Cultural impact of the Guitar Hero series
Guitar Hero is a series of rhythm video games published by Activision in which players use guitar-shaped controllers to mimic the playing of numerous rock music songs in a score attack gameplay; later games in the series have included support for drums and vocals and playing as a full band.
The series has also sparked the creation of both commercial and independently developed games with similar gameplay mechanics as well as learning tools using a real guitar in place of the controller.
Salon.com 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.
[11] Activision stated on January 21, 2008, that North American sales from all of the Guitar Hero franchise have exceeded one billion dollars with over 16 million units sold, excluding downloadable content.
Activision claims that Guitar Hero is the third largest video game franchise after the Mario and Madden NFL series, and is present in over 15 million households.
[15] At the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show, Activision CEO Mike Griffith stated that Guitar Hero III is the first video game to exceed one billion dollars in total sales.
[17] Analysts expect 2009 to be a critical year to determine the future direction of music games, whether the sector will continue to grow or will remain stagnant.
[18] Viacom, parent company of MTV Games, reported a 32% drop in 2009 second quarter profits, partially driven by weak sales of Rock Band amid the poor economy of the period.
[20] 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.
[47] Both players' reputations have earned them spokespersons deals, Chike for The Ant Commandos, a third-party peripheral controller maker,[48] and Johnson for eMazingGaming.com, a video game event promoter.
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,[54] and every song included in Guitar Hero III and Rock Band saw downloaded sales increase during 2007 between 15% and 843%.
[14] 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.
[67] Groups such as Van Halen, the Eagles, Steely Dan and Guns N' Roses had working deals with these companies to include their songs within future games.
[68] Other artists, having played[clarification needed] Guitar Hero or Rock Band, may approach the game developers to ask for inclusion of songs specifically for their adaptability into playable tracks.
[69] Neversoft director Brian Bright states that they do not expect to acquire songs from Pink Floyd and Prince due to such reasons.
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.
[75] Similarly, Prince has turned down opportunities to have his music in the series, stating that he felt that it was "more important that kids learn how to actually play the guitar".
This parody has been used by director Brett Ratner to create advertisements for Guitar Hero World Tour, featuring celebrities such as Kobe Bryant, Tony Hawk, Alex Rodriguez, Michael Phelps, Corbin Bleu, Heidi Klum,[81] and Marisa Miller.
[citation needed] Political cartoonist Steve Breen illustrated a cartoon where Queen Elizabeth II received Guitar Hero as a gift from visiting President Barack Obama, a parody of Obama's visit to England in April 2009 during which he gave Queen Elizabeth II an iPod.
[82][83] During Halftime of MLS Cup 2009 two league players, Jimmy Conrad of the Kansas City Wizards and Freddy Montero of Seattle Sounders FC faced off to Michael Jackson's "Beat It" in Guitar Hero World Tour.
(The song's lyrics reference the following real-guitar players in addition to those two: Robert Johnson, Dimebag Darrell, Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix.)
Mariah Carey's music video for her song "Touch My Body" features a nerd strumming on a Guitar Hero controller.
[89] The series' popularity spread to the sports world; Detroit Tigers' pitcher Joel Zumaya injured himself during the 2006 playoffs playing Guitar Hero.
[95] A 2008 FoxTrot Sunday comic showed the characters Jason and Marcus playing a video game called "Chamber Music Hero.
"[96] The satirical newspaper The Onion published an article entitled "Activision Reports Sluggish Sales For Sousaphone Hero.
"[97] In the 15th episode of the first season of the Adult Swim cartoon Metalocalypse, a young girl played a song for Dethklok member Toki Wartooth with a Guitar Hero controller.
