It has been 20 years after the legendary game debuted in North America, offering players everywhere the opportunity to become a rock star. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that someone who's nailed the epic four-minute guitar solo before a packed crowd of friends.
Created by Harmonix, the game gave players a guitar-shaped controller to match on-screen cues scrolling down the display in time with a song. Each riff mimicked specific notes, creating the sensation of an authentic performance.
Harmonix previously experimented with rhythm games prior to teaming up with RedOctane, which was purchased by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for an unlikely massively profitable series which made a significant influence for many musicians included, introducing decades-old groups to a new generation of younger players.
A former executive, former COO of Harmonix, recalls the early budgetary hurdles of licensing the recordings – even though the first two games primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded every song since the dollar figure prohibitive,” he says. “Even with the publishing rights alone, it proved nearly impossible. We failed to secure bands like legendary groups – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was pretty convinced it would fail. But once Guitar Hero became a hit, album purchases airtime increased, all artists desired to be in.”
He continues: “Among the amazing things was how many parents reached out and thanked us for introducing their children to the songs they loved. It became an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Gains Younger Fans
Irish blues-rock band the Answer included Never Too Late on the 2008 game the popular installment. Guitarist Paul Mahon remembers the way the game revived classic rock back into vogue: “Guitar Hero offered a bigger, younger audience. Generally this had been seen as music that was past it, but then once it got included in the game young people were finding it, suddenly it became trendy. That legitimised it, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ tag. It provided all our music a new life.”
At that time, the Answer’s first record was still not available in the US, meaning the game was a key medium of discovery for the group during their a North American tour opening for AC/DC. “Their crew had on the song on the tour bus, and several recognized us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Major Band Titles and Lasting Impact
Rock’s heavyweight names soon capitalised on the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in dedicated spin-off titles centered around their music collections and related stories, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly to have made the band more money compared to their records. It moved well over 500,000 units in its first week, and sales of their songs saw an increase significantly during an era when the music business faced decline.
The series still motivates nimble-fingered dedication among its fans. Recently, a streamer completed a remarkable feat featuring the challenging track – a notoriously difficult power-metal song made popular by the game – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical mechanics but an array of customisation options. The song is challenging enough on expert mode, not to mention performed at increased tempo while hitting every one of the thousands of cues. The streamer stated it took nine months of practice.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, imaginary experience. If you play Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you should use actual weapons and enlist,” notes DragonForce guitarist the artist.
DragonForce previously completed a successful tour before Through the Fire and Flames appeared in the third game, yet he explains it turned them into widely recognized. “I remember our distributors informing us that our selling albums like crazy,” he shares. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we were playing just before top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, the band's visibility via the game proved so vast that it has threatened to overshadow everything else the band has done. Last year, the track featured in a trailer for a major film. “In the past I thought otherwise, but now I accept it,” Li says. “Should you just listen to one DragonForce song, that's fine – each person has their own musical journey and I’m glad we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Impact from the Iconic Controller
The best marketing, be it for cars, apparel or video games, goes further than selling something – it evokes a desire. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “That’s exactly what our team trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of performing as a music icon in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the co-founders believed there’s an instinctive urge to create songs, and their goal was to leverage innovation to enable everyone to do it”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games came out in just a five-year period from 2005 to 2010, including derivative titles such as the DJ version, including a spinning deck, and Band Hero. Subsequently, corporate focus on peripherals died down, except for a short-lived revival several years later.
Games like the fan project and Fortnite Festival have kept the scene active, with expectations of a new product from the founders in development. A new studio has begun work on its debut rhythm-based title. The initial creators are participating as special advisers. Are gamers prepared to welcome another game in the spirit of the classic?
“Our team believed those games could be like Madden allowing annual update every year,” he remarks. “There’s so much fresh tracks it could remain evergreen, thus I remain optimistic. There’s no reason why it can’t persist for future fans.”
