It has been two decades after the legendary game first launched in North America, providing everyday gamers the opportunity to become a rock star. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing anyone who's nailed Free Bird’s lengthy guitar solo before a packed crowd of friends.
Developed by Harmonix, Guitar Hero gave players a guitar-shaped controller to match on-screen cues moving along the display synchronized to a song. Every sequence corresponded to specific notes, producing the sensation of an authentic performance.
Harmonix previously tried its hand in the music genre prior to teaming up with the publisher, which was purchased by Activision during the mid-2000s. Together, they laid the foundations for a surprising massively profitable series that had a significant influence for many musicians featured, showcasing classic groups to a new generation of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, recalls the initial financial challenges in securing the songs – despite the fact initial releases mostly used cover versions.
“We rerecorded all the music because the dollar figure prohibitive,” he explains. “Even with the publishing rights alone, it proved extremely difficult. We failed to secure acts such as the Who – RedOctane had virtually no money, and we were fairly certain the project would flop. But once Guitar Hero became a hit, album purchases and radio play were going up, all artists desired to be in.”
He continues: “One of the amazing things was the number of parents reached out and thanked us for introducing their children to the songs they adored. It evolved into an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Finds Younger Fans
Northern Irish blues-rock band one featured act included their track on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician the artist remembers how the series revived classic rock back into vogue: “The game provided a bigger, new demographic. Generally this had been seen as music that was past it, however once it got included in the title and teenagers discovered it, abruptly it was cool. This validated it, and got rid of the outdated label. It gave all our music a new life.”
In 2008, the Answer’s first record remained unreleased in the US, so Guitar Hero served as a primary platform of discovery for the group during their US tour supporting AC/DC. “Their crew had on the song during travel, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Major Band Spin-offs Enduring Influence
Music's heavyweight names soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in specialized spin-off titles centered around each band’s catalogue and associated lore, visuals and legendary status. For example, the Aerosmith edition, it was said to have made the band greater revenue than any of their records. It sold well over half a million units in its first week, while demand for their songs saw an increase of up to 40% at a time as the industry faced decline.
Guitar Hero still motivates quick-handed dedication among its fans. Earlier this year, a streamer completed a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult power-metal song made popular by the game – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with almost identical gameplay but an array of personalization features. The song is difficult enough on expert mode, let alone played at increased tempo and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. They claimed it took months of practice of practice.
“Guitar Hero offers a, imaginary experience. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to use actual weapons and go to war,” says DragonForce guitarist the artist.
DragonForce previously wrapped up a successful tour before Through the Fire and Flames appeared in the third game, but Li says it turned them into a household name. “I remember our distributors calling to tell me that our selling albums rapidly,” he shares. “It exploded when we next toured, and we performed right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it risked overshadow everything else the band has done. Last year, the track featured in a trailer for a major film. “In the past I thought otherwise, but now I accept it,” Li says. “If you only hear a single track, it’s totally cool – each person has their own path in music and I'm pleased we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Impact of a Plastic Guitar
Top-tier marketing, be it for cars, clothes or video games, goes further than selling something – it inspires a desire. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “Precisely what we were trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of being a rock star in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the co-founders felt that there’s an instinctive urge to create songs, and their goal was to use technology to allow people to do it”.
The majority installments were released in just a five-year period from 2005 to 2010, including derivative titles such as DJ Hero, including a turntable controller, and Band Hero. Subsequently, corporate focus on peripherals waned, aside from a brief comeback in 2015.
Games such as the fan project and newer releases have maintained the community alive, with set to be a new product from the original publisher on the way. Recently formed developers has begun work on its debut music game. The initial creators are participating as special advisers. Is the world ready to embrace another game following the classic?
“We thought such titles could be similar to sports games allowing annual update every year,” he remarks. “There’s so much new music that it could be perennially popular, so I’ve always been hopeful. There’s no reason for it to continue with new generations.”
