Marking 20 years since Guitar Hero first launched across the Atlantic, giving everyday gamers the opportunity to feel like rock legends. Figuratively speaking, but try convincing anyone who's mastered Free Bird’s four-minute instrumental break before a packed living-room audience.
Created by the developers, Guitar Hero gave players a guitar-shaped controller to follow on-screen cues moving along the display synchronized to a song. Each riff mimicked particular chords, producing the sensation of a genuine live show.
The studio previously experimented with rhythm games prior to teaming up with the publisher, later acquired by Activision during the mid-2000s. Together, they established the foundations for a surprising massively profitable franchise which made a remarkable influence on numerous of the artists featured, introducing decades-old bands to millions of gaming enthusiasts.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO of Harmonix, remembers the initial budgetary hurdles of licensing the songs – even though the first two games mostly used cover versions.
“We reproduced all the music since the dollar figure was so high,” he explains. “Even with the publishing rights alone, it proved nearly impossible. We failed to secure acts such as legendary groups – RedOctane had virtually no money, and our team was fairly certain the project would flop. But once the game became a hit, and record sales and radio play were going up, all artists desired to participate.”
He continues: “One of the amazing things was the number of parents got in touch expressing gratitude for exposing their kids to the songs they adored. It evolved into an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Finds a New Audience
Northern Irish blues-rock band the Answer had Never Too Late in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician the artist recalls how the series revived classic rock back into vogue: “Guitar Hero provided a bigger, new demographic. Generally this had been seen as music that was past it, however once it got included in the game and teenagers were finding it, suddenly it became trendy. This validated the genre, and got rid of the outdated label. It provided our catalog a new life.”
In 2008, the band's debut album remained unreleased in the US, so the game was a key medium for exposure for the group during their a North American tour supporting AC/DC. “Their crew had on Never Too Late on the tour bus, and several knew us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.
Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs Enduring Impact
Rock’s biggest acts quickly took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in dedicated game editions that focused on each band’s catalogue and related stories, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly to have made the band more money than any of their studio albums. It sold more than 500,000 copies upon release, and demand for Aerosmith’s music saw an increase significantly at a time as the industry was already collapsing.
The series still motivates quick-handed dedication among its fans. Recently, a streamer completed an impressive attempt featuring Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough anthem made popular by the game – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with similar mechanics but an array of customisation options. This track is challenging even in the hardest setting, let alone played at double speed and without missing every one of the thousands of cues. They claimed requiring months of practice to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, fantasy thing. Just as with other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to use a real gun and go to war,” notes DragonForce guitarist the artist.
DragonForce had already completed a profitable run when Through the Fire and Flames was featured in the third game, yet he explains it made them widely recognized. “I remember our distributors calling to tell me that we were selling albums like crazy,” he shares. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we were playing just before the headliners at the event.”
Indeed, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero was so immense that it threatened to overshadow everything else the band has done. Recently, the track featured in a trailer for a major film. “Previously I thought otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “If you only listen to one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got a unique path in music and I’m glad we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Impact of a Iconic Controller
Top-tier promotion, whether it’s for automobiles, clothes or games, extends beyond than selling something – it inspires a desire. Was the game able to harness this? “Precisely what we were aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “The excitement of being a rock star on the stage. Since the beginning, the co-founders believed there’s an instinctive human desire to make music, and they wanted to use technology to enable everyone to do it”.
Most installments were released over a mere five-year period between 2005 and 2010, including derivative titles such as the DJ version, including a spinning deck, and Band Hero. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments died down, except for a brief comeback in 2015.
Titles like Clone Hero and newer releases have kept the community active, and there’s expectations of a new product from the founders in development. A new studio has entered work on its debut music game. Original co-founders are participating as special advisers. Are gamers ready to embrace another game in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed those games might become like Madden where you can update every year,” he remarks. “With abundant fresh tracks it could remain perennially popular, so I’ve always been optimistic. There’s no reason why it can’t persist for future fans.”
