It has been 20 years since the legendary game debuted across the Atlantic, offering everyday gamers the means to become rock legends. Not literally, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that anyone who has mastered Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo in front of an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by the developers, Guitar Hero gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to follow coloured notes moving along the screen in time with the music. Each riff mimicked particular chords, producing the feel of a genuine performance.
The studio had already 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 franchise which made a remarkable influence for many of the artists featured, introducing classic bands to a new generation of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO of Harmonix, recalls the early budgetary hurdles in securing the recordings – even though the first two games mostly used cover versions.
“We reproduced all the music since the dollar figure was so high,” he explains. “Despite having the necessary permissions by themselves, it proved extremely difficult. We couldn’t get bands like the Who – the publisher had virtually no money, and our team was pretty convinced the project would flop. But once Guitar Hero became a hit, and record sales airtime were going up, everyone wanted to participate.”
He continues: “One of the amazing things was how many parents got in touch and thanked us for exposing their children to the music they loved. It became an intergenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Finds Younger Fans
Irish blues-rock band one featured act had their track on the 2008 game the popular installment. Guitarist Paul Mahon recalls the way the game revived classic rock back into vogue: “The game provided a bigger, new demographic. Generally such music was seen as outdated material, however when it was featured on the game and teenagers discovered it, suddenly it became trendy. This validated the genre, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ label. It gave all our music renewed popularity.”
At that time, the band's first record remained not available stateside, so the game served as a primary platform of discovery for the group during their a North American tour supporting AC/DC. “The roadies had on the song during travel, and several recognized us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Major Band Spin-offs Enduring Impact
Rock’s heavyweight names soon took advantage of the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in specialized game editions that focused on their music collections and related stories, visuals and legendary status. For example, the Aerosmith edition, it was said to have made the band more money than any of their records. It sold more than half a million units upon release, while sales of their songs saw an increase of up to 40% during an era as the industry faced decline.
The series continues to inspire quick-handed dedication among its fans. Earlier this year, a streamer completed a remarkable feat featuring the challenging track – a notoriously difficult anthem made popular by the game – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with almost identical gameplay and extensive personalization features. The song is difficult enough on expert mode, not to mention played at double speed and without missing every one of its near 4,000 notes. They stated requiring months of practice to accomplish.
“The game is a fun, imaginary experience. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you should use actual weapons and go to war,” notes musician the artist.
The band previously completed a profitable run when Through the Fire and Flames appeared in the third game, yet he explains it made them a household name. “I remember the record label informing us that our records were moving rapidly,” he says. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we were playing right ahead of top acts at the event.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure via the game was so immense that it threatened to overshadow everything else accomplishments. Recently, the song featured in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I thought differently, but now I accept it,” Li says. “If you only listen to a single track, that's fine – each person has a unique path in music and I'm pleased we played a role of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Impact from the Plastic Guitar
The best promotion, whether it’s for cars, clothes or games, extends beyond than selling something – it inspires a longing. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a music icon on the stage. From day one, the creators believed there’s an instinctive human desire to create songs, and their goal was to use technology to enable everyone to participate”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games came out over a mere half-decade between 2005 and 2010, including derivative titles such as DJ Hero, complete with a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, corporate focus on peripherals died down, except for a short-lived revival several years later.
Titles like Clone Hero and newer releases have kept the scene active, and there’s expectations of a new product from the original publisher in development. A new studio has entered production on its debut music game. Original co-founders are participating as special advisers. Is the world prepared to welcome another game following Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed those games could be like Madden allowing annual update every year,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much fresh tracks it could remain perennially popular, thus I remain optimistic. It's entirely possible why it can’t continue with new generations.”
