It has been 20 years after the legendary game first launched across the Atlantic, giving players everywhere the opportunity to feel like rock legends. Not in reality, but try convincing someone who's mastered the epic lengthy guitar solo before an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by Harmonix, Guitar Hero provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to match coloured notes scrolling down the display in time with a song. Every sequence mimicked specific notes, creating the feel of an authentic performance.
Harmonix had already experimented with rhythm games before partnering with the publisher, which was purchased by the gaming giant in 2006. Collaboratively, they laid the groundwork for a surprising billion-dollar series that had a remarkable influence on numerous of the artists included, introducing classic bands to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO from the developer, recalls the initial budgetary hurdles of licensing the songs – even though initial releases mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced all the music because the cost was so high,” he explains. “Despite having the publishing rights by themselves, it proved nearly impossible. We couldn’t get acts such as the Who – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were fairly certain it would fail. However, when Guitar Hero took off, and record sales and radio play increased, all artists desired to be in.”
He adds: “Among the remarkable aspects was the number of parents reached out expressing gratitude for introducing their children to the songs they adored. It became an intergenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Finds a New Audience
Northern Irish group the Answer included their track on the 2008 game the popular installment. Lead musician the artist remembers how the series revived older hits to the forefront: “The game offered a larger, younger audience. Typically this had been seen as music that was past it, but then once it got included in the game young people were finding it, suddenly it became trendy. This validated it, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ label. It gave our catalog renewed popularity.”
At that time, the Answer’s debut album remained not available stateside, meaning Guitar Hero was a key medium of discovery for the group during their a North American tour supporting AC/DC. “The roadies were playing Never Too Late on the tour bus, and some of them recognized us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Major Band Titles Enduring Influence
Music's heavyweight names quickly took advantage of the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in dedicated game editions centered around their music collections and associated lore, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly to have made the band greater revenue compared to their studio albums. It sold well over half a million units upon release, and demand for their songs rose significantly during an era when the music business was already collapsing.
The series continues to inspire nimble-fingered fanaticism within the community. Recently, an online personality completed a remarkable feat featuring the challenging track – a notoriously difficult anthem popularized through the game – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with similar mechanics and extensive customisation options. The song is difficult even in expert mode, not to mention performed at increased tempo and without missing a single one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer claimed it took nine months to accomplish.
“The game offers a, fantasy thing. Just as with other games, it doesn't imply you should use actual weapons and go to war,” notes DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
The band had already wrapped up a successful tour when Through the Fire and Flames was featured in the third game, yet he explains it turned them into widely recognized. “I recall the record label informing us that we were selling albums like crazy,” he shares. “It exploded when we next toured, and we were playing 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 eclipsing everything else accomplishments. Recently, the track was used in a trailer for a major film. “In the past I felt differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “If you only hear one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got a unique path in music and I'm pleased we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
Enduring Impact of a Iconic Controller
Top-tier promotion, be it for automobiles, apparel or video games, goes further than selling something – it evokes a desire. Was the game able to tap into that? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of performing as a rock star on the stage. Since the beginning, the co-founders believed there’s an instinctive urge to make music, and their goal was to leverage innovation to enable everyone to participate”.
Most of Guitar Hero games were released in just a half-decade from 2005 to 2010, including spin-offs like the DJ version, including a turntable controller, and Band Hero. After that, corporate focus in plastic instruments waned, aside from a short-lived revival several years later.
Titles like Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have maintained the community alive, and there’s set to be something from the founders in development. A new studio has begun production on their first music game. Original co-founders are both involved in advisory roles. Is the world ready to embrace a new entry in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“We thought such titles might become like Madden where you can releases,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant fresh tracks it could remain evergreen, so I’ve always been hopeful. It's entirely possible why it can’t persist with new generations.”
