Band Hero

Band Hero is a spin-off video game of the Guitar Hero series of music rhythm games, released by Activision on November 3, 2009 for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii and Nintendo DS consoles. The game is structurally similar to Guitar Hero 5, supporting full band play (lead and bass guitars, drums and vocals), including drop-in/drop-out and in-song instrument and difficulty change menus, as well as additional multiplayer modes as in Guitar Hero 5. The console versions use controllers in the form of instruments, while the DS version uses either the "Guitar Grip" introduced with the Guitar Hero: On Tour series or a new drum skin included with the game. As with the previous games, virtual avatars of Taylor Swift, Adam Levine and the band No Doubt are presented in the game. Band Hero received mixed reviews from journalists. Some considered the game to be an appropriate version of Guitar Hero 5 for the "Top 40" pop-rock hits, while others felt that the game was aimed exclusively at teenagers. They also objected to the cost of the full game, which contains only 65 songs compared to 85 songs in Guitar Hero 5, and considered whether the content would have been better in downloadable form. The day after the game's release, the band No Doubt sued Activision, claiming that their avatars were similarly abused as Kurt Cobain's avatar in Guitar Hero 5.