Having been born in the late 90s, I, like many a gamer, have a library of memories from the Guitar Hero days. In fact, I'd argue gaming franchises from my upbringing don't get much more iconic than Guitar Hero and Rock Band. These were household names that transcended the typical gaming audience. But while we'll remember the iconic soundtracks and high score challenges first, none of it would have been the same without the bespoke gaming controllers that we played them with.
It's now 2026, and although nostalgia has pulled pretty much identical rhythm games back from the dead (Fortnite Festival and Clone Hero), gaming peripherals have moved on a lot since the 2000s, and it wouldn't be right for modern Guitar controllers not move with the times. PDP understood this when it produced the Riffmaster Guitar Controller, because it uses clever quality-of-life upgrades to make the annoyances of these peripherals less grating.
