"Gibson guitars are an essential American rock element revered by musical artists worldwide for their incredible style and amazing sound," said Kai Huang, CEO of RedOctane. "This is the first time a guitar manufacturer has been exclusively featured in a video game, and we're excited to be working with such an iconic company."

"Gibson Guitar is the perfect partner for this high energy game from RedOctane," said Henry Juszkiewicz, Chairman and CEO Gibson Guitar. "Gibson is every Guitar Hero's instrument of choice and now they can have it in a rock-n-roll simulation game too."

Guitar Hero, developed by veteran music video game creator Harmonix, combines the best of rhythm game action with classic American music. The game puts you at center stage of your very own rock band, featuring unique characters, a selection of Gibson electric guitars to play and concert venues that grow in size as your music career progress. The title includes over 30 licensed rock songs including tracks originally made famous by such artists as Ozzy Osbourne, David Bowie, Boston, Sum 41, Audioslave, White Zombie, Franz Ferdinand, and The Ramones.

"Seeing Gibson guitars in the game adds a sense of realism to Guitar Hero, that we feel will really appeal to rock fans," said John Tam, game producer of Guitar Hero. "The game is going to feature a number of legendary Gibson guitars, and players will be able to choose from a number of different paint schemes for each."

The game has been met with rave reviews in the gaming community, winning "Best of Show 2005" at the Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3) and was one of 25 games invited to demonstrate at "G-Phoria" -- G4 videogame TV's annual award show in Los Angeles.