Guitar Hero Hangs up its Strings

In "about time" news, Activision Blizzard Inc. announced Wednesday it will cease publishing the Guitar Hero franchise at the end of this year.

Let's face facts, it has been a long time coming. The original Guitar Hero was released in November 2005, and slowly built up a following. The notion of instant gratification when hitting a note and hearing it play out became addictive, with stringing together a song becoming a personal goal. It was simple to pick up and play, increased in difficulty, and became the forerunner of music-based gaming.

Guitar Hero has obviously inspired much of the music/rhythm games we play at home today; Rock Band, Dance Central, DJ Hero, and even karaoke titles like Singstar. You have to appreciate a game that can have such an impact on not only the gaming community, but pop culture as well. This inspired non-avid gamers to take part in the action, and become a fan as well.

Personally, I felt the franchise peaked at Guitar Hero III. Controls were seamless, the music library was impressive, and the online battles were intense. The downhill slide came when they attempted to branch to specific bands, add a story mode, and churn out a title every 3-4 months. There was no drastic new changes or alterations to how the game was played and interest declined as Rock Band and DJ Hero brought on the new touches to their games.

So here is to Guitar Hero, which has made so many other titles possible and so many plastic guitars occupy homes. Now we have to learn to play the real guitar....

Source: CNN - Guitar Hero Gone