finishes purchasable through the in-game store. Guitar Hero World Tour includes the ability to fully customize any component of the guitar. The in-game store in the series is also used to unlock bonus songs or special videos with interviews about the game or with the artists involved.

Soundtracks

Most of the games in the Guitar Hero series feature a selection of songs ranging from the 1960s to present day rock music from both highly successful artists and bands and independent groups. Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s features songs primarily from the 1980s, while Guitar Hero: Aerosmith features music from the band Aerosmith and bands that inspired or worked with the group.

Many of the Guitar Hero games developed for the recent generation of consoles (Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3) support downloadable content, allowing players to purchase new songs to play in the respective titles. Songs each cost approximately $2 through the various online stores for the console's platform. Excluding the songs from Metallica's Death Magnetic, downloadable content for earlier games will not work in other games in the series.[46] Activision has also stated that they are considering a monthly subscription service to deliver downloadable content to user for future games.[47] Guitar Hero World Tour introduces a music creation mode that will allow players to create and share songs via the "GHTunes" service.

In the first two games and the 2007 expansion Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s, the majority of the songs on the main career mode set lists are covers of the original song; for example, a song may be presented as '"Free Bird" as made famous by Lynyrd Skynyrd'. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock introduces a much larger range of original recordings. The covers throughout the games are mostly recreated by WaveGroup Sound who has worked before to create songs for Beatmania, Dance Dance Revolution, and Karaoke Revolution,[48] making small changes to the guitar portions to make them more adaptable for gameplay.[49] Almost all of the unlockable bonus songs are songs performed by the original artist for the game (the only exception is the song She Bangs the Drums by The Stone Roses).

Prior to the release of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, Activision has worked with the iTunes Store to provide more than 1300 tracks of Guitar Hero-related music across more than 20 compilations, including most of the tracks from the games in the series, called "Guitar Hero Essentials". These compilations, such as "Killer Guitar Solos" and "Guitar Anthems of the '80s", include songs related to but not contained within the Guitar Hero series. Dusty Welch of RedOctane has stated "Where there’s music, there’s Guitar Hero, and with iTunes, we are able to provide fans with a central location for downloading their favorite rock anthems."[50] Following the merger of Activision and Blizzard, the new company announced that it is planning on creating an alternative to iTunes based on the Guitar Hero brand that would allow for downloading songs and their associated note tracks for the Guitar Hero games.[51]

Cultural impact

The Guitar Hero series has made a significant cultural impact, becoming a "cultural phenomenon."[10][52] The series' titles became very popular party games, which led to their being played in a variety of locales. Several bars in the United States & Canada are offering "Guitar Hero nights" as an alternative to karaoke; one New York City bar experienced triple the business on such nights.[10] Many concert tours, including the Family Values Tour feature Guitar Hero booths and contests between sets.[10] Guitar Hero is responsible for turning many people onto rock music and inspiring them to learn how to play guitar.[53][54] Salon.com also states that the games helped an 8-year old guitarist learn sensitivity to rhythm, as well as develop the dexterity and independent hand usage necessary to play the instrument.[53] Guitar Hero has been used alongside physical therapy to help recovering stroke patients as the games help with multiple limb coordination between fingering and stroking.[55]

Guitar Hero now holds a place in the Guinness World Records in their Gamers Edition, tracking the highest score on a single song in Guitar Hero III; the record is currently held by Chris Chike;[56] though Chike originally held the record on the inauguration of the world record,[57] he was temporarily displaced by Daniel Johnson during the middle of 2008.[58] Chris Chike has received additional notice for perfectly completing the most difficult Guitar Hero III song, Dragonforce's "Through the Fire and Flames".[59] Chike's reputation has earned him the place of spokesperson for The Ant Commandos, a third-party peripheral controller maker.[60] Guinness also awarded the series ten world records in the Gamer's Edition 2008, including "Best Selling Guitar Based Game" and "Biggest Funeral for a Fictional Object", when in November 2006 a funeral for the air guitar was held in London, England as a publicity stunt for Guitar Hero II's release.[61][62]

Activision stated on January 21, 2008 that North American sales from all of the Guitar Hero franchise has exceeded one billion dollars with over 14 million units sold and excluding downloadable content.[2] Over 20 million songs have been sold as downloadable content as of July 2008.[63] As of October 9, 2008, the series has sold 23 million units and earned US$1.6 billion at retail.[1] Guitar Hero along with other music games such as Rock Band have surged the video game market in 2008; an NPD Group report cited that music video games made up 19% of the overall software industry sales in July 2008, and contributing to a 32% year-to-date sector growth through July 2008.[64]

The series has created a market for products outside of the video games. McFarlane Toys has developed a series of six-inch-tall figurines based on the characters from the game.[65] Brett Ratner, director for Rush Hour and X-Men: The Last Stand, has stated that he wishes to bring a movie based on Guitar Hero to theaters.[66] However, Activision, the publisher of the series, did not approve the idea of a film adaptation.

Frets on Fire is one of the many clones based on the success of the Guitar Hero series.

The popularity of the Guitar Hero series has led to the development of several commercial and independent clones. Besides Harmonix' Rock Band series, Konami will release Rock Revolution in 2008 which features drums and guitar (the game does not include vocals) similar to Guitar Hero World Tour.[67] PopStar Guitar for the PlayStation 2 and Wii systems, developed by XS Games, will feature gameplay similar to the Guitar Hero series, but will feature pop music, as opposed to rock and metal.[68] Digital Praise will be releasing a Christian rock-themed guitar-based game called Guitar Praise also in 2008.[69] Guitar Rising, to be published for personal computers by Game Tank by the end of 2008, is based on using a real guitar in order to perfect one's skills.[70] Frets on Fire is an open-source clone of Guitar Hero for personal computers that features freely available independent songs and allows users to create their own note tracks.[71]

Fan sites have also arisen to provide news and forums related to the Guitar Hero series. Scorehero is one such site that includes both forums and informal tracking of players' scores for both the Guitar Hero and Rock Band series; the site has received donations from Harmonix president Alex Rigopulos,[72] and site members have been invited to pre-release demonstrations of upcoming games, often leading to information about tracks in these games.[73]

Guitar Hero and the way it is used have been a focus of intense study by sociologists across the country. Most notably, a group of Duke University cultural anthropologists undertook a study of video game culture and preferences amongst undergraduates. The study concluded that Caucasian males were more than ten times more likely to enjoy Guitar Hero than EA Sports Madden football. On the other side, African-American males almost exclusively played Madden when given the choice between the two games. The study cited Duke's Psychology center at 723 9th Street as a crucial force of inspiration for the topic. The scholars admit that they have no clear conclusion as to why the results were so lopsided.[74]

In the music industry

The band Aerosmith has made more money from Guitar Hero: Aerosmith than from sales of any single album.

Both licensed and indie bands whose works have been included in the Guitar Hero games have gained further popularity from this inclusion.[75] Both record companies[76] and retailers[77] have seen sales of songs and groups increase 200% to 300% after their inclusion in the series. Every Guitar Hero III song tracked by Nielsen SoundScan (62 of 70) saw an increase in digital download sales the week ending December 30, 2007, when many who got the game as a gift were playing it.[78] A survey conducted by Brown University's Kiri Miller found that 76% of the players of Guitar Hero bought the music they heard in the game.[79] Indie group Bang Camaro's recognition increased after their song "Push Push (Lady Lightning)" appeared in Guitar Hero II.[80] The band DragonForce, whose song "Through the Fire and Flames" is featured as the final song in Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, saw a 126% increase in CD sales in the week after the release of the game,[81] and downloads of the song, selling fewer than 2,000 weekly, rose to more than 10,000 after Guitar Hero III's release and approached 40,000 the week ending 2007-12-30.[78] Even older, established groups such as Aerosmith saw an increase in sales at the same time Guitar Hero games containing their songs were released,[78] such as a modest increase in download sales for its "Same Old Song and Dance", which rose to 2,041 from 374 copies the previous week;[78] a 40% increase in the band's catalog was seen in the weeks following the release of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith.[82] According to Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith has made more money for Aerosmith than any sales of their previous albums.[83] Both Guitar Hero and Rock Band are seen as new methods of music distribution; an analysis for market research company NPD Group states that "As the video games industry grows, it's becoming an ever-more attractive promotional outlet for all kinds of industries."[84] The games have also been seen as a way to introduce younger generations to music of the past; bands such as Living Colour, Warrant, Poison, and Ratt have seen interest in their music rise due to the inclusion of their songs in the various Guitar Hero and other video games.[85]

Bands or those that control the copyrights on bands works have been in talks with the makers and distributions of both Guitar Hero and Rock Band as methods of achieving more exposure for the band. Following the announcement of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, Martin N. "Marty" Bandier, executive for Sony/ATV which owns the copyrights on The Beatles recordings, has stated that he is very interested in helping Activision to bring a Beatles-themed Guitar Hero title to the market in a similar fashion.[86] Both Activision and MTV Games have been in talks with representatives of the Beatles to create a themed games within either the Guitar Hero or Rock Band series, respectively, though any deal will also require permission from Apple Corps, Ltd..[87][88] Ultimately, MTV Games secured a exclusive license with Apple Corps to produce a standalone game based on the Rock Band platform featuring the songs of the Beatles.[89] Groups such as Van Halen, The Eagles, Steely Dan and Guns N' Roses have working deals with these companies to include their songs within future games.[90] However, not all bands are comfortable with this; Led Zeppelin has turned down offers from both games to include their music due to concerns that Jimmy Page and other members of the band have with releasing the master recordings of their music.[90] There are also cases where bands want to be included, but the master recordings have been lost or are unusable. Some bands such as the Sex Pistols, Living Colour, and Aerosmith have rerecorded these songs, while other bands have been able to provide concert "live" master recordings. However, some larger artists are unable to do so.[91] Neversoft director Brian Bright states that they do not expect to acquire songs from Pink Floyd and Prince due to such reasons.[91]

Guitar Hero and other rock music-based games work with record companies to license each song for its use, costing a per-song average of $25,000 for the rights to use a master recording and $10,000 for the rights to make a cover.[92] However, the music industry has raised concerns that the music labels are not receiving fair compensation considering the success of the games. Edgar Bronfman Jr., chairman and chief executive for Warner Music Group, stated that "The amount being paid to the industry, even though their games are entirely dependent on the content that we own and control, is far too small."[92] Tim Riley, vice president of music affairs at Activision, believes that the increase in popularity of the game series has lead more people, including musicians and music labels, to want to be part of the success: "The number of people interested in being associated with the game is probably a thousand times more than we can get into the game."[92] Activision CEO Robert Kotick has stated, in response to the record company's claims, that the impact that the Guitar Hero games have cause them to question if the game developers and publishers "should be paying any money at all and whether it should be the reverse."[93] Mötley Crüe manager Allen Kovac noted that artists make a larger share of the sale of each downloaded game song compared to iTunes, and that bands that own their own master recordings earn even a larger percentage from music licensing rights.[54] Michael Pachter, an industry analyst for Wedbush Morgan, noted that Guitar Hero is not dependent on a single record label, as there is nearly a 2000-year supply of songs available at the current rate of content releases, and a full music industry denial to the game series could lead to anti-trust measures. Patcher also contrasted Bronfman's view, stating that users are not buying the games for the songs, but for the game, with each song providing its own challenge.[94]

File:Guitar-Her-South-Park.jpg
Stan and Kyle from South Park play Guitar Hero II

Guitar Hero has made several appearances in popular culture. Guitar Hero II is the centerpiece of an episode of South Park titled "Guitar Queer-o", in which Stan and Kyle get hooked on Guitar Hero II and end up being treated as though they are real-life rock stars. The episode was first broadcast on November 7, 2007, 10 days after the American release of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.[95] The episode of Metalocalypse entitled "Dethvengance" featured a black Guitar Hero controller on the bed of a boy attempting to download music from the band Dethklok illegally. The song playing on his computer is "Thunderhorse," which is playable on Guitar Hero II. In the Metalocalypse episode "Dethkids," a sick child composes a song for Dethklok rhythm guitarist Toki Wartooth using a Guitar Hero controller.[96] Ellen DeGeneres has played Guitar Hero several times in 2008 during the monologue of her syndicated talk show. In the January 25, 2008, episode she is seen playing along to "Barracuda", which segues to Heart performing the song for the audience.[97] During the season 7 finale of American Idol, finalists David Cook and David Archuleta appeared in separate commercials for the games, where they each parodied Tom Cruise dancing to "Old Time Rock and Roll" in the movie Risky Business.

Mariah Carey's music video for her song "Touch My Body" features a compu-nerd strumming on a Guitar Hero controller. The music video for San Diego rock band Switchfoot's song "Awakening" featured two men going home and competing separately on Guitar Hero. The video is unique because all of the Guitar Hero footage featured Switchfoot playing, and all the animation was made by using cut-out style animation. It also tied with Farrah's "Fear of Flying" from early 2007 as one of the first music videos to use this type of animation[98] A Guitar Hero Controller is played by Peter Stock in a spoof music video in a scene from 'Capitalism - The Movie'.[99] In the music video for "Mixed Up S.O.B." by The Presidents of the United States of America, a part can be seen with the song being played in Guitar Hero 3.[100] Rob "Rawrb" Kersey, the singer of the Arizona-based "humorcore" band Psychostick, often "plays" a Guitar Hero controller onstage as a gag during certain songs.

In Pro Wrestling, the TNA Wrestling tag team of Jimmy Rave and Lance Rock, known as the "Rock and Rave Infection" have a gimmick of dressing up as characters from the game and strumming the guitar controllers on the way to the ring. [101]

The series' popularity even spread to the sports world; Detroit Tigers' pitcher Joel Zumaya injured himself during the 2006 playoffs playing Guitar Hero.[102]

The name "Guitar Hero" is often juxtapositioned with other instruments or other tools for humorous effects. There are T-shirts available from at least one vendor, parodying the Guitar Hero logo with a number of different instruments, from violin to bagpipes. GameSpot released an April Fools' article in 2006 announcing "Cowbell Hero" as a successor to the first game.[103] One Penny Arcade comic strip envisioned a game entitled "Photoshop Hero", which has become a design for one of their t-shirts.[104] A 2008 FoxTrot Sunday comic strip showed the characters Jason and Marcus playing a video game called "Chamber Music Hero."[105]

PlayStation 3 incompatibility

Sony's PlayStation 3 console has no compatibility with the PlayStation 2 Guitar Hero controller on the system. While Guitar Hero and Guitar Hero II are fully backward-compatible through the hardware PlayStation 2 emulation in the initial North American release of the console, it was impossible at launch to use the guitar controller to play either game. Kai Huang, of RedOctane, states that they are "working on that with Sony right now – looking at how we can get all the PlayStation 2 guitars that are out there, and all the owners of them, to use them on the PlayStation 3."[106] Nyko, an accessories company, was poised to make a special PlayStation 2 controller adapter for the PlayStation 3, but has put the product on hold due to technical difficulties. Also, Tac, another accessories company also made a PlayStation 3 adapter for a PlayStation 2 to a PlayStation 3 game console so people can use their Guitar Hero guitar controllers that were made for PlayStation 2 to be used with a PlayStation 3 game console.[107] However, the May 2007 PlayStation 3 V1.80 system update has made the guitar controller compatible with generic PlayStation 2 controller to USB adapters when playing Guitar Hero and Guitar Hero II.[108] In addition, Pelican has released a special PlayStation 2 to PlayStation 3 controller adapter that supports both games, including the ability to switch the handedness of the guitar.[109] At present, most PS2-to-USB adapters have issues with hammer-ons and pull-offs. The Ant Commandos have produced an adapter that allows hammer-ons to be played. This is the only known adapter that allows this, however it is only designed and guaranteed for using PlayStation 2 guitar controllers with PlayStation 3 Guitar Hero and Rock Band games and as such is incompatible with Guitar Hero II and Rock the 80s. Both games can still be played using the shoulder buttons on a standard controller.[110]

Patent litigation

Gibson Guitar Corporation, whose guitar likenesses have appeared in the Guitar Hero series from the first game to Guitar Hero Aerosmith, informed Activision on January 7, 2008, that it believed the games infringe its U.S. patent 5,990,405. Gibson claims that this covers technology that simulates a concert performance via pre-recorded audio and a musical instrument. In response, Activision filed a suit seeking a declaration that it was not in violation of the Gibson patent; Activision also asserts Gibson has given an implied license by waiting to assert the patent and that the patent is invalid.[111] On March 17, 2008, Gibson sued six retailers (GameStop, Amazon.com, Wal-Mart, Target, Toys "R" Us and Kmart) for selling Guitar Hero products.[112][113] Subsequently, on March 21, 2008, Gibson also filed a lawsuit against EA, MTV, and Harmonix over their game Rock Band also for violation of its patent, to which a Harmonix spokesperson stated that Gibson's claims are "completely without merit".[114] Activision lawyer Mary Tuck stated in their legal filings that they believe that Gibson initiated the lawsuit due to the fact that " Activision was not [interested] in renewing the License and Marketing Support Agreement" with Gibson Guitars.[115] Rock Band's guitar controller is fully endorsed by Fender.

Activision, through John Devecka[116] owns all of Devecka Enterprises' US and international patents[117] [118][119] that deals with music games. All patents issued by the USPTO are presumed valid.[120][121]

Games

Released Year Title Developer(s) Platform
PS2 PS3 360 Wii PC Mac NDS Other
Main Games
2005 Guitar Hero Harmonix Yes No No No No No No No
2006 (PS2)
2007 (360)		 Guitar Hero II Harmonix Yes No Yes No No No No No
2007 Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Neversoft (360/PS3)
Aspyr Media (PC/Mac)
Vicarious Visions (Wii)
Budcat Creations (PS2)		 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
2008 Guitar Hero World Tour Neversoft (360/PS3)
Vicarious Visions (Wii)
Budcat Creations (PS2)		 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes(refactored from a) Yes(refactored from a) No No
Expansion Games
2007 Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s Harmonix Yes No No No No No No No
2008 Guitar Hero: Aerosmith Neversoft (360/PS3)
Vicarious Visions (Wii)
Budcat Creations (PS2)		 Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No
2009 Guitar Hero: Metallica Neversoft (360/PS3)
Vicarious Visions (Wii)
Budcat Creations (PS2)		 Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No
Portable Games
2007 Guitar Hero Carabiner Basic Fun, Inc. No No No No No No No Yes
2007 Guitar Hero III Mobile Machineworks Northwest No No No No No No No Yes
2008 Guitar Hero: On Tour Vicarious Visions No No No No No No Yes No
2008 Guitar Hero III Backstage Pass Machineworks Northwest No No No No No No No Yes
2008 Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades Vicarious Visions No No No No No No Yes No

Template:EntA version of Guitar Hero World Tour has been rated by the ESRB for PC and Mac, though Activision has not officially confirmed this version.[122]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Guitar Hero.

Notes

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  5. ^ (Simons 2007, p. 160)
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References

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