It has been two decades since the legendary game hit the market in North America, giving everyday gamers the tools to feel like rock legends. Figuratively speaking, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing anyone who has nailed Free Bird’s four-minute instrumental break in front of a packed crowd of friends.
Created by Harmonix, Guitar Hero provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to follow coloured notes scrolling down the display in time with the music. Each riff corresponded to particular chords, producing the feel of an authentic live show.
The studio had already experimented with rhythm games prior to teaming up with RedOctane, later acquired by Activision during the mid-2000s. Together, they laid the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar franchise that had a remarkable influence for many musicians included, introducing decades-old groups to millions of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, former COO from the developer, remembers the initial financial challenges of licensing the recordings – despite the fact initial releases primarily featured cover versions.
“We rerecorded every song since the cost was so high,” he explains. “Even with the necessary permissions by themselves, it proved extremely difficult. We couldn’t get acts such as legendary groups – the publisher had virtually no money, and we were fairly certain the project would flop. But once the game became a hit, album purchases and radio play were going up, all artists desired to participate.”
He adds: “One of the remarkable aspects was how many parents got in touch expressing gratitude for exposing their kids to the songs they loved. It became a multigenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Finds a New Audience
Northern Irish blues-rock band the Answer included their track in the 2008 release the popular installment. Guitarist the artist remembers how the series brought classic rock back into vogue: “The game offered a larger, new demographic. Generally this had been considered music that was past it, however when it was featured on the game young people discovered it, abruptly it became trendy. This validated the genre, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ tag. It gave all our music renewed popularity.”
At that time, the Answer’s first record remained not available stateside, so Guitar Hero was a key medium of discovery for the band as they went on a North American tour opening for AC/DC. “Their crew were playing Never Too Late during travel, and some of them knew us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles and Lasting Impact
Rock’s heavyweight names quickly took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in dedicated spin-off titles centered around each band’s catalogue and associated stories, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly to have made the band more money than any of their studio albums. It sold more than half a million copies in its first week, and sales of their songs saw an increase significantly at a time as the industry was already collapsing.
The series continues to inspire quick-handed dedication among its fans. Earlier this year, a streamer completed an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s the challenging track – an infamously tough power-metal song popularized through the game – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with similar mechanics and extensive personalization features. The song is difficult enough on expert mode, not to mention played at double speed while hitting a single one of the thousands of cues. The streamer stated requiring months of practice to accomplish.
“The game offers a, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you ought to use a real gun and enlist,” notes musician Herman Li.
The band had already wrapped up a profitable run before Through the Fire and Flames was featured on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it made them a household name. “I recall the record label informing us that our records were moving rapidly,” he says. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we performed right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, the band's visibility via the game was so immense that it risked overshadow everything else the band has done. Last year, the track was used in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I thought otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “If you only hear one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got a unique path in music and I’m glad we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Impact from the Iconic Controller
Top-tier marketing, be it for automobiles, apparel or video games, goes further mere transactions – it evokes a longing. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “Precisely what our team trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a music icon on the stage. Since the beginning, the co-founders felt that humans have a natural urge to create songs, and they wanted to use technology to enable everyone to participate”.
The majority installments were released in just a half-decade between 2005 and 2010, including spin-offs like DJ Hero, including a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. After that, corporate focus on peripherals died down, except for a brief comeback in 2015.
Games like Clone Hero and newer releases have kept the scene active, and there’s set to be a new product from the original publisher on the way. Recently formed developers has entered production on its debut rhythm-based title. The initial creators are participating as special advisers. Is the world prepared to welcome another game in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed such titles might become like Madden allowing annual releases,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant new music that it could be evergreen, thus I remain hopeful. It's entirely possible for it to persist for future fans.”
