It has been 20 years since the legendary game hit the market across the Atlantic, offering everyday gamers the tools to become rock legends. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that anyone who's mastered the epic four-minute guitar solo in front of a packed crowd of friends.
Created by Harmonix, Guitar Hero provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to match on-screen cues moving along the display synchronized to a song. Each riff corresponded to specific notes, producing the sensation of a genuine performance.
Harmonix had already tried its hand in the music genre before partnering with RedOctane, which was purchased by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they established the foundations for a surprising billion-dollar series that had a significant impact for many of the artists featured, showcasing decades-old groups to a new generation of younger players.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, recalls the initial budgetary hurdles in securing the recordings – even though the first two games primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced every song since the dollar figure was so high,” he explains. “Despite having the publishing rights alone, it proved nearly impossible. We couldn’t get bands like legendary groups – the publisher had virtually no money, and our team was fairly certain it would fail. However, when Guitar Hero took off, album purchases airtime increased, everyone wanted to be in.”
He continues: “One of the amazing things was how many mothers and fathers reached out and thanked us for exposing their children to the songs they adored. It became a multigenerational thing.”
Timeless Music Finds Younger Fans
Northern Irish group the Answer included their track on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician Paul Mahon recalls the way the game brought classic rock back into vogue: “The game provided a bigger, new demographic. Generally such music was seen as outdated material, but then once it got included in the title young people discovered it, abruptly it became trendy. That legitimised the genre, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ label. It gave our catalog a new life.”
At that time, the band's first record remained not available stateside, so Guitar Hero served as a primary platform for exposure for the group as they went on a North American tour supporting AC/DC. “The roadies were playing Never Too Late on the tour bus, and several knew us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.
Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs Enduring Influence
Music's biggest acts quickly capitalised on the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in dedicated spin-off titles that focused on their music collections and associated lore, imagery and legendary status. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said to have made the group more money compared to their records. It moved well over 500,000 units upon release, while demand for their songs rose significantly at a time as the industry faced decline.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire quick-handed fanaticism within the community. Recently, an online personality achieved an impressive attempt featuring Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult power-metal song popularized through the game – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with similar mechanics and extensive customisation options. The song is challenging even in the hardest setting, not to mention played at increased tempo while hitting every one of its near 4,000 notes. They stated it took nine months to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero offers a, fantasy thing. Just as with Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you ought to pick up a real gun and go to war,” notes DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
The band previously completed a profitable run before Through the Fire and Flames appeared on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it turned them into a household name. “I recall the record label informing us that we were records were moving like crazy,” he says. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we performed right ahead of the headliners at the event.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure via the game proved so vast that it risked overshadow everything else accomplishments. Recently, the song was used in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I thought otherwise, but now I accept it,” he admits. “If you only hear a single track, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got a unique musical journey and I'm pleased we played a role in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Impact of a Plastic Guitar
Top-tier promotion, be it for cars, apparel or video games, goes further mere transactions – it inspires a longing. Was the game able to tap into that? “That’s exactly what our team aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a music icon in the spotlight. From day one, the creators felt that there’s an instinctive human desire to create songs, and they wanted to leverage innovation to allow people to do it”.
Most installments came out over a mere half-decade between 2005 and 2010, featuring derivative titles like the DJ version, complete with a turntable controller, and Band Hero. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest on peripherals died down, aside from a brief comeback several years later.
Games like the fan project and Fortnite Festival have kept the community alive, and there’s expectations of something from the original publisher on the way. A new studio has entered work on their first music game. Original co-founders are both involved in advisory roles. Are gamers ready to embrace another game following the classic?
“We thought those games could be similar to sports games where you can releases,” he remarks. “There’s so much new music that it could be evergreen, thus I remain hopeful. There’s no reason why it can’t continue with new generations.”
