Although there were plenty of music games before it, the original Guitar Hero was really the first game to take the feeling of being a virtual musician beyond typical gamers. While Harmonix's title was meant to be a Guitar Freaks clone at first, over time it evolved into much more. With its plastic guitar and large selection of hits, music fans flocked to the series whether they were gamers before or not. Naturally other publishers took notice of Guitar Hero's rabid fan base, and looked to cash in with their own music games. It's not surprising that EA has been the most successful publisher to capitalize on the growing genre, with its Rock Band series (or "platform" as EA likes to call it since music tracks are cross compatible between both entries to date) take the largest chunk of market share. Now Neversoft (the series' current caretakers) have answered the challenge, with Guitar Hero World Tour: Complete Band Game offering a nice band experience far beyond the original guitar-based game.
