It has been 20 years since the legendary game debuted across the Atlantic, offering everyday gamers the means to become a rock star. Not in reality, but try telling that anyone who has mastered Free Bird’s lengthy instrumental break in front of an enthusiastic crowd of friends.
Developed by the developers, Guitar Hero gave players a guitar-shaped controller to match coloured notes scrolling down the screen in time with a song. Every sequence mimicked particular chords, creating the feel of an authentic live show.
The studio previously experimented with rhythm games prior to teaming up with RedOctane, later purchased by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they laid the groundwork for an unlikely massively profitable series that had a significant impact for many of the artists featured, introducing decades-old groups to millions of gaming enthusiasts.
Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, recalls the initial budgetary hurdles of licensing the recordings – despite the fact initial releases mostly used cover versions.
“We rerecorded every song since the cost prohibitive,” he says. “Despite having the necessary permissions alone, it proved extremely difficult. We couldn’t get acts such as the Who – the publisher had virtually no money, and we were pretty convinced it would fail. But once Guitar Hero became a hit, album purchases airtime were going up, all artists desired to participate.”
He adds: “Among the amazing things was the number of parents got in touch and thanked us for introducing their children to the music they loved. It evolved into a multigenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Gains Younger Fans
Irish blues-rock band the Answer had Never Too Late in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician the artist remembers the way the game revived classic rock to the forefront: “Guitar Hero provided a bigger, younger audience. Generally such music was considered music that was past it, however once it got included in the game and teenagers were finding it, abruptly it was cool. That legitimised it, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It gave all our music renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the Answer’s first record remained unreleased in the US, so Guitar Hero was a key medium of discovery for the group during their US tour supporting the rock giants. “Their crew were playing the song on the tour bus, and several recognized us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Major Band Titles Enduring Impact
Music's biggest acts soon took advantage of the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in specialized game editions that focused on each band’s catalogue and related lore, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly to have made the band greater revenue compared to their studio albums. It moved more than half a million copies in its first week, and demand for their songs rose of up to 40% during an era when the music business was already collapsing.
The series continues to inspire quick-handed fanaticism within the community. Recently, an online personality completed a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s the challenging track – a notoriously difficult anthem popularized through the game – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical mechanics but an array of personalization features. The song is challenging even in expert mode, not to mention played at double speed while hitting every one of its near 4,000 notes. They claimed it took months of practice to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero offers a, imaginary experience. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to pick up a real gun and enlist,” notes musician Herman Li.
DragonForce had already completed a successful tour before Through the Fire and Flames was featured in the third game, yet he explains it made them widely recognized. “I recall our distributors informing us that our records were moving rapidly,” he says. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we were playing just before the headliners at the event.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure via the game proved so vast that it risked eclipsing everything else the band has done. Recently, the song was used in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I felt otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “If you only hear one DragonForce song, that's fine – everyone’s got their own path in music and I'm pleased we played a role in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Impact of a Plastic Guitar
Top-tier promotion, be it for cars, clothes or games, extends beyond than selling something – it inspires a longing. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “Precisely what our team aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of performing as a music icon on the stage. Since the beginning, the co-founders believed there’s an instinctive human desire to create songs, and they wanted to leverage innovation to enable everyone to participate”.
Most of Guitar Hero games were released 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. After that, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments waned, except for a brief comeback in 2015.
Games such as Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have maintained the community alive, with expectations of a new product from the original publisher in development. Recently formed developers has begun work on its debut music game. Original co-founders are both involved in advisory roles. Is the world ready to embrace another game following Guitar Hero?
“We thought such titles could be like Madden where you can releases,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant fresh tracks that it could be evergreen, so I’ve always been hopeful. It's entirely possible why it can’t continue for future fans.”
