Marking two decades since Guitar Hero debuted in North America, giving players everywhere the tools to feel like a rock star. Not in reality, but try convincing anyone who's nailed Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo in front of a packed crowd of friends.
Developed by Harmonix, the game provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to follow coloured notes scrolling down the screen in time with the music. Every sequence corresponded to particular chords, creating the feel of an authentic performance.
The studio previously tried its hand with rhythm games before partnering with RedOctane, which was acquired by Activision during the mid-2000s. Together, they established the groundwork for an unlikely massively profitable series that had a remarkable influence on numerous of the artists featured, introducing classic bands to millions of gaming enthusiasts.
Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, remembers the early budgetary hurdles in securing the songs – despite the fact initial releases mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded all the music since the dollar figure was so high,” he explains. “Even with the publishing rights by themselves, it was nearly impossible. We failed to secure acts such as legendary groups – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were fairly certain the project would flop. However, when the game became a hit, and record sales and radio play increased, all artists desired to participate.”
He adds: “Among the remarkable aspects was how many mothers and fathers got in touch expressing gratitude for introducing their children to the music they adored. It became an intergenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Gains a New Audience
Northern Irish blues-rock band one featured act had their track on the 2008 game the popular installment. Lead musician Paul Mahon recalls how the series brought classic rock to the forefront: “Guitar Hero provided a larger, new demographic. Typically such music was seen as music that was past it, however once it got featured on the title and teenagers discovered it, suddenly it was cool. That legitimised it, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ label. It provided all our music a new life.”
At that time, the Answer’s debut album was still unreleased stateside, meaning the game served as a primary platform of discovery for the band during their a North American tour opening for the rock giants. “Their crew had on Never Too Late during travel, and several recognized us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles and Lasting Impact
Rock’s biggest acts soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in dedicated game editions centered around each band’s catalogue and associated stories, imagery and legendary status. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly earned the group greater revenue than any of their studio albums. It sold well over 500,000 copies upon release, while sales of their songs saw an increase of up to 40% during an era when the music business was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire nimble-fingered fanaticism among its fans. Recently, an online personality achieved a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s the challenging track – a notoriously difficult power-metal song made popular by Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical gameplay and extensive customisation options. The song is difficult even in expert mode, not to mention played at double speed while hitting a single one of its near 4,000 notes. They stated it took months of practice of practice.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you should pick up a real gun and go to war,” says DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
DragonForce had already completed a profitable run before Through the Fire and Flames was featured on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it turned them into a household name. “I remember our distributors calling to tell me that our records were moving like crazy,” he shares. “It exploded when we next toured, and we were playing right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure via the game proved so vast that it risked overshadow everything else accomplishments. Last year, the track featured in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I felt otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “If you only hear a single track, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got their own path in music and I’m glad we played a role in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Impact from the Plastic Guitar
Top-tier promotion, be it for automobiles, apparel or games, goes further than selling something – it inspires a longing. Was the game able to tap into that? “Precisely what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of being a music icon on the stage. From day one, the creators felt that there’s an instinctive human desire to make music, and they wanted to use technology to enable everyone to participate”.
Most installments came out over a mere five-year period between 2005 and 2010, including spin-offs like DJ Hero, including a turntable controller, and Band Hero. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest on peripherals waned, aside from a brief comeback several years later.
Titles such as Clone Hero and newer releases have kept the scene active, and there’s expectations of a new product from the original publisher in development. Recently formed developers has entered production on their first music game. The initial creators are both involved in advisory roles. Is the world ready to embrace a new entry following Guitar Hero?
“We thought those games might become similar to sports games allowing annual releases,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much new music that it could be evergreen, so I’ve always been optimistic. There’s no reason why it can’t persist with new generations.”
