When the first Guitar Hero was released for the Playstation 2 in November 2005, it was met with both critical acclaim and a lot of buzz: a video game that substituted a simulated guitar for the standard controller?

Musical games have long had their niche in the video-game industry. Fans of ''Dance Dance Revolution'' or ''Pump It Up'' like to show off their footwork; ''SingStar'' and ''Karaoke Revolution'' attract ''American Idol'' wannabes. Such games can be fun at parties and they've always had a devoted audience, but they never really attracted the masses.

Music and video games have been a winning combination lately, with hits like ''Guitar Hero'' taking center stage.

This summer's biggest tour, Family Values, has teamed up with RedOctane's Guitar Hero to sponsor a second stage on the tour with an additional five bands making a total of 13 acts performing.

News from the virtual world: -BEAM ME DOWN: In the six months since its debut, Nintendo's Wii has been breaking records and racing past milestones at a breathtaking clip. This week's achievement: the 100th game offered for downloading from Nintendo's online Virtual Console service.

Celebrities from the music, film, art and sports worlds will use their creative talents to design and personalize Guitar Hero II video game controllers for Rock, Paint, Bid -- an online auction by Activision, Inc. and Red Bull Energy Drink to be held April 3rd-13th benefiting MusiCares.

The rock gods have spoken, and are pleased to announce further details on Activision, Inc.'s Guitar Hero II on the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, which will feature a variety of new exclusive downloadable content through Xbox Live Marketplace, along with over 70 finger-melting tracks.

2006 was a great year for video games. While years that see new home consoles are successes, this year in particular proved that video games are becoming mainstream faster than you may realize. While a lot of it has to do with the Wii, a system vying for the position of “console anyone can play,” the fact that a huge entertainment company like Sony is showcasing their new format of media on PlayStation 3 says something. Now that officially every mainstream game has been released in 2006, here are the 20 best games of the year:

In a result that will surely send fanboys into a rage, action-RPG The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion beat out favorite Gears of War for Game of the Year at Spike TV Video Game Awards 2006. You can watch the star-studded event on Spike TV this Wednesday, December 13, at 10 p.m. ET/PT. List of nominees below, winners in bold:

RedOctane, a leading rhythm-action videogame publisher, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision, Inc., today announced that Guitar Hero II for the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system will be available on November 7.