The Guitar Hero series (sometimes referred to as the Hero series) is a series of music video games first published in 2005 by RedOctane and distributed by Activision in which players use a guitar-shaped peripheral to simulate the playing of lead, bass guitar and rhythm guitar across numerous rock music songs. Players match notes that scroll on-screen to colored fret buttons on the controller, strumming the controller in time to the music in order to score points, and keep the virtual audience excited. The games attempt to mimic many features of playing a real guitar, including the use of fast-fingering hammer-ons and pull-offs and the use of the whammy bar to alter the pitch of notes. Most games support single player modes, typically a Career mode to play through all the songs in the game, and both competitive and cooperative multiplayer modes. With the introduction of Guitar Hero World Tour in 2008, the game includes support for a four-player band including vocals and drums. The series initially used mostly cover version of songs created by WaveGroup Sound, but most recent titles feature soundtracks that are fully master recordings, and in some cases, special re-recordings, of the songs. Later titles in the series feature support for downloadable content in the form of new songs.

RedOctane, then a company primarily in the manufacture of unique game controllers, was inspired in 2005 to create Guitar Hero based on their experience with creating hardware for Konami's GuitarFreaks arcade game, and enlisted the help of Harmonix Music Systems, who had previously developed several music video games, for development duties. The first game in the series was made on a budget of $1 million. The series became extremely successful, leading to, in 2007, the acquisition of RedOctane by Activision, while Harmonix was acquired by MTV Games and went on to create the Rock Band series of music games in the same vein as Guitar Hero. Activision bought Neversoft, known for their Tony Hawk series of skateboarding games, onboard for future development duties. Additional companies, such as Vicarious Visions, Budcat Creations, Machineworks Northwest, and Aspyr Media have assisted in the adoption of the games for other systems.

The game currently has seven major releases and four expansions on gaming consoles, and with spinoffs for Windows and Macintosh systems, mobile phones, the Nintendo DS, and an arcade game, with several more titles announced for future release. The Guitar Hero franchise has become a cultural phenomenon and learning and development tool for medical purposes, and has impacted both the video game and the modern music industry. The first game in the series was considered by several journalists to be one of the most influential video games of the first decade of the 21st century. The series has sold more than 25 million units worldwide, earning US$2 billion at retail, claimed by Activision to be the 3rd largest game franchise after the Mario and Madden NFL franchises; the third main title of the series, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock is also claimed by Activision to be the first single video game title to exceed $1 billion in sales.

From Wikipedia under the GNU Free Documentation License
Fri Feb 12 16:48:46 2010

Do good guitar players play guitar hero?
Q. I am planning on becoming really good at playing the guitar but i love playing guitar hero too...would that be weird if i was really good at the guitar and played guitar hero still?
Asked by Anne - Fri Sep 14 21:32:17 2007 - - 9 Answers - 22 Comments

A. i think tey would its great to help learn rhtym
Answered by perfectmrgreen - Fri Sep 14 21:35:23 2007

What are the songs on guitar hero for wii? And wich guitar hero would you recomend for me?
Q. I might be getting guitar hero for the wii. I was thinking about getting world tour for the wii. What are the songs for guitar hero world tour? And what guitar hero whould you rocomend for me?
Asked by Zain - Thu Aug 20 17:16:31 2009 - - 5 Answers - 0 Comments

A. Nah bro! You should get Guitar Hero 5! When you reserve Guitar Hero 5 you'll receive the unreleased Guitar Hero Van Halen!! Which that game dosen't come out till December! And the list of songs in Guitar Hero 5 is... * 3 Doors Down * A Perfect Circle * AFI * Arctic Monkeys * Attack! Attack! UK * Band Of Horses * Beastie Boys * Beck * Billy Idol * Billy Squier * Blink-182 * Blur * Bob Dylan * Bon Jovi * Brand New * Bush * Children Of Bodom * Coldplay * Darker My Love * Darkest Hour * David Bowie * Deep Purple * Dire Straits * Duran Duran * Eagles Of Death Metal * Elliott Smith * Elton John * Face To Face * Garbage * Gorillaz * Gov't Mule * Grand… [cont.]
Answered by Richter - Thu Aug 20 17:36:42 2009

Is the Guitar hero 3 controller bundle going to be compatible with rock band and vice versa?
Q. I have an Xbox 360. I figured that I can get the guitar hero 3 bundle with one guitar, and then buy the Rock Band bundle. That would mean I'd have one wireless les paul controller and one stratocaster. Will each guitar work with both games, so I don't have to buy another guitar for each separate game?
Asked by circle_squared - Sat Oct 13 18:45:00 2007 - - 2 Answers - 2 Comments

A. I'd imagine the Guitar Hero 3 controller should work nicely with rock band. Harmonix made the first 2 GH's, and I think I read in an article with Harmonix that they designed rock band with that equipment in mind.
Answered by Ryan S - Sat Oct 13 18:50:56 2007

From Yahoo Answer Search: "guitar hero"
Mon Mar 1 00:41:46 2010

Activision Dials Down Guitar Hero Releases, Plus Possible Patent Problems - Co-Optimus.com
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Jimi Hendrix headlining new Rock Band this year? - GameSpot
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Guitar Hero: Van Halen video game review - Telegraph.co.uk
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Guitar Hero : Van Halen fails to live up the standards set by its competitors and feels like a step back for this genre of games. By Philip Horton Where's ...

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From Google News Search: "guitar hero"
Wed Mar 10 03:17:59 2010

guitar hero 20051019083953376 jpg
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tn 620 big guitar hero jpg
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En unas declaraciones al medio impreso Portfolio el senor Bobby Kotick CEO de Activision ha declarado que su compania seguira mejorando su franquicia musical Guitar Hero despues del

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Get a price | View Wish List Guitar Hero 3

From Yahoo Image Search: "guitar hero"
Sun Feb 7 13:31:34 2010

 Guitar Hero 5 Shreds the Palm Pre - AppScout
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Guitar Hero 5 Shreds the Palm Pre - AppScout

Jamie Lendino

ue, 02 Mar 2010 17:27:28 GM

Ready to rip a guitar solo on your Palm device the next time you're waiting in line somewhere? Glu Mobile has unveiled . Guitar Hero. 5 Mobile for the Palm Pre and Palm Pixi.

Michael Jackson Guitar hero - The Petition Site
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Michael Jackson Guitar hero - The Petition Site

unknown

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All of MJ's songs have a memorable drum, . guitar. , and outstanding vocals. He has great music spanning 4...

Activision's Guitar Hero 'Patent Pending' ... perhaps not ...
blogs.zdnet.com
Activision's Guitar Hero 'Patent Pending' ... perhaps not ...

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ue, 23 Feb 2010 17:22:12 GM

Buy . Guitar Hero. and you might notice amongst the packaging and paperwork that you get with it that Activision claim that the product is 'patent pendin.

From Google Blog Search: "guitar hero"
Tue Mar 2 20:51:29 2010