Marking two decades after Guitar Hero debuted in North America, offering everyday gamers the opportunity to become a rock star. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that anyone who's nailed the epic four-minute instrumental break before an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Developed by Harmonix, the game provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to match coloured notes moving along the display in time with the music. Each riff corresponded to particular chords, producing the feel of an authentic live show.
The studio previously tried its hand with rhythm games prior to teaming up with the publisher, which was purchased by Activision in 2006. Together, they laid the groundwork for a surprising billion-dollar franchise which made a significant impact for many musicians included, introducing decades-old bands to millions of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, recalls the initial budgetary hurdles of licensing the songs – even though the first two games primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded every song because the dollar figure was so high,” he explains. “Despite having the publishing rights by themselves, it was nearly impossible. We failed to secure acts such as legendary groups – the publisher had virtually no money, and our team was pretty convinced the project would flop. However, when Guitar Hero became a hit, album purchases airtime increased, everyone wanted to be in.”
He continues: “One of the amazing things was the number of parents reached out expressing gratitude for exposing their children to the music they loved. It became a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Gains Younger Fans
Northern Irish group one featured act included Never Too Late in the 2008 release the popular installment. Lead musician Paul Mahon remembers how the series revived classic rock to the forefront: “The game provided a larger, new demographic. Generally such music was considered music that was past it, however when it was featured on the title young people were finding it, suddenly it was cool. That legitimised it, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ label. It gave all our music a new life.”
At that time, the Answer’s debut album remained unreleased in the US, meaning Guitar Hero served as a primary platform for exposure for the band as they went on US tour opening for the rock giants. “The roadies were playing the song during travel, and several recognized us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Major Band Titles and Lasting Impact
Music's heavyweight names soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in dedicated spin-off titles that focused on their music collections and related lore, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, the Aerosmith edition, it was said to have made the group greater revenue than any of their records. It sold more than 500,000 units in its first week, while sales of their songs rose of up to 40% at a time as the industry was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire nimble-fingered dedication within the community. Recently, a streamer completed a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult power-metal song popularized through the game – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with similar gameplay and extensive personalization features. The song is difficult enough on the hardest setting, let alone performed at double speed while hitting every one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer claimed it took nine months to accomplish.
“The game offers a, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you should pick up a real gun and enlist,” says musician Herman Li.
DragonForce previously wrapped up a successful tour before Through the Fire and Flames appeared on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it turned them into widely recognized. “I remember the record label informing us that we were selling albums like crazy,” he shares. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we performed just before the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it has threatened to overshadow everything else the band has done. Last year, the track was used in promotional material for a major film. “In the past I felt otherwise, but now I accept it,” Li says. “If you only listen to a single track, that's fine – each person has a unique musical journey and I’m glad we played a role in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Impact of a Plastic Guitar
Top-tier promotion, whether it’s for cars, clothes or video games, goes further than selling something – it evokes a desire. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “Precisely what our team trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a rock star on the stage. From day one, the co-founders believed humans have a natural human desire to create songs, and they wanted to use technology to enable everyone to participate”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games were released over a mere half-decade between 2005 and 2010, including derivative titles like the DJ version, complete with a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments died down, aside from a short-lived revival several years later.
Titles such as Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have kept the community active, with set to be a new product from the original publisher in development. A new studio has entered production on their first music game. Original co-founders are participating in advisory roles. Is the world ready to embrace a new entry in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“We thought such titles could be like Madden where you can releases,” he remarks. “With abundant new music it could remain perennially popular, so I’ve always been optimistic. There’s no reason for it to persist for future fans.”
