It has been 20 years after the legendary game first launched in North America, providing players everywhere the tools to feel like rock legends. Not literally, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing someone who has nailed the epic lengthy guitar solo in front of an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Developed by the developers, Guitar Hero provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to follow on-screen cues scrolling down the screen in time with a song. Each riff corresponded to specific notes, producing the sensation of a genuine performance.
Harmonix had already experimented in the music genre prior to teaming up with RedOctane, which was purchased by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Together, they established the groundwork for an unlikely massively profitable franchise which made a remarkable influence on numerous of the artists featured, introducing decades-old bands to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, former COO from the developer, remembers the initial financial challenges in securing the recordings – despite the fact the first two games mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced every song because the dollar figure was so high,” he says. “Even with the publishing rights alone, it was extremely difficult. We couldn’t get bands like the Who – RedOctane had virtually no money, and our team was fairly certain the project would flop. But once Guitar Hero became a hit, album purchases and radio play were going up, all artists desired to be in.”
He adds: “One of the amazing things was the number of parents got in touch and thanked us for introducing their kids to the songs they loved. It became an intergenerational 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. Lead musician Paul Mahon recalls how the series brought older hits back into vogue: “Guitar Hero offered a larger, younger audience. Generally such music was considered outdated material, but then when it was featured on the game and teenagers were finding it, suddenly it was cool. This validated the genre, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It provided all our music a new life.”
At that time, the Answer’s debut album remained not available stateside, meaning the game was a key medium for exposure for the band as they went on a North American tour supporting AC/DC. “The roadies were playing Never Too Late during travel, and some of them recognized us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Major Band Spin-offs Enduring Influence
Music's biggest acts soon capitalised on the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in dedicated spin-off titles centered around each band’s catalogue and related lore, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly to have made the band more money compared to their records. It sold well over 500,000 copies in its first week, and sales of Aerosmith’s music rose of up to 40% at a time as the industry faced decline.
The series continues to inspire nimble-fingered fanaticism among its fans. Earlier this year, an online personality completed an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough power-metal song made popular by Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with similar gameplay but an array of customisation options. This track is difficult enough on the hardest setting, let alone performed at increased tempo while hitting a single one of its near 4,000 notes. They stated requiring nine months of practice.
“Guitar Hero offers a, fantasy thing. Just as with other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to pick up actual weapons and go to war,” notes DragonForce guitarist the artist.
DragonForce previously completed a successful tour when their hit was featured in the third game, but Li says it turned them into widely recognized. “I recall the record label informing us that we were records were moving rapidly,” he shares. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we performed just before the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it threatened to overshadow all other the band has done. Recently, the track featured in promotional material for a major film. “Previously I thought differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “If you only hear one DragonForce song, that's fine – everyone’s got their own musical journey and I’m glad we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Impact from the Iconic Controller
Top-tier marketing, whether it’s for automobiles, apparel or games, goes further mere transactions – it inspires a desire. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “Precisely what we were aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “The excitement of performing as a music icon on the stage. Since the beginning, the creators felt that humans have a natural human desire to create songs, and they wanted to leverage innovation to enable everyone to do it”.
Most of Guitar Hero games were released in just a five-year period from 2005 to 2010, including spin-offs like the DJ version, including a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments waned, except for a short-lived revival in 2015.
Titles such as the fan project and newer releases have kept the scene alive, with set to be a new product from the founders in development. A new studio has begun work on their first rhythm-based title. The initial creators are both involved in advisory roles. Are gamers ready to embrace a new entry in the spirit of the classic?
“We thought such titles 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 continue with new generations.”
