2005

Guitar Hero

FROM: RedOctane/Activision

BEHIND THE MUSIC: With 21 million copies sold worldwide; multiple spin-offs (Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, Guitar Hero Encore Rocks the '80s, etc.); chart-topping adaptations for nearly every platform from Nintendo DS to mobile phones; a cultlike following amongst teens and twenty-somethings; and entire South Park episodes now devoted to its charms, you'd be forgiven for failing to recall that, prior to launch, the dynamo which sparked an entire industry was once just a risky, unproven gamble from RedOctane, a little-known manufacturer of dance pad peripherals and dabbler in online video game rentals.

WHY IT ROCKS: Single-handedly built today's fastest-growing game category, may help save rock through the sale of online music and is guaranteed to keep the cheap plastic Stratocaster party going for decades hence.

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