Guitar Hero was a calculated risk for publisher RedOctane. The company is very new to the software publishing industry, with only In the Groove (a budget DDR variation) under its belt before the strumming simulator. Guitar Hero itself also faced problems due to the packaging size. The box containing the custom guitar controller and game disc is roughly 2' 6" long and 10" wide, limiting the number that retail locations could carry. The extra overhead also meant that most brick-and-mortar stores sold the game for $79.99, $30 dollars more than most premium titles of this generation.

At the same time, the game was something of a departure for developer Harmonix. The developer is certainly no stranger to the rhythm/action genre, with FreQuency, its sequel Amplitude and the Karaoke Revolution titles to its name. Guitar Hero, however, was breaking new ground in the U.S. as the first guitar rhythm/action title to officially release in North America. Konami has seen fit to not port any of the Guitar Freaks games to American consoles, and who was to say that the overseers of the bemani series weren't right? Given the ambition of the project and the lack of support by a publisher like a Konami or Sony, it wouldn't have been too hard of a prediction to make that the game would flop commercially.

This, however, was not the case. The game was very difficult to find over the holiday, selling out quickly at many stores. Guitar Hero was the #16 best selling game overall in February and #10 on the PS2 list, according to the NPD. While the March numbers are not yet available, there's every reason to believe that recent acclaim has continued driving sales at a steady pace. GameDaily BIZ chatted with Dean Ku, Vice President of Marketing for RedOctane, about the game's phenomenal success commercially and critically and what's next for this duo of RedOctane and Harmonix.

Got dollar signs in his eyes
Guitar Hero's success is composite, too complex to attribute to any one piece. First, the game embodies the basic appeal of playing a guitar. Second, the game has benefited from good word of mouth, more than making up for a lack of a huge ad campaign. Third, the game has been a media darling, winning numerous enthusiast awards along with industry awards from DICE, GDC and from GANG.

"We believed in Guitar Hero from the very beginning and committed to not only the software development costs, but also the hardware costs, which were also very significant. Still, the success of Guitar Hero has exceeded our expectations. It's still selling out everywhere," said Ku. "Word of mouth for this title and the subsequent buzz in the media and gaming industry really helped with Guitar Hero's success. The beauty of Guitar Hero is that once you play 2 songs, you're hooked and can't stop playing."

When asked about sales comparisons to other titles, Ku responded, "I think Guitar Hero is unlike any other rhythm game in the U.S. so it's hard to make the comparison. Guitar Hero has much broader appeal and I think, ultimately will have greater sales success."

It's like, squeedly versus meedley over here!
No small part of Guitar Hero's appeal is its broad reaching lineup of 47 songs and the guitar controller. The soundtrack has something for everyone, features well done covers of classic rock (Black Sabbath) and punk songs (Bad Religion), along with some modern rock (Audioslave) and pop/rock (Sum 41) selections. As for the guitar controller itself, it looks cool and generally appears more like the instrument it's imitating more than most rhythm/action peripherals. Also, the controls are intuitive and simple (especially if you've played guitar or bass before) but allow for a high amout of complexity in later levels.

"Guitar Hero has been a huge success because the fantasy of being a rock star appeals to every demographic," said Ku. "Who hasn't dreamt about being a rock star? Also, the song list and game play are accessible to a very broad audience. Rock and Roll is timeless and the game play in Guitar Hero is very accessible to both casual and hardcore gamers."

Unfortunately, Guitar Hero's coverage of rock songs is not nearly as deep as it is broad; while there's plenty of variety, there might not be quite enough in certain genre's for some people. Also, the game does not contain a single song made famous by Rush, Lynard Skynard, Foreigner, AC/DC, Metallica, Van Halen, The Rolling Stones, or Aerosmith. It's likely that anyone with a slight musical opinion could name one or two bands off the top of their head they'd like to see included. Also, Killer Queen, while a fine song, probably would not have been most people's first choice for a Queen song in the game.

When asked about how licensing costs figured into the equation, Ku responded, "This was one issue. Also, some of the artists weren't sure how Guitar Hero was going to do in the marketplace. Things are very different this time around. "

God of Rock, thank you for this chance to kick ass.
With the success of Guitar Hero and the proliferation of its guitar controller, sequels seem very likely. With the guitar being a key instrument in bands in many different forms of music (rock, pop, punk, blues, jazz, country) the possibilities for a sequel seem nearly limitless. Ku wouldn't spill the beans, but offered the following, "We are looking at different options, but don't have more information at this time."

Flushed with success of Guitar Hero, one can only imagine what the creative minds at Harmonix are thinking of for the next generation. The possibility of having your own virtual band, with guitarist, bass player, singer and drummer would be many a gamer's dream. Looking ahead, the Guitar Hero crew is preparing to rock the industry once again with some new announcements. "We have some great ideas for Guitar Hero, more of which will be revealed at E3," Ku teased.