Marking two decades since the legendary game first launched in North America, giving players everywhere the means to become rock legends. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing anyone who's nailed the epic lengthy instrumental break in front of a packed living-room audience.
Created by the developers, the game gave players a guitar-shaped controller to match coloured notes moving along the screen in time with a song. Each riff corresponded to specific notes, producing the feel of an authentic performance.
The studio had already experimented in the music genre before partnering with RedOctane, later purchased by Activision in 2006. Together, they laid the foundations for an unlikely massively profitable franchise which made a significant impact on numerous of the artists featured, introducing classic bands to millions of younger players.
A former executive, former COO of Harmonix, recalls the initial budgetary hurdles in securing the recordings – even though initial releases mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced every song since the dollar figure was so high,” he says. “Even with the necessary permissions alone, it proved nearly impossible. We couldn’t get acts such as the Who – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were pretty convinced the project would flop. But once Guitar Hero took off, album purchases and radio play were going up, everyone wanted to be in.”
He adds: “Among the amazing things was the number of parents got in touch expressing gratitude for introducing their children to the music they adored. It became an intergenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Finds a New Audience
Irish group one featured act had Never Too Late on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician the artist remembers how the series brought classic rock to the forefront: “The game offered a bigger, younger audience. Typically such music was considered outdated material, but then once it got included in the title young people were finding it, suddenly it was cool. This validated the genre, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ label. It provided our catalog renewed popularity.”
At that time, the Answer’s debut album was still unreleased stateside, meaning the game served as a primary platform of discovery for the band as they went on US tour opening for AC/DC. “Their crew had on Never Too Late on the tour bus, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Major Band Spin-offs and Lasting Influence
Music's heavyweight names quickly capitalised on the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in specialized spin-off titles centered around each band’s catalogue and associated lore, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly earned the group greater revenue than any of their records. It sold well over 500,000 copies in its first week, and demand for Aerosmith’s music saw an increase of up to 40% at a time when the music business faced decline.
Guitar Hero still motivates nimble-fingered dedication among its fans. Earlier this year, an online personality completed a remarkable feat featuring the challenging track – an infamously tough power-metal song made popular by Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with similar gameplay and extensive personalization features. The song is difficult even in the hardest setting, not to mention played at double speed while hitting every one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer stated requiring months of practice to accomplish.
“The game offers a, fantasy thing. Just as with Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you should pick up a real gun and enlist,” notes DragonForce guitarist the artist.
The band previously completed a profitable run when Through the Fire and Flames was featured on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it made them a household name. “I recall our distributors calling to tell me that we were records were moving rapidly,” he shares. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we were playing right ahead of the headliners at the event.”
Indeed, the band's visibility via the game was so immense that it threatened to eclipsing all other accomplishments. Last year, the track was used in promotional material for a major film. “In the past I thought differently, but now I accept it,” he admits. “If you only listen to one DragonForce song, that's fine – each person has their own musical journey and I’m glad we played a role in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Impact from the Plastic Guitar
Top-tier promotion, be it for cars, apparel or games, goes further than selling something – it evokes a desire. Was the game able to harness this? “That’s exactly what our team aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “That thrill of performing as a music icon on the stage. From day one, the creators felt that there’s an instinctive 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 five-year period from 2005 to 2010, including derivative titles like DJ Hero, including a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, corporate focus on peripherals died down, except for a brief comeback in 2015.
Games such as Clone Hero and newer releases have kept the community active, with expectations of something from the original publisher in development. Recently formed developers has begun work on its debut rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are participating as special advisers. Are gamers prepared to welcome another game in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“We thought those games could be like Madden where you can update every year,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much new music it could remain perennially popular, so I’ve always been hopeful. There’s no reason why it can’t continue for future fans.”
