Marking 20 years since Guitar Hero hit the market in North America, offering players everywhere the tools to become a rock star. Figuratively speaking, but try convincing someone who's nailed Free Bird’s four-minute instrumental break before a packed crowd of friends.
Created by the developers, Guitar Hero provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to match on-screen cues scrolling down the display synchronized to a song. Every sequence corresponded to particular chords, producing the feel of an authentic live show.
Harmonix had already experimented with rhythm games before partnering with RedOctane, which was purchased by Activision in 2006. Together, they laid the foundations for a surprising massively profitable franchise that had a remarkable influence on numerous of the artists featured, introducing decades-old groups to millions of younger players.
A former executive, former COO from the developer, remembers the initial financial challenges in securing the songs – even though the first two games primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced every song because the dollar figure was so high,” he explains. “Despite having the publishing rights alone, it proved extremely difficult. We failed to secure acts such as legendary groups – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was fairly certain the project would flop. However, when the game became a hit, and record sales and radio play were going up, all artists desired to be in.”
He adds: “Among the amazing things was the number of parents reached out and thanked us for introducing their kids to the songs they adored. It became a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Finds a New Audience
Irish blues-rock band the Answer included Never Too Late on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist Paul Mahon recalls the way the game revived classic rock to the forefront: “Guitar Hero provided a larger, younger audience. Typically such music was seen as outdated material, however once it got included in the title and teenagers were finding it, suddenly it became trendy. That legitimised the genre, and got rid of the outdated label. It provided our catalog a new life.”
In 2008, the band's first record remained not available in the US, so the game served as a primary platform of discovery for the group during their a North American tour supporting AC/DC. “The roadies had on Never Too Late on the tour bus, and some of them recognized us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Major Band Titles Enduring Impact
Music's biggest acts soon capitalised on the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in dedicated game editions that focused on each band’s catalogue and related lore, visuals and legendary status. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly to have made the band more money compared to their studio albums. It sold more than half a million copies upon release, while sales of Aerosmith’s music saw an increase significantly during an era as the industry faced decline.
Guitar Hero still motivates quick-handed dedication among its fans. Earlier this year, a streamer achieved an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s the challenging track – a notoriously difficult anthem made popular by the game – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with almost identical mechanics but an array of personalization features. This track is challenging enough on the hardest setting, let alone played at increased tempo and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. The streamer stated requiring nine months of practice.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, imaginary experience. Just as with Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you should pick up a real gun and go to war,” says musician Herman Li.
DragonForce had already completed a profitable run before Through the Fire and Flames appeared on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it turned them into a household name. “I recall our distributors calling to tell me that our selling albums rapidly,” he says. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we performed right ahead of top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure via the game was so immense that it risked eclipsing all other accomplishments. Recently, the track featured in promotional material for a major film. “Previously I thought otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “If you only listen to one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got a unique path in music and I'm pleased we played a role of people’s lives”.
Enduring Impact from the Plastic Guitar
The best promotion, be it for cars, apparel or 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. “That thrill of being a rock star on the stage. From day one, the creators felt that there’s an instinctive urge to make music, and they wanted to use technology to allow people to participate”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games were released in just a five-year period between 2005 and 2010, featuring spin-offs like the DJ version, including a turntable controller, and Band Hero. After that, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments died down, aside from a brief comeback in 2015.
Titles such as the fan project and newer releases have kept the community alive, with expectations of something from the original publisher on the way. Recently formed developers has entered production on their first music game. Original co-founders are participating in advisory roles. Is the world prepared to welcome a new entry following Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed such titles might become like Madden allowing annual update every year,” he remarks. “With abundant fresh tracks it could remain perennially popular, thus I remain hopeful. There’s no reason for it to persist for future fans.”
