Guitar Hero II - The Police - Message In A Bottle

Details

Description

Guitar Hero II is a 2006 rhythm game developed by Harmonix and published by RedOctane for the PlayStation 2 and Activision for the Xbox 360. It is the sequel to Guitar Hero (2005) and the second installment in the Guitar Hero series. The game was first released for the PlayStation 2 in November 2006, and then for the Xbox 360 in April 2007, with additional content not originally in the PlayStation 2 version.

Developer(s) Harmonix
Publisher(s) RedOctane (PlayStation 2)
Activision (Xbox 360)
Director(s) Daniel Sussman
Series Guitar Hero
Platform(s) PlayStation 2, Xbox 360
Release PlayStation 2
NA: November 7, 2006
AU: November 15, 2006
EU: November 24, 2006
Xbox 360
NA: April 3, 2007
AU: April 4, 2007
EU: April 6, 2007
Genre(s) Rhythm
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Like in the original Guitar Hero, the player uses a peripheral in the shape of a solid-body electric guitar to simulate playing rock music as notes scroll towards the player. Most of the gameplay from the original game remains intact, and provides new modes and note combinations. The game features more than 40 popular licensed songs, many of them cover versions recorded for the game, spanning five decades (from the 1960s to the 2000s). The PlayStation 2 version of Guitar Hero II can be purchased individually or in a bundle that packages the game with a cherry red Gibson SG guitar controller. The Xbox 360 version of the game is offered in a bundle that packages the game with a white Gibson Explorer guitar controller.

Since its release, Guitar Hero II has been met with both critical and commercial success, helping the Guitar Hero series become a cultural phenomenon.[1] As of December 1, 2007, the game has sold 3.1 million copies. It has spawned the "expansion" title Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s for the PlayStation 2. A sequel, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, was released in 2007.[2]

The surprise success of Guitar Hero readily led to the development of a sequel for the game.[3] According to developer John Tam, the team felt they "hit the sweet spot" of genres and decades within the set list and wanted to maintain that for the sequel.[3] The costs of obtaining licensing rights for music from "big bands" such as AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Van Halen, and Metallica, in addition to the lack of understanding of how the music would be used prevented these groups from being used in Guitar Hero. However, Tam notes that with the success of Guitar Hero, "They understand that we're not going to embarrass their music, we're going to actually pay homage to their music and get it to the point where people are going to fall in love with their music and understand their music in a totally different way than they've ever experienced it before."[3] They also had requests by artists to include master tracks within the game.[3]

In addition to working more directly with artists, RedOctane and Activision worked with various musical instrument and equipment companies to provide in-game product placement. Such vendors include BOSS Effectors, DW Drums, Eden Bass Amplification, EMG, Epiphone, Ernie Ball Strings, Gibson Guitar Corporation, Guitar Center, Hofner, Kramer, Krank, Line 6, Mesa Boogie, MusicMan Basses, Orange Amplifiers, Randall Amplifiers, Roland, Vans and the Vans Warped Tour, VHT, and Zildjian.[4]

Guitar Hero II was originally announced for the PlayStation 2 on April 17, 2006.[5] A demo version of the PlayStation 2 version of Guitar Hero II was released with issue #110 of Official PlayStation Magazine on October 5, 2006.[6][7] Features of the demo included four playable songs on four difficulty levels for single player and co-op modes. Demo releases do not feature the ability to flip the notes for left-handed players. Demo versions feature the songs "Shout at the Devil", "You Really Got Me", "Strutter" and "YYZ".[6] The retail game was released for the PlayStation 2 on November 7, 2006, in North America,[8] November 15, 2006 in Australia,[9] and November 24, 2006, in Europe.[10] It was released as both a stand-alone game, and as a bundle containing the game with a cherry Gibson SG guitar controller.[8]