Remember the music game boom of the 2000s? Guitar Hero came out of nowhere and turned us all into budding rock gods and was followed up by the equally brilliant Rock Band, which gave us a full suite of instruments to mess around with – assuming our living rooms would allow it, of course.
British publisher Read Only Memory is celebrating the rise and fall of the music game genre with its latest book, The Oral History of Guitar Hero, Rock Band and the Music Game Boom. Penned by Blake Hester – who, back in 2021, wrote a history piece on Guitar Hero for the website Vice – the book "draws on hours of first-hand interviews collected over years of research to tell the full inside story."
With input from designers and developers such as Ryan Lesser, Rob Kay, Greg LoPiccolo and Harmonix co-founder Alex Rigopulos, this 352-page hardcover tome aims to "recall the rollercoaster ride of the music games boom in this must-have book for everyone who remembers the buzz of nailing that first perfect five-button guitar solo. It’s video game history turned up to 11."
The book is currently crowdfunding on Volume and has a goal of £50,000. The early bird edition is £55, while the standard version is £60. You can also pre-order a signed copy for £75.