Ever since the release of the first game, the Guitar Hero games have taken the world by storm, seeing a spin off franchise Rock band, clothing, toy figures and its own line of plastic Gibson and Fender guitars. But has these games damaged the music business beyond repair, or re-engergised it?

The charges:

• Less people are picking up Guitar Hero rather than real instruments. Some people are never going to pick up a guitar, but it has gotten a few people to try out an instrument for real. Some game players are now picking up the guitar or drums and having fun with it. With some ‘musos’ saying it is stopping people playing guitar might as well claim that about all video games.
• It doesnt compare to actually playing onstage. While it will never beat the rush of playing onstage in front of people, it is the closet that people will come to it. Like all video games, it puts the player in situation where they can live out different lives as ninjas, footballers and now, rock stars. Sure, Guitar hero players might never know the joy of rocking out with guitars onstage, but then, thats there loss.
• It will damage the music industry. One of the first to panic about these games were the major labels, claiming music sales would go down- but these are the same people who panicked about mp3s and cassette tapes. The game has given players the chance to hear music they might not have discovered otherwise, and gives the bands involved more exposure. The new game –Metallica, will see the band go out to a market of video game players who may not have heard the band before. Metallica arent the only ones who have done this, Aerosmith and AC/DC have also plugged their music via videogames, and Van Halens edition will be along shortly.

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