Guitar Hero is a popular series of music video games published by RedOctane and Activision. The series is notable for its use of a guitar-shaped peripheral to simulate the playing of rock music, represented on-screen by colored notes that correspond to fret buttons on the controller. The games support both 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 the present, several which are master tracks from the bands.

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 in October 2007.

The first two titles in the Guitar Hero series have sold a combined 5.9 million copies.^[1]

History

Harmonix development (2005-2007)

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.

Guitar Hero is unusual in that, rather than using the console's DualShock controller, it comes packaged with a guitar peripheral, modeled after a black Gibson SG. Playing the game with the guitar controller simulates playing an actual guitar, albeit with five colored "fret buttons" and a "strum bar" rather than several frets and six individual strings. 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.^[2]

The popularity of the series increased dramatically with the release of Guitar Hero II for the PlayStation 2 in 2006. Featuring improved multiplayer gameplay and 64 songs, it became the fifth best-selling video game of 2006.^[3] 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.^[4]

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.

In 2007, it was revealed that Harmonix was working on a new music title called Rock Band. It will expand upon the gameplay popularized by the Guitar Hero series by adding drum and microphone instruments, allowing players to simulate playing songs as bands. 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.^[5]

Neversoft development (2007-present)

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock has been released 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. Activision and RedOctane have also trademarked the titles "Guitar Villain" and "Drum Villain" as well as "Keyboard Hero", "Drum Hero" and "Band Hero".^[6] Analysts expect that future Guitar Hero games in 2008 will include additional instrument peripherals to compete against Rock Band.^[7] 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 Boston group's music."^[8]

Guitar Hero DS was announced by Vicarious Visions' design manager Adrian Earle on September 7, 2007 at Austin GDC '07.^[9] The game will use the 3-D graphics instead of 2-D sprites, and the player will not use the touchscreen, but instead will use a new peripheral that is still in the design phase for the Nintendo DS.

Common gameplay elements

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 highly recommended for play, though one can use a standard console controller instead.

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 button, 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.

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.

Notes can be a single note, or composed of two to three notes (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.

While the song is playing, the background visuals feature the player's chosen avatar, along with the rest of the band performing in one of several real and fictional venues, ranging from a basement bar to Stonehenge. 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.

Modes and other features

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 4-6 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 and a rating from 3 to 5 stars, depending on his/her overall performance.

The 4 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 3 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. 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.

In the first two games and the 80s Edition, 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'. Many of the unlockable bonus songs, on the other hand, are songs performed by the original artist for the game. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock introduces a much larger range of original recordings. The covers throughout the games are mostly recreated by WaveGroup who has worked before to create songs for Beatmania, Dance Dance Revolution, and Karaoke Revolution.^[10]

The game supports toggling the handedness of the guitar, allowing both left-handed and right-handed players to utilize the guitar controller.

Cultural impact

The Guitar Hero series has had a significant cultural impact, becoming a "cultural phenomenon."^[4][11] The series' titles have become popular party games, which has led to their being played in a variety of locales. Several bars in the United States are offering "Guitar Hero nights" as an alternative to karaoke; one New York City bar has seen its business triple on such nights.^[4] Many concert tours, including the Family Values Tour feature Guitar Hero booths and contests between sets.^[4] The series' popularity has even spread to the sports world; Detroit Tigers' pitcher Joel Zumaya injured himself during the 2006 playoffs playing Guitar Hero.

A recent article on Salon.com argues that Guitar Hero is responsible for turning many people onto rock music and inspiring them to learn how to play guitar. The article 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.^[12]

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."^[13]

References in popular culture

Guitar Hero is the centerpiece of an episode South Park entitled "Guitar Queer-o", in which Stan and Kyle get hooked on Guitar Hero and end up being treated as though they are real-life rock stars. The episode first aired on November 7 2007, 10 days after the American release of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.

In the Adult Swim show Metalocalypse a little girl can be seen in an episode, playing a Guitar Hero on a PlayStation 2 Gibson SG guitar controller.

The games have also been featured in music videos for Switchfoot's "Awakening".

In the Gossip Girl (TV series) episode Seventeen Candles, Guitar Hero is a feature at Blair Waldorf's birthday party.

In the NBC's TV series Chuck, an episode entitled "Chuck vs. the Sandworm" shows Chuck's friend Morgan playing a Guitar Hero-esque game at a local arcade.

PlayStation 3 incompatibility issues

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 PlayStation 2 emulation in the 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."^[14] 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.^[15]

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.^[16] 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.^[17] At present, hammer-ons and pull-offs still cannot be performed using adapters, and some players complain of problems with latency. Both games can still be played using the shoulder buttons on a standard controller, if desired.

Compatibility was further reduced with the PlayStation 3 version 2.0 firmware which now produces the message: "This title is not currently compatible with the PlayStation 3 system. Please visit faq.eu.playstation.com/bc for a list of PlayStation 2 format software titles that are compatible, and to update the System Software that will enable your PlayStation 3 system to play additional PlayStation 2 format software titles."

Installments

Current installments

• Guitar Hero: 2005 (PlayStation 2)
• Guitar Hero II: 2006 (PlayStation 2), 2007 (Xbox 360)
• Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s: 2007 (PlayStation 2)^[18]
• Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock: 2007 (PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, PC, Mac)^[19][20][21]

Future installments

• Guitar Hero DS: TBD (Nintendo DS)^[9]
• Guitar Hero Mobile: Holiday 2007 (Mobile Phones)^[22][23]
• Guitar Hero IV: TBD (TBD)^[8]

See also

• Quest for Fame, a 1995 PC game which uses either a so-called "v-pick" or a "virtual guitar" peripheral to play tunes from the Aerosmith band.
• GuitarFreaks, a 1998 arcade game series created by Konami that also uses a guitar peripheral.
• Frets on Fire, a free software/open source clone of Guitar Hero for Microsoft Windows, Linux, FreeBSD and Mac OS X.
• Wikinews:Alex Necochea and Bryn Bennett: the 'Guitar Heroes' of Bang Camaro

References

External links