It has been two decades since the legendary game hit the market across the Atlantic, offering players everywhere the tools to feel like a rock star. Not literally, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing anyone who's nailed the epic lengthy guitar solo before a packed crowd of friends.
Developed by the developers, Guitar Hero gave players a guitar-shaped controller to follow coloured notes moving along the screen in time with a song. Every sequence corresponded to particular chords, producing the sensation of an authentic live show.
Harmonix had already experimented with rhythm games prior to teaming up with the publisher, later purchased by Activision during the mid-2000s. Together, they laid the groundwork for an unlikely massively profitable franchise that had a significant impact on numerous musicians featured, introducing classic bands to millions of younger players.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, remembers the early financial challenges of licensing the recordings – even though initial releases primarily featured cover versions.
“We rerecorded all the music since the dollar figure was so high,” he says. “Even with the necessary permissions by themselves, it proved extremely difficult. We failed to secure bands like legendary groups – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was fairly certain the project would flop. But once Guitar Hero took off, and record sales and radio play were going up, everyone wanted to participate.”
He adds: “One of the remarkable aspects was the number of parents got in touch expressing gratitude for exposing their kids to the music they loved. It evolved into an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Finds Younger Fans
Irish group the Answer had Never Too Late on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician Paul Mahon recalls the way the game brought classic rock to the forefront: “Guitar Hero offered a bigger, younger audience. Typically this had been considered music that was past it, however when it was featured on the title and teenagers discovered it, suddenly it became trendy. That legitimised it, and got rid of the outdated label. It provided all our music a new life.”
In 2008, the Answer’s debut album was still not available stateside, so the game served as a primary platform of discovery for the band during their US tour supporting AC/DC. “The roadies had on the song during travel, and some of them recognized us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles Enduring Influence
Rock’s heavyweight names quickly took advantage of the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in dedicated spin-off titles that focused on each band’s catalogue and related stories, visuals and legendary status. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, it was said to have made the band more money than any of their records. It moved well over 500,000 units in its first week, and sales of their songs saw an increase of up to 40% during an era as the industry was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire quick-handed dedication within the community. Earlier this year, a streamer completed an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough anthem popularized through Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical gameplay and extensive personalization features. The song is difficult even in expert mode, not to mention performed at double speed while hitting every one of the thousands of cues. They claimed requiring nine months to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero offers a, imaginary experience. Just as with Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you ought to use a real gun and go to war,” notes DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
DragonForce had already wrapped up a profitable run before Through the Fire and Flames was featured in the third game, but Li says it made them a household name. “I recall our distributors informing us that our records were moving like crazy,” he says. “It exploded when we next toured, and we were playing right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure via the game was so immense that it has threatened to eclipsing everything else accomplishments. Last year, the song was used in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I felt differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “Should you just listen to a single track, that's fine – each person has their own musical journey and I'm pleased we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Impact from the Iconic Controller
The best promotion, whether it’s for cars, apparel or video games, extends beyond mere transactions – it evokes a longing. Was the game able to harness this? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “The excitement of performing as a music icon on the stage. From day one, the creators believed there’s an instinctive human desire to create songs, and they wanted to use technology to enable everyone to do it”.
Most installments came out over a mere five-year period between 2005 and 2010, including spin-offs like the DJ version, including a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest on peripherals waned, aside from a brief comeback in 2015.
Titles such as Clone Hero and newer releases have kept the scene active, and there’s set to be a new product from the founders in development. A new studio has entered production on its debut music game. Original co-founders are both involved in advisory roles. Is the world ready to embrace a new entry following Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed such titles might become similar to sports games where you can update every year,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much new music it could remain evergreen, thus I remain hopeful. There’s no reason why it can’t continue for future fans.”
