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Harmonix expanded on this with Rock Band, adding bass guitars, drums, and vocals to the mix (the Guitar Hero series starting with 3 were developed by a different studio). And, for those of us who actually recognized this as a video game, the series offered its own unique and challenging experience powering through “Free Bird” until finally managing it on expert difficulty gave perfect bragging rights.

Guitar Hero never taught anyone how to play guitar, but it certainly left some of us better attuned while listening. The simple presentation highlights this single instrument in a sea of sound. Naturally, five buttons and a bar offer little in the way of true simulation, but the joy of this process rests more in gaining a deeper understanding of the songs themselves. The idea was simple where its most popular predecessor (Dance Dance Revolution) focused on how the listener interacts with music, Guitar Hero focused on the creative side. Rock Band 3 was Harmonix at their zenith, but this all started with Guitar Hero. Of course, a rhythm game is far more than its music.

As a collection of music, this is the height of licensed video game soundtracks. From David Bowie and Jimi Hendrix to Phoenix and Amy Winehouse, the series covered as many styles and eras as possible, with thousands of additional songs available to download. I have listened to several thousand albums now, but that all started with Rock Band 2 introducing me to Sonic Youth and Bikini Kill. In a series celebrating popular music, Harmonix did not skimp out on their set lists.

Now its success seems all but a blip.Īs a teenager at the time, however, it’s hard to overstate the impact these games had on my cultural development. Requiring expensive hunks of plastic good for nothing else (unless you’re the type who thinks Dark Souls is too easy with a traditional controller) and supposedly encouraging teenagers to severely overestimate their ability to translate their in-game skills toward actual playing, mockery came easy. Figured I might as well share it on this forum, so here's #100:Ī decade on, the Guitar Hero and Rock Band craze could easily pass as the video game industry’s very own disco moment. I've always felt the urge to write about my favorite games and this seems like a better time than any to start on the project.