Guitar Hero
Following a five-year hiatus, as described below, Activision announced "Guitar Hero Live" for release in late 2015 on most seventh-generation and eighth-generation consoles. "Live" was developed to rebuild the game from the ground up, and while the gameplay remains similar to the earlier titles, focusing primarily on the lead guitar, it uses a 3-button guitar controller with each button having "up" and "down" positions, making for more complex tabulators. The game using live footage of a rock concert, taken from the perspective of the lead guitarist, as to provide a more immersive experience.
Harmonix
At this time, RedOctane, a peripheral manufacturing company who had enjoyed Harmonix' previous games, approached Harmonix about developing the software for a game that would be based on a guitar-shaped controller, inspired by the "GuitarFreaks" which was popular in Japan. This relationship led to the creation of "Guitar Hero", published by RedOctane in 2005. The game features similar gameplay elements to "FreQuency" and "Amplitude". "Guitar Hero" uses a guitar-shaped controller designed uniquely for the game. Specifically, the "Guitar Hero" controller was designed with five color-coded "fret" buttons and a "strum bar". "Guitar Hero" became largely successful, both critically and commercially, resulting in the well-received 2006 sequel "Guitar Hero II", also developed by Harmonix.