Marking two decades after Guitar Hero first launched across the Atlantic, offering players everywhere the means to feel like rock legends. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that anyone who's nailed the epic four-minute instrumental break before an enthusiastic crowd of friends.
Created by Harmonix, the game gave players a guitar-shaped controller to follow on-screen cues moving along the screen in time with a song. Each riff corresponded to particular chords, producing the sensation of a genuine performance.
The studio previously experimented with rhythm games before partnering with the publisher, later acquired by Activision during the mid-2000s. Together, they laid the foundations for an unlikely massively profitable series that had a significant impact on numerous musicians included, introducing decades-old groups to a new generation of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, remembers the early budgetary hurdles in securing the recordings – even though initial releases mostly used cover versions.
“We rerecorded every song since the dollar figure prohibitive,” he explains. “Even with the publishing rights by themselves, it was nearly impossible. We failed to secure acts such as legendary groups – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was fairly certain it would fail. However, when the game became a hit, album purchases airtime were going up, everyone wanted to participate.”
He continues: “Among the amazing things was the number of parents reached out and thanked us for exposing their children to the music they adored. It evolved into an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Finds Younger Fans
Northern Irish blues-rock band the Answer included their track on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician Paul Mahon recalls the way the game brought older hits to the forefront: “Guitar Hero offered a bigger, younger audience. Generally this had been considered music that was past it, but then once it got included in the game young people discovered it, abruptly it was cool. That legitimised the genre, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ label. It gave our catalog a new life.”
In 2008, the Answer’s first record was still unreleased in the US, so Guitar Hero served as a primary platform of discovery for the band as they went on a North American tour opening for AC/DC. “Their crew had on Never Too Late during travel, and some of them recognized us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.
Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs and Lasting Impact
Rock’s heavyweight names soon took advantage of the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in dedicated game editions that focused on their music collections and associated lore, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, the Aerosmith edition, it was said earned the group greater revenue compared to their studio albums. It moved more than 500,000 copies in its first week, and sales of their songs rose of up to 40% at a time as the industry faced decline.
The series continues to inspire quick-handed dedication among its fans. Earlier this year, an online personality completed a remarkable feat featuring the challenging track – a notoriously difficult power-metal song popularized through Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical mechanics but an array of customisation options. The song is difficult even in expert mode, not to mention performed at double speed while hitting a single one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer stated it took nine months of practice.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, fantasy thing. Just as with other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to pick up a real gun and go to war,” says DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
DragonForce had already wrapped up a profitable run before their hit was featured on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it made them widely recognized. “I remember our distributors informing us that we were selling albums rapidly,” he says. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we were playing right ahead of top acts at the event.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure via the game was so immense that it risked eclipsing everything else accomplishments. Recently, the song was used in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I thought differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “If you only hear a single track, it’s totally cool – each person has their own musical journey and I’m glad we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Legacy of a Plastic Guitar
The best marketing, whether it’s for automobiles, clothes or games, goes further than selling something – it evokes a longing. Was the game able to tap into that? “Precisely what we were trying to create,” he confirms. “The excitement of being a rock star on the stage. Since the beginning, the creators felt that there’s an instinctive human desire to make music, and their goal was to use technology to allow people to do it”.
Most installments were released in just a half-decade from 2005 to 2010, including spin-offs like DJ Hero, complete with a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, corporate focus on peripherals died down, except for a brief comeback in 2015.
Titles such as the fan project and Fortnite Festival have kept the scene active, with expectations of something from the original publisher in development. Recently formed developers has begun work on its debut rhythm-based title. The initial creators are participating in advisory roles. Are gamers prepared to welcome a new entry following Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed such titles might become like Madden where you can releases,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much fresh tracks that it could be evergreen, so I’ve always been optimistic. It's entirely possible why it can’t persist for future fans.”
