"Ah, the Rhythm Action genre. Bashing away on a fake, plastic instrument or leaping around like a loon on a bunch of arrows while a banging track plays in the background. Do it well and you’re a rock god on stage in front of thousands or the very ghost of Timberlake himself, throwing down some awesome shapes. For some people, this is escapism at its height. For others, well, they just don’t ‘get’ it."

"Blake Peebles, a 16-year-old in Raleigh, N.C., whose parents have let him drop out of school so that he can focus on a professional gaming career via Guitar Hero.

Blake convinced his folks (that is, "We couldn't take the complaining anymore," said his mom) to let him drop out last September. They hired in-home tutors to continue his education there, at least, but there's no doubt priority number one is Guitar Hero. There's a vaguely defined goal of Blake playing it professionally, either t..."

"Warner Music Chief Executive Edgar Bronfman says "The amount being paid to the music industry, even though their games are entirely dependent on the content we own and control, is far too small.""

"Tired of plastic toys? The Peavey® AG RiffMaster™ Guitar Controller is a real Peavey Guitar that’s sure to quench your thirst for the authentic rock star feeling.

LIMITED EDITION! If you want the prestige of owning this piece of gaming history, you better hurry and get your hands on some real wood! With hot designs from legendary bands such as Kiss and Pantera, your Peavey AG RiffMaster™ Guitar Controller will impress all who set foot on your rock stage.

Controllers are currently availa..."

"There's little doubt that the artist line-up for Rock Band 2 is shaping up nicely. Guitar Hero is getting some nice exclusives as well. With Journey, Boston, Metallica, The Who and other top tier acts lending their tunes to the dominant rhythm games, there aren't many superstars left to cross off the list.

One of the artists that continues to elude both Activision and Harmonix is Led Zeppelin. It's been chalked up to a lengthy licensing process, but a recent write-up from the Wall Street J..."

"The company recently decided to celebrate the fact that a couple of Guitar Hero performances would take place at this year’s Isle of Wight Festival, an event partly known for featuring one of Jimi Hendrix’s last performances before his tragic death. So how does one celebrate a fake guitar performance? By vandalizing a tribute to a real guitar legend, it seems. Activision decided to deck out a bronze statue of Hendrix to make it look like he was holding a Guitar Hero controller instead of an a..."

"Activision has revealed that the next true sequel in the Guitar Hero franchise will introduce new instruments. A preview of Guitar Hero 4 in the latest issue of GameInformer has now shed some light on that and revealed that GH4 will introduce drums, bass, and vocals.

The preview also reveals a new gameplay element. Apparently, Guitar Hero 4 will feature custom made tracks. Players will be able to create tracks, name them, create cover art, and upload it all online for others to enjoy. Due ..."

"Have your PS2 guitar controller and want to rock out on the new PS3 console? TAC has a perfect solution for you. The PS2 to PS3 Converter will enable your old PS2 controller (guitar or non-guitar) to be used on PS3 for both Guitar Hero and Rock Band games*.

The converter has a USB connector on one end and PS2 connector on the other. Simply plug the converter into PS3, connect the PS2 controller, and set the switch to either Guitar Hero, Rock Band or Gamepad and you are ready to go."

"It’s been known for a while now that more instruments would eventually be incorporated into the Guitar Hero brand. The question is whether that means bringing drums into the mix and totally ripping off Rock Band, or creating a whole new game in the Guitar Hero universe with different toys to rock out with. The developers are currently figuring out how to move the series beyond the standard guitar and bass repertoire, as the CEO of Activision Bobby Kotick recently said, “We’ll include a lot of..."

"When Guitar Hero 3 launched last year it was an immediate success, selling out at a fairly quick pace throughout the holiday season. Following just behind it was Rock Band, selling very well, but not nearly as quickly as Guitar Hero. So far, all versions of Guitar Hero III have sold about 9.1M copies, versus just roughly 1.5M for Rock Band. Of course, part of the discrepancy lies in the fact that Rock Band launched on two platforms while Guitar Hero 3 launched on four, but that is about to be..."

"Hey fellow rock fan!

What would you give to be a rock star? It’s ok, we don’t need your soul, we just want to find someone who has the moves and attitude to embody what Guitar Hero is all about.

Simply grab a tennis racket, the dog, or whatever you have lying around and video yourself rocking out to the track of your choice and upload it for a shot at glory in our weekly video montage. We want fearless guitar-slingers and we don’t care about your looks, size or style. If you have rock ..."

""Guitar Hero is one of the biggest brands and one of the most powerful distribution platforms in all of entertainment today," said Michael Griffith, president and CEO of Activision Publishing, Inc. "Guitar Hero's popularity with broad audiences is a confirmation that video games have become a true mass medium."

But wait, there's one more feather for Activision to stick in their no-doubt very large and well ornamented hat: since Guitar Hero III's release in November, it has surpassed 5 mill..."

"A federal judge has denied a request by the rock band The Romantics to prevent Activision from using their song in Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s.
As reported earlier, the band filed suit almost a month ago, alleging that the Guitar Hero recording of the song improperly imitates their sound, causing consumers to believe that The Romantics recorded the music and endorsed the product.

The judge who made the recent ruling indicated that, to the extent there were any copyright issues, Acti..."

"In fact, the immense popularity of the hit Guitar Hero franchise--the third iteration of the game, Guitar Hero III, brought in $115 million during its first week on the market--may be the best thing that has happened to the instrument, to rock 'n' roll, and to guitar instructors, in a long time.

"I have an overwhelming feeling that my business is safe for years to come when I see kids playing Guitar Hero," said Dan Emery, owner of New York City Guitar School. "These kids are really enjoyin..."

"This episode follows the last year's hugely popular "Make Love, Not Warcraft" episode, which helped garner the long-running animated show an Emmy."

"Today, this intricately crafted LEGO Guitar Hero controller appeared on the internet, and GamerSquad's jaw duly dropped.

Obviously, constructing a replica of Guitar Hero’s Gibson Explorer-inspired controller using just LEGO is a feat worthy of applause on its own, but get this: it even works with the game."

"On Rock Band specifically, Janco sees the Guitar Hero competitor creating "a compelling option for the music oriented category beginning in holiday ’07, which will pressure Guitar Hero’s growth."

"That said," says the group, "we expect Guitar Hero to follow a natural product evolution by adding additional music peripherals in CY08."

"Importantly," Janco adds, "the Guitar Hero franchise that is developed internally and owned, offers a meaningful operating margin expansion potential versu..."

"Despite the largely insipid track listing, Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks The 80s thankfully does not come complete with a hairspray-riddled rock wig, leg warmers, or spandex tights – so at least only the music exists to remind us just how shockingly bad the 1980s were.

Guitar Hero, phenomenon that it is, is known by pretty much every gamer alive at this juncture, and with Harmonix now focusing on improved interactivity and downloadable content options (via Xbox Live) with the much anticipated ..."

"Readers, say "hello" to the Guitar Heronoid, a creation brought to you by robotics enthusiast Rafael Mizrahi and the letters ‘W’, ‘T’ and ‘F’. The purpose of Mizrahi’s bizarre invention? Simple - to play the PlayStation 2 version of Guitar Hero II more perfectly than any human being ever could."

"On both sides of the Atlantic it’s left to the ever-willing PlayStation 2 and ever-giving Nintendo DS to flesh out the weekly release offerings. On the PS2 front, the week’s biggest entrant is Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks The 80s, followed by the likes of Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 and Rugby 08."