11 Major Rivalries That Changed Video Game History

5. Guitar Hero Vs. Rock Band

This rivalry actually has a really strange tale behind its origins, as the company behind Rock Band - Harmonix - were also those that created Guitar Hero in the first place. However after the series took off and they saw an opportunity to jump-ship and start up a whole new franchise that would let entire bands get involved, they suitably gave the keys to the van to developer Neversoft, and went off to make Rock Band with EA. Not ones to shy away from milking a cow until it's totally skeletal, Activision came on board to publish Guitar Hero, releasing as many instalments as they possibly could within the time-window of the genre's popularity - and so, the rivalry was born, with Harmonix now having to take on their own creation as a most prominent rival. They would remain the innovators throughout, with Guitar Hero playing catchup every time. Rock Band's multi-instrument approach worked wonders for drunken group-gatherings, and so the awfully-named Band Hero was released to counter. However as the Hero games would get away from the raucous 'heroes' of the industry itself and more into, say, Maroon 5, there was absolutely no reason to stick around - especially when Rock Band were doing 'Track Packs' for artists ranging from Metallica and Judas Priest to Oasis and The Who.