It has been two decades after Guitar Hero first launched in North America, providing everyday gamers the means to become a rock star. Not literally, but try telling that anyone who's nailed Free Bird’s four-minute instrumental break in front of a packed crowd of friends.
Developed by Harmonix, Guitar Hero provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to follow coloured notes scrolling down the display synchronized to a song. Each riff mimicked particular chords, creating the feel of a genuine live show.
The studio previously experimented with rhythm games prior to teaming up with the publisher, which was acquired by the gaming giant in 2006. Collaboratively, they laid the groundwork for an unlikely massively profitable franchise that had a significant impact for many of the artists included, introducing classic groups to a new generation of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO from the developer, recalls the early financial challenges of licensing the songs – even though the first two games mostly used cover versions.
“We rerecorded every song since the dollar figure was so high,” he explains. “Despite having the necessary permissions alone, it proved extremely difficult. We couldn’t get acts such as legendary groups – RedOctane had virtually no money, and our team was fairly certain it would fail. But once Guitar Hero became a hit, and record sales and radio play were going up, everyone wanted to participate.”
He adds: “Among the remarkable aspects was how many parents got in touch and thanked us for exposing their children to the songs they loved. It became a multigenerational thing.”
Timeless Music Finds a New Audience
Irish blues-rock band one featured act included Never Too Late on the 2008 game the popular installment. Guitarist Paul Mahon recalls the way the game brought classic rock to the forefront: “The game offered a larger, younger audience. Typically such music was considered outdated material, however when it was included in the game and teenagers discovered it, abruptly it was cool. This validated the genre, and got rid of the outdated label. It provided our catalog renewed popularity.”
At that time, the Answer’s debut album remained unreleased stateside, so the game was a key medium for exposure for the band during their US tour supporting the rock giants. “Their crew were playing the song on the tour bus, and some of them recognized us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Major Band Spin-offs Enduring Impact
Rock’s heavyweight names quickly took advantage of the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in dedicated game editions that focused on each band’s catalogue and related stories, visuals and legendary status. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, it was said to have made the group greater revenue than any of their studio albums. It sold more than half a million units upon release, while sales of their songs rose significantly at a time when the music business faced decline.
The series still motivates quick-handed fanaticism among its fans. Earlier this year, a streamer completed an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s the challenging track – an infamously tough anthem popularized through Guitar Hero – using a fan-made version, a no-cost alternative with similar gameplay but an array of customisation options. This track is difficult enough on expert mode, let alone performed at double speed and without missing every one of the thousands of cues. They claimed requiring nine months to accomplish.
“The game offers a, imaginary experience. Just as with other games, it doesn't imply you should pick up actual weapons and go to war,” notes DragonForce guitarist the artist.
The band previously completed a profitable run before their hit appeared on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it turned them into a household name. “I recall our distributors informing us that our selling albums like crazy,” he says. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we performed just before the headliners at the event.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it threatened to eclipsing all other accomplishments. Recently, the track was used in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I felt differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “Should you just listen to a single track, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got a unique musical journey and I’m glad we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Impact of a Plastic Guitar
The best marketing, be it for automobiles, apparel or video games, goes further than selling something – it evokes a longing. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “That’s exactly what our team trying to create,” he confirms. “The excitement of being a music icon on the stage. From day one, the creators believed there’s an instinctive urge to make music, and they wanted to leverage innovation to enable everyone to do it”.
The majority installments came out in just a five-year period between 2005 and 2010, including spin-offs like the DJ version, including a turntable controller, and Band Hero. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments died down, except for a short-lived revival in 2015.
Titles like Clone Hero and newer releases have maintained the community alive, and there’s set to be something from the original publisher in development. Recently formed developers has entered work on its debut music game. The initial creators are both involved in advisory roles. Is the world ready to embrace another game following the classic?
“Our team believed such titles might become similar to sports games where you can update every year,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much fresh tracks that it could be perennially popular, thus I remain hopeful. It's entirely possible for it to persist for future fans.”
