Marking 20 years since the legendary game hit the market in North America, providing everyday gamers the means to become a rock star. Not literally, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing someone who's mastered the epic four-minute guitar solo before an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Developed by the developers, Guitar Hero gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to follow on-screen cues scrolling down the screen in time with the music. Every sequence corresponded to particular chords, producing the feel of a genuine performance.
The studio had already experimented in the music genre prior to teaming up with RedOctane, later acquired by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Together, they established the foundations for a surprising massively profitable franchise which made a remarkable impact on numerous musicians featured, showcasing classic bands to a new generation of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, remembers the early financial challenges in securing the recordings – even though initial releases primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced all the music because the cost was so high,” he explains. “Despite having the necessary permissions by themselves, it was nearly impossible. We couldn’t get acts such as the Who – the publisher had virtually no money, and we were fairly certain it would fail. However, when Guitar Hero took off, album purchases airtime were going up, all artists desired to be in.”
He continues: “One of the amazing things was how many parents got in touch expressing gratitude for introducing their kids to the songs they loved. It evolved into an intergenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Finds Younger Fans
Northern Irish group the Answer had their track on the 2008 game the popular installment. Guitarist the artist remembers the way the game brought classic rock to the forefront: “The game offered a larger, new demographic. Typically this had been seen as music that was past it, but then once it got included in the game and teenagers were finding it, abruptly it became trendy. This validated the genre, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It provided our catalog renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the band's debut album remained not available stateside, so the game was a key medium of discovery for the group as they went on a North American tour supporting the rock giants. “The roadies had on Never Too Late on the tour bus, and several recognized us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.
Major Band Spin-offs Enduring Impact
Rock’s heavyweight names quickly capitalised on the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in specialized game editions centered around each band’s catalogue and related stories, imagery and legendary status. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, it was said to have made the band greater revenue compared to their studio albums. It sold more than half a million copies upon release, while demand for their songs saw an increase of up to 40% during an era when the music business was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire quick-handed fanaticism within the community. Recently, an online personality achieved 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 mechanics but an array of customisation options. The song is difficult even in the hardest setting, not to mention performed at increased tempo and without missing a single one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer claimed requiring months of practice of practice.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, imaginary experience. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to use actual weapons and enlist,” says DragonForce guitarist the artist.
DragonForce had already completed a profitable run when their hit was featured in the third game, yet he explains it made them a household name. “I remember our distributors informing us that our selling albums like crazy,” he says. “It exploded when we next toured, and we performed just before the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure via the game proved so vast that it threatened to overshadow everything else accomplishments. Recently, the track was used in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I felt otherwise, but now I accept it,” he admits. “Should you just listen to a single track, that's fine – everyone’s got their own path in music and I’m glad we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Impact from the Iconic Controller
The best promotion, whether it’s for cars, clothes or games, goes further mere transactions – it evokes a longing. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “Precisely what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a music icon in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the co-founders believed there’s an instinctive human desire to create songs, and their goal was to use technology to enable everyone to participate”.
Most of Guitar Hero games came out in just a five-year period from 2005 to 2010, including derivative titles like DJ Hero, including a turntable controller, and Band Hero. After that, corporate focus on peripherals died down, aside from a brief comeback several years later.
Titles like Clone Hero and newer releases have maintained the scene alive, with expectations of something from the original publisher in development. A new studio has begun production on its debut music game. Original co-founders are participating in advisory roles. Is the world prepared to welcome a new entry following Guitar Hero?
“We thought such titles could be like Madden allowing annual releases,” he remarks. “With abundant new music that it could be evergreen, thus I remain hopeful. It's entirely possible why it can’t persist with new generations.”
