It has been two decades since the legendary game debuted in North America, offering everyday gamers the opportunity to become a rock star. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that anyone who has mastered the epic four-minute instrumental break before a packed living-room audience.
Developed by the developers, the game gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to follow coloured notes moving along the display in time with a song. Each riff corresponded to particular chords, creating the sensation of a genuine live show.
The studio had already experimented in the music genre before partnering with RedOctane, later acquired by the gaming giant in 2006. Collaboratively, they established the foundations for a surprising massively profitable franchise that had a remarkable influence on numerous musicians featured, introducing classic bands to millions of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, remembers the early financial challenges of licensing the songs – despite the fact initial releases mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded all the music since the dollar figure prohibitive,” he explains. “Even with the publishing rights alone, it proved nearly impossible. We couldn’t get bands like the Who – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was pretty convinced the project would flop. However, when the game took off, and record sales and radio play increased, everyone wanted to be in.”
He continues: “One of the remarkable aspects was the number of parents reached out expressing gratitude for introducing their children to the music they loved. It became an intergenerational thing.”
Timeless Music Finds a New Audience
Irish group the Answer had Never Too Late in the 2008 release the popular installment. Lead musician the artist recalls the way the game revived classic rock back into vogue: “Guitar Hero provided a larger, new demographic. Typically such music was considered music that was past it, however when it was featured on the game and teenagers discovered it, suddenly it was cool. This validated the genre, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It gave our catalog renewed popularity.”
At that time, the Answer’s first record was still not available in the US, so the game served as a primary platform of discovery for the group as they went on US tour opening for AC/DC. “The roadies had on the song during travel, and several recognized us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs and Lasting Influence
Rock’s heavyweight names quickly took advantage of the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in specialized spin-off titles centered around each band’s catalogue and related lore, imagery and legendary status. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly to have made the group greater revenue compared to their studio albums. It moved well over half a million units upon release, while sales of their songs saw an increase of up to 40% at a time as the industry was already collapsing.
The series still motivates nimble-fingered fanaticism within the community. Recently, a streamer achieved a remarkable feat featuring Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough power-metal song popularized through the game – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical gameplay and extensive personalization features. This track is difficult even in the hardest setting, not to mention played at increased tempo and without missing a single one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer stated requiring nine months to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you ought to use a real gun and enlist,” notes DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
DragonForce had already wrapped up a profitable run when their hit was featured on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it made them widely recognized. “I remember the record label informing us that we were records were moving like crazy,” he shares. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we were playing just before top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure via the game proved so vast that it threatened to overshadow all other the band has done. Last year, the song featured in a trailer for a major film. “Previously I felt differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “Should you just listen to one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – each person has a unique musical journey and I’m glad we played a role in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Impact of a Plastic Guitar
The best marketing, be it for cars, apparel or video games, goes further than selling something – it evokes a longing. Was the game able to harness this? “Precisely what we were aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “That thrill of performing as a music icon on the stage. From day one, the creators felt that humans have a natural human desire to create songs, and they wanted to use technology to enable everyone to do it”.
Most of Guitar Hero games were released over a mere half-decade from 2005 to 2010, including derivative titles like the DJ version, complete with a spinning deck, and Band Hero. Subsequently, corporate focus on peripherals waned, aside from a short-lived revival in 2015.
Games such as the fan project and Fortnite Festival have maintained the scene alive, with expectations of something from the founders in development. Recently formed developers has begun production on their first rhythm-based title. The initial creators are participating in advisory roles. Are gamers ready to embrace another game in the spirit of the classic?
“We thought those games might become like Madden where you can update every year,” he remarks. “There’s so much new music that it could be perennially popular, so I’ve always been optimistic. There’s no reason for it to persist for future fans.”
