Rock Band (2007)

When broken apart, the gameplay elements that make up Rock Band were, in themselves, not revolutionary. For instance, there had been karaoke games that made use of a plug-in microphone for more than a decade. There were also virtual drum and guitar games like Guitar Hero, and the Guitar Freaks and Drum Freaks series from Konami. What made Rock Band so innovative is that it found a way to combine the direction for up to four instruments on the same screen. It also sold the entire package in a single box that cost close to $200 in a time where most new games were selling for $50 to $60.

Rock Band's instruments also brought with them a few refinements. For instance, the bundled guitar had an additional set of frets that were closer to the body of the guitar. These were narrower than the main keys, which made for slightly easier play on face-melting solos. And because there could be up to four instruments plugged in to make the game work, the game bundle came with a USB hub for systems where there were only two controller ports.