An Oral History of Guitar Hero and Rock Band

Dear TOHOGHRBATMGB backer,

A quick dispatch from Read-Only Memory HQ to share the latest progress on The Oral History of Guitar Hero, Rock Band and the Music Game Boom — an epic book with an epic name which sadly does not lend itself to a snappy acronym. That aside, we trust that these rather striking visuals will get you excited about the incredible book that will arrive with you before the end of the year.

Dear backer

Thank you for your continued patience while waiting for The Oral History of Guitar Hero, Rock Band and the Music Game Boom. Production has been steadily progressing, and the pages are beginning to fill out with more and more exciting stories and interviews. We wanted to share a snippet from the new chapters, which is one of author Blake Hester’s favourite pieces from all the interviews, featuring Harmonix’s former COO Michael Dornbrook:

Hello!

As I plug away at The Oral History of Guitar Hero, Rock Band and the Music Game Boom (slowly but surely! But also slowly!) I've had the chance to ask developers about loads of behind-the-scenes details from the various games. I'll tell you now: you should fully expect a Guitar Hero: Metallica chapter.

Dear supporter, 

Thank you for joining us on this journey to bring The Oral History of Guitar Hero, Rock Band and the Music Game Boom to life. This project isn’t just a tribute to two groundbreaking series; it’s a celebration of the ingenuity and creative vision that turned musical performance into interactive play, reimagining the way we experience music and games alike. 

Dear backer,

At the start of this week, I had every expectation that I would not be writing The Oral History of Guitar Hero, Rock Band and the Music Game Boom. Our crowdfunding campaign was just over 80% funded, but pledges were slowing, and it looked like we weren’t quite going to make it. It was what it was; onto the next thing.

Dear supporter,

Thanks again for pledging towards our campaign to create an exhaustive oral history of the rhythm game gaming phenomenon sparked by Guitar Hero and Rock Band. As you’ll have no doubt noticed we have raised an impressive 55% of our funding goal in the past few weeks, but with just two days remaining on the clock, it appears we will not hit our target.

Dear supporter,

Our campaign to publish Blake Hester’s epic history of Guitar Hero and Rock Band is already a third of the way to reaching our funding goal thanks to your kind support.