CHUCK OUT THE AIR GUITAR: GUITAR HERO AIMS TO SCORE 11 OUT OF 10 IN EUROPE

Thursday 16 February 2006/... Air guitars will become a thing of the past this April, as US publisher RedOctane unveils the 21st Century replacement: Guitar Hero on PlayStation 2.

Guitar Hero will be published throughout Europe from April 2006, priced £49.99 - ensuring a new continent will fall in love with the game.

Since its American debut in November last year, Guitar Hero has picked up a stack of accolades, including three "Game of the Year" Awards from IGN and the award for "Best Soundtrack" from Spike TV. Indeed, GameRankings.com - a US Website which aggregates press coverage for videogames - reveals an average review score of 93 per cent (as of 15th February 2006). Recently, it picked up five awards at the DICE Festival in Las Vegas - including the prestigious 'Innovation In Gaming' accolade.

The secret of the game's success is simple. Whilst most games are designed to be played, Guitar Hero is meant to be rocked. It allows PlayStation 2 owners to perform 30 fully licensed rock songs on a unique guitar peripheral, modelled on the classic Gibson SG. Once strapped on, the controller becomes the ultimate way to jam, making players not just feel like rock gods, but look like them, too.

Using five frets, a strum-bar and a whammy bar, players thrash out notes, rifts and chords alongside an accompanying rock band. The peripheral even senses the alignment of the guitar, and at special points in the game players can play it vertically for extra style points. Falling to the knees is entirely optional.

Guitar heroes can slam on the fret buttons to form notes, sustains and chords; shred the strum bar as they would a real guitar; and go wild on the whammy whilst playing 30 classic rock tunes, such as Killer Queen, Ziggy Stardust, Smoke on the Water and I Love Rock and Roll alongside more contemporary tunes such as Take Me Out and Nobody Knows. Additionally, the game features 17 songs by up-and-coming rock stars as part of the track list.

In single-player, Guitar Hero charts the journey of an aspiring new act as it plays a series of increasingly prestigious gigs, from small indie club to stadium. Multiplayer mode sees two players facing-off in an electrifying series of guitar duels, battling for the title of Ultimate Guitar Hero.

To play Guitar Hero just once is to fall in love with it. For once it's a game which'll not have gamers smashing their TVs in frustration, but chucking them out of first-floor windows as they forget their humdrum lives and succumb to the lure of a Guitar Hero lifestyle.

Guitar Hero will be released in the UK in April 2006, priced £49.99 (including SG controller). Rollout throughout Europe will follow shortly, with dates and timings to be announced.

For more on Guitar Hero, please visit www.guitarherogame.com.

The European Website will be launching soon.

The licensed track list is as follows:

Ace Of Spades

Bark at the Moon

Cochise

Cowboys from Hell

Crossroads

Fat Lip

Frankenstein

Godzilla

Heart Full of Black

Hey You

Higher Ground

I Love Rock 'n' Roll

I Wanna Be Sedated

Infected

Iron Man

Killer Queen

More than a Feeling

No One Knows

Sharp Dressed Man

Smoke on the Water

Spanish Castle Magic

Stellar

Symphony of Destruction

Take It Off

Take Me Out

Texas Flood

Thunderkiss '65

Unsung

You've Got Another Thing Comin'

Ziggy Stardust

Guitar Hero features an additional 17 tracks by various up-and-coming independent rock bands that can be unlocked as players progress through the game. The US hit single "Fire It Up" by Zakk Wylde's Black Label Society and Graveyard BBQ's "Cheat on the Church", which won RedOctane's 'Be A Guitar Hero' Competition are two of the highlights of the unlock song list.

Ends

For more information, please contact

RedOctane:

Simon Byron, Leo Tan or Tom Sargent, BHPR +44(0)1462 456780

simon.byron@bhpr.co.uk / leo.tan@bhpr.co.uk / tom.sergeant@bhpr.co.uk

Gibson Guitar:

Jeremy Singer: +(0)207 470 7850 jeremy.singer@gibson.com

Notes to Editors:

About RedOctane

Based in Sunnyvale, California, RedOctane has been innovating in the field of videogames since 1999. Always ahead of the game, the firm began as the world's first online videogame rental service. In 2001, RedOctane introduced the world's first home non-slip dancemat and dancemat covers, and a year later the firm's Ignition dancemat was premiered - subsequently winning a host of peripheral awards. 2005 saw the company step up a gear as it became a Sony PlayStation 2 publisher. Guitar Hero, was released in the US in November 2005 - to universal consumer and critical acclaim. To date, the title has won seven awards, and has an average review score of 93 per cent. RedOctane plans to specialise in the field of rhythm action games, bringing this unique form of family entertainment to a truly mainstream audience. For more information on RedOctane please visit www.RedOctane.com.

About Gibson Guitar

Gibson is known worldwide for producing classic models in every major style of fretted instrument including acoustic and electric guitars, mandolins and banjos. Gibson's digital guitar represents the biggest advancement in electric guitar design in over 70 years. Gibson Guitar Corp's family of brands now includes Epiphone, Dobro, Kramer, Steinberger, Tobias, Slingerland, Valley Arts, Maestro, Baldwin, Hamilton and Wurlitzer. For more information on Gibson go to www.gibson.com.

Harmonix is a registered trademark of Harmonix Music Systems, Inc. Frequency and Amplitude are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

RedOctane^® is a registered trademark of RedOctane, Inc. "Guitar Hero" is trademark of RedOctane, Inc. Developed by Harmonix Music Systems. ® 2005 RedOctane, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. "PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.