One topic that surprisingly hasn’t been mentioned on CyberNet yet is Guitar Hero. There has been such a craze over the multi-platform game that it’s hard to believe it’s never come up! Not even once! So today’s the day that Guitar Hero is mentioned but unfortunately, it’s because the publishers of the popular game have found themselves involved in a patent dispute with Gibson Guitar Corp., a company that makes real guitars.
According to the Associated Press, Gibson Guitar is claiming that the publisher of Guitar Hero, Activision Inc. should stop selling the game until they get a license under their patent. Gibson’s patent back from 1999 “covers a virtual-reality device that included a headset with speakers and that simulated participating in a concert.” Most of you already know what Guitar Hero is all about, but for those of you who don’t, players of the game use a guitar shaped peripheral to simulate playing music. It’s been a big hit for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 2 and 3, Nintendo Wii, PC, and Mac, especially since Guitar Hero III launched. The game has been extremely successful for Activision who managed to report a 90 percent increase in profit for their third quarter which ended on December 31st.
So what’s going to happen from here? Well, Activision says “we disagree with the applicability of their patent and would like a legal determination on this.” At this point they’re not going to stop selling the game, but they will have to prove that they aren’t violating Gibson Guitar’s patent. I’d hate to see this game removed from the shelves because it would probably be right around the time I finally caved-in and wanted to buy it. 
Any Guitar Hero fans? There’s gotta be at least a few of you who are experts out there! Ryan and I were just at a Fry’s Electronics store on Saturday and we stood there watching a guy playing a song, on expert, without making a single mistake. Talk about being disgusted! What made it worse was that he was in a full business suit and was probably in his late 40’s which means he probably does have a job and can’t sit there playing all day. Absolutely crazy!
I am not an expert, but my wife and I love the games. Neither of us was really interested in it until we played a few games of it at my brother’s house over the holidays. We were immediately hooked and we purchased Guitar Hero III around Christmas with a gift card we received. Shortly after that, we purchased the Guitar Hero I and II double pack. We have logged countless hours on all three since then.
I’ve played it several times, but for some reason am not all that intrigued by it. I don’t know why, but I was pretty surprised that I didn’t want to rush out and get it like you Carl.
I’m an expert, just not at Guitar Hero
I love the games, including Rock Band — which arguably would be more applicable to this lawsuite — but I’m very disappointed with Gibson registering such a superfluous lawsuit. The “music video game” fad is a boon for Activision and MTV Games, but to a lesser degree it is also a boon for guitar manufacturers like Gibson. People who have never considered playing guitar before are going out an buying low-end guitars to play around with because of the natural high they get from playing songs successfully. Granted, playing these games is nowhere near “making music”, but the point is valid. Beyond that, Gibson is going to have a tough sell on this. All Activision has to do is define the term “virtual reality device” and capitalize on the fact that gaming consoles are not, in fact, virtual reality devices. I would be willing to bet that Gibson’s patent goes back to the days where virtual reality was defined by those devices that wrapped around your head and visualized alternate 3D universes.
Their patent was filed back in 1999 so it’s been almost 10 years! A lot has changed since then…
Doesn’t a patent have to be something very specific, with blueprints, user flowcharts, and applied uses? If so, then the lawsuit hinges on how similar the game is to the Gibson patent.
Well, maybe not. Amazon has the “one click” patent.
“Click big button once. big thing happens. Duh, I own that.” – Amazon.
The only problem is that patents that are vague are tougher to defend, and I think that is where they will run into a problem.
I am very confused about the guitar hero dispute but all i know is if they completely stop making the game i wont care cause i already have it. but anyways it is a good game and i hope they settle the dispute.
