Marking two decades since Guitar Hero hit the market in North America, providing players everywhere the opportunity to feel like a rock star. Not literally, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that anyone who's mastered Free Bird’s four-minute instrumental break before a packed living-room audience.
Developed by the developers, the game gave players a guitar-shaped controller to match on-screen cues scrolling down the screen synchronized to a song. Every sequence mimicked particular chords, producing the sensation of a genuine live show.
The studio previously experimented in the music genre before partnering with RedOctane, later purchased by Activision during the mid-2000s. Together, they established the groundwork for an unlikely billion-dollar series which made a significant influence on numerous of the artists included, introducing decades-old bands to a new generation of younger players.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, recalls the early financial challenges of licensing the recordings – even though the first two games primarily featured cover versions.
“We rerecorded every song because the cost prohibitive,” he explains. “Even with the necessary permissions by themselves, it was nearly impossible. We couldn’t get bands like the Who – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were pretty convinced the project would flop. But once Guitar Hero took off, and record sales airtime were going up, everyone wanted to be in.”
He continues: “One of the amazing things was the number of mothers and fathers reached out and thanked us for introducing their children to the music they adored. It became a multigenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Finds a New Audience
Irish blues-rock band one featured act included their track in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist Paul Mahon recalls the way the game brought older hits to the forefront: “The game provided a larger, new demographic. Generally this had been seen as music that was past it, but then when it was included in the game and teenagers discovered it, abruptly it became trendy. This validated it, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ label. It gave our catalog a new life.”
At that time, the band's debut album was still not available stateside, so Guitar Hero served as a primary platform for exposure for the band during their US tour supporting AC/DC. “Their crew were playing the song during travel, and several knew us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Major Band Spin-offs Enduring Influence
Music's heavyweight names quickly took advantage of the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in specialized spin-off titles centered around each band’s catalogue and related stories, imagery and legendary status. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly to have made the group more money compared to their studio albums. It moved well over 500,000 copies upon release, and sales of their songs rose of up to 40% at a time as the industry was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero still motivates quick-handed dedication among its fans. Earlier this year, an online personality completed a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult power-metal song popularized through the game – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with similar gameplay and extensive personalization features. The song is difficult enough on the hardest setting, not to mention played at double speed while hitting every one of the thousands of cues. They stated it took months of practice of practice.
“The game offers a, fantasy thing. Just as with Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you should pick up a real gun and go to war,” notes DragonForce guitarist the artist.
DragonForce previously wrapped up a profitable run before Through the Fire and Flames appeared in the third game, but Li says it turned them into a household name. “I remember our distributors informing us that our records were moving rapidly,” he says. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we were playing right ahead of top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, the band's visibility via the game proved so vast that it has threatened to overshadow everything else accomplishments. Last year, the track featured in promotional material for a major film. “Previously I thought differently, but now I accept it,” he admits. “If you only hear one DragonForce song, that's fine – each person has their own path in music and I'm pleased we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Legacy from the Iconic Controller
The best promotion, be it for cars, apparel or video games, goes further mere transactions – it evokes a longing. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “Precisely what we were aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “That thrill of performing as a rock star in the spotlight. From day one, the creators believed there’s an instinctive urge to create songs, and their goal was to use technology to allow people to participate”.
The majority installments were released over a mere half-decade between 2005 and 2010, including spin-offs like DJ Hero, including a spinning deck, and Band Hero. After that, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments died down, aside from a brief comeback several years later.
Games such as the fan project and Fortnite Festival have maintained the scene alive, and there’s expectations of something from the original publisher in development. A new studio has entered production on its debut rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are participating in advisory roles. Is the world prepared to welcome another game following the classic?
“Our team believed those games could be like Madden where you can update every year,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant new music that it could be evergreen, so I’ve always been hopeful. There’s no reason why it can’t persist with new generations.”
