Marking two decades after Guitar Hero hit the market across the Atlantic, providing everyday gamers the opportunity to feel like rock legends. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing anyone who's nailed Free Bird’s lengthy guitar solo before an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by the developers, the game gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to match coloured notes scrolling down the screen synchronized to the music. Each riff corresponded to particular chords, producing the sensation of an authentic performance.
The studio previously experimented in the music genre prior to teaming up with RedOctane, later acquired by the gaming giant in 2006. Together, they established the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar franchise that had a significant influence for many of the artists featured, introducing classic bands to millions of gaming enthusiasts.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO of Harmonix, recalls the initial financial challenges of licensing the recordings – even though initial releases mostly used cover versions.
“We reproduced all the music because the dollar figure prohibitive,” he explains. “Even with the necessary permissions by themselves, it proved nearly impossible. We failed to secure acts such as the Who – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was pretty convinced the project would flop. But once the game took off, and record sales and radio play increased, everyone wanted to be in.”
He continues: “Among the amazing things was the number of parents got in touch expressing gratitude for introducing their children to the songs they loved. It evolved into an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Gains a New Audience
Irish group the Answer had Never Too Late on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist the artist remembers how the series revived classic rock back into vogue: “Guitar Hero offered a larger, new demographic. Generally such music was considered outdated material, however when it was included in the game young people were finding it, abruptly it was cool. That legitimised it, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ tag. It gave our catalog a new life.”
At that time, the band's debut album was still unreleased in the US, so the game served as a primary platform for exposure for the group during their US tour opening for the rock giants. “Their crew were playing the song on the tour bus, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Major Band Titles and Lasting Impact
Rock’s heavyweight names quickly took advantage of the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in dedicated spin-off titles that focused on each band’s catalogue and related lore, visuals and legendary status. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said to have made the band more money than any of their records. It sold more than half a million units in its first week, and sales of their songs rose significantly during an era when the music business faced decline.
Guitar Hero still motivates nimble-fingered fanaticism within the community. Earlier this year, a streamer completed an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough anthem made popular by the game – using a fan-made version, a no-cost alternative with almost identical gameplay and extensive personalization features. The song is challenging enough on the hardest setting, let alone performed at double speed and without missing every one of the thousands of cues. They claimed it took nine months to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, imaginary experience. Just as with other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to use a real gun and enlist,” says musician Herman Li.
DragonForce previously completed a successful tour when their hit was featured in the third game, but Li says it turned them into a household name. “I recall our distributors calling to tell me that we were selling albums rapidly,” he shares. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we performed just before the headliners at the event.”
In fact, the band's visibility via the game was so immense that it has risked overshadow all other accomplishments. Recently, the song was used in promotional material for a major film. “Previously I thought differently, but now I accept it,” Li says. “Should you just listen to one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got a unique path in music and I'm pleased we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Legacy of a Plastic Guitar
Top-tier marketing, whether it’s for automobiles, clothes or video games, goes further than selling something – it evokes a longing. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “Precisely what we were trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of being a music icon on the stage. From day one, the co-founders believed humans have a natural human desire to create songs, and they wanted to leverage innovation to allow people to participate”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games were released in just a half-decade between 2005 and 2010, featuring derivative titles like DJ Hero, complete with a turntable controller, and Band Hero. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments died down, aside from a brief comeback several years later.
Titles such as Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have maintained the community alive, with set to be something from the original publisher on the way. A new studio has entered work on their first music game. Original co-founders are both involved in advisory roles. Is the world ready to embrace a new entry in the spirit of the classic?
“We thought such titles could be like Madden where you can releases,” he remarks. “There’s so much fresh tracks it could remain evergreen, thus I remain optimistic. There’s no reason why it can’t continue for future fans.”
