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Guitar Hero is a musical rhythm video game developed by Harmonix and published by RedOctane for the PlayStation 2 video game console. It is the first game in the Guitar Hero series. Guitar Hero was released on November 8, 2005 in North America, April 7, 2006 in Europe, and June 15, 2006 in Australia. The game's development was a result of collaboration between RedOctane and Harmonix to bring a game similar to Guitar Freaks to North America.
The game features a guitar-shaped game controller (similar to a miniature Gibson SG) that the player uses to simulate playing rock music. Gameplay is similar to Guitar Freaks, where the player presses the controller buttons in time with the musical notes as they move across the game screen. The game features covers of 30 popular rock songs spanning five decades of rock, from 1960 to 2005, plus bonus tracks from independent artists. Guitar Hero became a positive surprise, earning critical acclaim and numerous awards from major video game publications, and was considered one of the most influential games of the first decade of the 21st century. The game launched the successful Guitar Hero franchise, with over two billion dollars in sales, several sequels, expansions, and other related merchandise.