Marking 20 years since Guitar Hero hit the market across the Atlantic, providing players everywhere the means to feel like a rock star. Figuratively speaking, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that someone who has mastered Free Bird’s lengthy instrumental break in front of a packed crowd of friends.
Developed by the developers, the game provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to match coloured notes moving along the screen in time with a song. Each riff corresponded to specific notes, producing the feel of a genuine live show.
Harmonix previously experimented in the music genre prior to teaming up with the publisher, which was acquired by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they established the foundations for an unlikely massively profitable series that had a significant impact on numerous of the artists included, introducing decades-old groups to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, remembers the initial budgetary hurdles in securing the recordings – even though the first two games primarily featured cover versions.
“We rerecorded all the music because the dollar figure was so high,” he explains. “Despite having the necessary permissions alone, it was nearly impossible. We couldn’t get bands like legendary groups – the publisher had virtually no money, and our team was fairly certain the project would flop. But once the game took off, and record sales and radio play increased, all artists desired to participate.”
He adds: “One of the amazing things was how many mothers and fathers got in touch and thanked us for introducing their kids to the songs they adored. It evolved into a multigenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Gains a New Audience
Irish blues-rock band the Answer had their track on the 2008 game the popular installment. Guitarist the artist remembers how the series revived classic rock back into vogue: “Guitar Hero provided a bigger, new demographic. Generally such music was seen as music that was past it, however once it got featured on the game young people were finding it, suddenly it became trendy. That legitimised the genre, eliminating the outdated tag. It gave all our music renewed popularity.”
At that time, the Answer’s debut album was still not available 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 on the tour bus, and several recognized us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.
Major Band Spin-offs and Lasting Impact
Music's heavyweight names soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in specialized game editions centered around their music collections and associated lore, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly earned the band greater revenue compared to their studio albums. It sold more than 500,000 units in its first week, while demand for Aerosmith’s music rose of up to 40% during an era as the industry was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire quick-handed fanaticism among its fans. Earlier this year, an online personality completed an impressive attempt featuring the challenging track – a notoriously difficult power-metal song made popular by the game – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical gameplay and extensive personalization features. This track is difficult even in the hardest setting, not to mention performed at increased tempo and without missing a single one of its near 4,000 notes. They claimed it took nine months of practice.
“The game offers a, fantasy thing. Just as with Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you should pick up a real gun and enlist,” notes DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
The band previously completed a successful tour before their hit was featured in the third game, but Li says it made them widely recognized. “I recall the record label informing us that our records were moving like crazy,” he says. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we were playing right ahead of top acts at the event.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it has threatened to overshadow everything else the band has done. Recently, the track featured in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I thought otherwise, but now I accept it,” Li says. “Should you just listen to a single track, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got a unique musical journey and I’m glad we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Impact from the Plastic Guitar
The best marketing, be it for cars, clothes or video games, goes further mere transactions – it inspires a longing. Was the game able to harness this? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a rock star in the spotlight. From day one, the creators felt that humans have a natural human desire to make music, and they wanted to leverage innovation to allow people to do it”.
The majority installments were released over a mere half-decade from 2005 to 2010, featuring spin-offs such as the DJ version, complete with a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, corporate focus on peripherals died down, aside from a short-lived revival in 2015.
Games like the fan project and newer releases have kept the community active, and there’s set to be something from the original publisher on the way. A new studio has entered production on its debut music game. Original co-founders are both involved in advisory roles. Is the world ready to embrace another game following the classic?
“We thought those games might become like Madden allowing annual releases,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant fresh tracks that it could be evergreen, thus I remain optimistic. It's entirely possible why it can’t persist for future fans.”
