It has been two decades since the legendary game debuted in North America, providing players everywhere the means to feel like rock legends. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing someone who's mastered Free Bird’s lengthy instrumental break in front of a packed living-room audience.
Developed by the developers, Guitar Hero provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to match coloured notes scrolling down the display synchronized to the music. Each riff corresponded to specific notes, creating the sensation of a genuine live show.
Harmonix had already experimented with rhythm games prior to teaming up with RedOctane, later purchased by Activision during the mid-2000s. Together, they laid the groundwork for a surprising billion-dollar series that had a significant influence for many of the artists featured, showcasing classic bands to a new generation of younger players.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, remembers the early budgetary hurdles of licensing the recordings – even though the first two games mostly used cover versions.
“We rerecorded every song since the dollar figure was so high,” he explains. “Despite having the publishing rights alone, it was extremely difficult. 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. However, when the game took off, album purchases and radio play increased, everyone wanted to be in.”
He continues: “One of the amazing things was the number of mothers and fathers got in touch and thanked us for introducing their children to the music they loved. It evolved into an intergenerational thing.”
Timeless Music Gains a New Audience
Northern Irish group the Answer included their track in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist the artist remembers the way the game revived classic rock to the forefront: “The game offered a larger, younger audience. Generally this had been considered music that was past it, but then once it got included in the title young people were finding it, abruptly it became trendy. That legitimised it, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It provided our catalog a new life.”
At that time, the Answer’s debut album was still not available stateside, meaning the game was a key medium for exposure for the band during their a North American tour supporting the rock giants. “Their crew were playing Never Too Late on the tour bus, and some of them recognized us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles Enduring Impact
Rock’s biggest acts soon capitalised on the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in specialized spin-off titles centered around each band’s catalogue and associated stories, visuals and legendary status. For example, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly to have made the group greater revenue than any of their studio albums. It moved more than 500,000 units upon release, and demand for Aerosmith’s music rose of up to 40% during an era when the music business faced decline.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire nimble-fingered dedication within the community. Earlier this year, a streamer completed a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough power-metal song popularized through the game – using a fan-made version, a no-cost alternative with similar mechanics and extensive personalization features. This track is challenging even in expert mode, let alone played at double speed and without missing every one of the thousands of cues. They claimed requiring months of practice of practice.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, imaginary experience. Just as with Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you should pick up a real gun and enlist,” notes musician Herman Li.
DragonForce had already completed a profitable run when their hit was featured on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it turned them into widely recognized. “I remember our distributors calling to tell me that we were selling albums rapidly,” he says. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we were playing just before top acts at the event.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure via the game proved so vast that it has threatened to eclipsing all other the band has done. Last year, the song was used in promotional material for a major film. “In the past I felt otherwise, but now I accept it,” Li says. “Should you just hear 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”.
Enduring Impact of a Plastic Guitar
Top-tier marketing, whether it’s for cars, apparel or video games, goes further mere transactions – it inspires a longing. Was the game able to harness this? “That’s exactly what we were trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of being a music icon in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the co-founders felt that humans have a natural human desire to create songs, and they wanted to use technology to allow people to do it”.
The majority installments were released in just a half-decade from 2005 to 2010, featuring derivative titles such as DJ Hero, complete with a turntable controller, and Band Hero. After that, corporate focus on peripherals waned, aside from a brief comeback several years later.
Titles such as the fan project and newer releases have kept the community active, and there’s set to be a new product from the original publisher in development. Recently formed developers has entered production on their first rhythm-based title. The initial creators are participating in advisory roles. Is the world prepared to welcome another game following the classic?
“Our team believed such titles might become like Madden allowing annual update every year,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant fresh tracks that it could be evergreen, thus I remain optimistic. There’s no reason why it can’t persist for future fans.”
