How Guitar Hero made everybody a rock star

"That was my sweet spot. And for years, it seemed like everybody had one. The plastic guitar controllers became a staple of living rooms everywhere, and the songs - from big bands, small bands, and bands that didn't even actually exist - became huge hits. Long before TikTok was the most important thing in music, getting your track on a Guitar Hero setlist could change your life forever."

"For this episode of Version History, we go through the whole history of Guitar Hero. The story begins in arcades in Japan, travels to an unlikely pair of companies in the US, and nearly falls apart entirely before becoming an enormous hit. For a few years, Guitar Hero was as big as any game you could find, before it began to slowly fade into the background. The game may not be around anymore, but you can still find its legacy in some pretty big-name videogames."

"Hosts David Pierce, Ash Parrish, and Chris Grant all lived through various parts of the Guitar Hero story. They gather at the Version History roundtable to talk about the franchise's many precursors and influences, the E3 conference that became the franchise's breakout hit, the eventual rise of Rock Band, and how Guitar Hero eventually lost most of its luster. We also bust out the axe for the first time in a long time, to see who's still got it."

Originating from arcade games in Japan, Guitar Hero moved to the United States through an unlikely partnership between two companies and nearly collapsed before becoming a mainstream hit. The game popularized plastic guitar controllers and built setlists that propelled songs and bands into wider recognition. A breakout E3 showcase accelerated mainstream adoption, and competition from Rock Band followed. For several years Guitar Hero matched the prominence of top games before its gradual decline. The franchise's influence persists in modern big-name videogames and in cultural memories of living-room multiplayer music play.

Read at The Verge