Marking two decades since Guitar Hero first launched in North America, providing players everywhere the means to feel like a rock star. Figuratively speaking, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that anyone who has mastered Free Bird’s lengthy guitar solo in front of a packed crowd of friends.
Created by the developers, Guitar Hero provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to match coloured notes moving along the display in time with the music. Each riff corresponded to specific notes, producing the sensation of a genuine performance.
Harmonix previously experimented with rhythm games prior to teaming up with the publisher, which was acquired by Activision in 2006. Together, they laid the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar franchise that had a remarkable impact on numerous of the artists featured, showcasing classic bands to millions of gaming enthusiasts.
Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, recalls the early financial challenges of licensing the songs – despite the fact initial releases mostly used cover versions.
“We rerecorded all the music since the dollar figure prohibitive,” he says. “Despite having the necessary permissions by themselves, it was nearly impossible. We couldn’t get acts such as the Who – the publisher had virtually no money, and we were pretty convinced it would fail. However, when Guitar Hero took off, and record sales and radio play increased, everyone wanted to be in.”
He adds: “Among the remarkable aspects was the number of parents reached out and thanked us for exposing their children to the music they adored. It became an intergenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Finds Younger Fans
Irish group the Answer included Never Too Late on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist the artist remembers how the series revived older hits to the forefront: “Guitar Hero provided a bigger, new demographic. Generally such music was seen as music that was past it, but then when it was featured on the title young people were finding it, suddenly it became trendy. This validated the genre, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ tag. It gave our catalog renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the Answer’s debut album was still unreleased in the US, meaning Guitar Hero was a key medium of discovery for the band during their a North American tour opening for the rock giants. “The roadies had on Never Too Late on the tour bus, and some of them recognized us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.
Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs Enduring Influence
Rock’s heavyweight names quickly took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in dedicated game editions centered around each band’s catalogue and associated stories, imagery and legendary status. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly to have made the group greater revenue than any of their records. It moved more than 500,000 units in its first week, and sales of Aerosmith’s music rose of up to 40% at a time as the industry was already collapsing.
The series still motivates quick-handed dedication within the community. Recently, an online personality completed a remarkable feat featuring Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult anthem popularized through the game – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with almost identical gameplay and extensive customisation options. This track is difficult enough on the hardest setting, not to mention performed at increased tempo and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. They stated requiring months of practice of practice.
“Guitar Hero offers a, fantasy thing. If you play other games, it doesn't imply you should use a real gun and go to war,” notes musician Herman Li.
DragonForce had already completed a profitable run when their hit was featured in the third game, but Li says it made them widely recognized. “I recall our distributors informing us that we were selling albums like crazy,” he says. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we performed right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero was so immense that it has threatened to overshadow all other the band has done. Recently, the song was used in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I thought otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “Should you just hear one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got a unique musical journey and I'm pleased we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Impact from the Plastic Guitar
The best promotion, be it for automobiles, clothes or games, extends beyond mere transactions – it inspires a desire. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “That’s exactly what we were trying to create,” he confirms. “The excitement of being a music icon on the stage. From day one, the co-founders felt that humans have a natural human desire to create songs, and their goal was to use technology to enable everyone to do it”.
Most of Guitar Hero games came out in just a five-year period between 2005 and 2010, including spin-offs such as the DJ version, including a spinning deck, and Band Hero. After that, the publisher’s interest on peripherals died down, except for a brief comeback in 2015.
Games such as Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have kept the scene alive, with set to be something from the founders in development. Recently formed developers has begun work on its debut music game. Original co-founders are both involved as special advisers. Is the world prepared to welcome another game following the classic?
“Our team believed such titles might become like Madden where you can releases,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant new music it could remain perennially popular, so I’ve always been optimistic. It's entirely possible for it to persist with new generations.”
