Guitar Hero PS2: Do You Need a Real Guitar?

5 Fret Buttons: Green, Red, Yellow, Blue, Orange (index to pinky).
Strum Bar: Up/down flipper (pick).
Whammy Bar: Tremolo arm (distorts sustained notes).
Start/Select/PS Button: Navigation.
Tilt Sensor: Activates Star Power (hold vertical).

No. You use the Guitar Hero Controller — a plastic guitar-shaped peripheral included with the game bundle.

Controller Basics

Game	Bundled Controller	Works With
Guitar Hero (1)	Gibson SG (Wired)	GH1, GH2, GH3, GH:WT, GH:SH, GH5, BH, Warriors of Rock
Guitar Hero II	Gibson X-Plorer (Wired) / Cherry Red (Wireless)	All above
Guitar Hero III	Gibson Les Paul (Wireless, USB dongle)	All above + Rock Band guitars (mostly)
Rock Band 1/2/3	Fender Stratocaster	GH3+ (missing Orange fret on RB1 guitar)

Wired (SG / X-Plorer): $20–$40. Zero latency, no batteries, no dongle loss.
Wireless (Les Paul / Strat): $30–$60 + dongle. Check dongle included.
Adapter (PS2 → USB/PC): $10–$15 (RapidFire, Mayflash) for Clone Hero / Phase Shift.

No real guitar, no amp, no cables — just the plastic controller and a PS2 (or backward-compatible PS3 fat / PC via adapter).

PS2 Games