It has been two decades since Guitar Hero hit the market in North America, giving everyday gamers the tools to become rock legends. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing anyone who has mastered the epic four-minute guitar solo before an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by the developers, the game provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to follow on-screen cues scrolling down the display in time with a song. Each riff corresponded to specific notes, producing the feel of an authentic live show.
Harmonix had already tried its hand in the music genre prior to teaming up with RedOctane, which was purchased by the gaming giant in 2006. Together, they established the groundwork for a surprising billion-dollar series that had a significant impact for many of the artists featured, introducing classic groups to millions of younger players.
A former executive, former COO from the developer, recalls the initial budgetary hurdles of licensing the recordings – despite the fact initial releases mostly used cover versions.
“We rerecorded every song since the dollar figure prohibitive,” he says. “Even with the necessary permissions alone, it proved extremely difficult. We failed to secure acts such as legendary groups – RedOctane had virtually no money, and we were pretty convinced the project would flop. However, when the game took off, and record sales and radio play were going up, all artists desired to participate.”
He continues: “Among the amazing things was the number of parents got in touch expressing gratitude for exposing their children to the music they adored. It evolved into a multigenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Finds a New Audience
Irish group one featured act included Never Too Late on the 2008 game the popular installment. Guitarist the artist remembers the way the game revived classic rock to the forefront: “Guitar Hero offered a bigger, younger audience. Typically this had been seen as music that was past it, however once it got included in the game young people discovered it, abruptly it became trendy. 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 stateside, meaning the game served as a primary platform for exposure for the band during their a North American tour opening for the rock giants. “The roadies had on Never Too Late during travel, and several knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Major Band Titles Enduring Influence
Rock’s biggest acts soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in specialized game editions that focused on their music collections and related lore, imagery and legendary status. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said earned the band greater revenue compared to their records. It sold more than half a million copies upon release, and demand for Aerosmith’s music saw an increase significantly during an era as the industry was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero still motivates nimble-fingered dedication among its fans. Recently, an online personality completed a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s the challenging track – an infamously tough anthem made popular by Guitar Hero – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with almost identical gameplay but an array of customisation options. The song is challenging enough on the hardest setting, not to mention performed at increased tempo and without missing every one of the thousands of cues. The streamer stated requiring nine months of practice.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, fantasy thing. Just as with other games, it doesn't imply you should pick up actual weapons and go to war,” notes DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
DragonForce had already wrapped up a successful tour before Through the Fire and Flames appeared on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it made them a household name. “I recall the record label calling to tell me that we were records were moving rapidly,” he says. “It exploded when we next toured, and we were playing right ahead of the headliners at the event.”
In fact, the band's visibility via the game was so immense that it threatened to overshadow all other accomplishments. Recently, the track featured in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I thought otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “If you only hear one DragonForce song, that's fine – everyone’s got their own musical journey and I’m glad we played a role in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Impact from the Iconic Controller
The best marketing, be it for automobiles, apparel or video games, goes further than selling something – it evokes a longing. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a music icon in the spotlight. From day one, the creators believed there’s an instinctive urge to make music, and they wanted to use technology to allow people to participate”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games were released in just a half-decade between 2005 and 2010, featuring spin-offs like the DJ version, including a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. After that, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments waned, aside from a brief comeback several years later.
Games such as Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have maintained the community alive, and there’s set to be something from the original publisher in development. A new studio has entered production on their first rhythm-based title. The initial creators are participating as special advisers. Is the world prepared to welcome a new entry in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed such titles could be like Madden where you can update every year,” he remarks. “With abundant fresh tracks it could remain evergreen, thus I remain optimistic. There’s no reason for it to continue with new generations.”
