Marking 20 years since Guitar Hero hit the market in North America, offering players everywhere the tools to become a rock star. Not in reality, but try telling that anyone who has nailed Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo in front of a packed living-room audience.
Created by the developers, Guitar Hero gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to follow coloured notes scrolling down the screen in time with a song. Every sequence corresponded to particular chords, producing the feel of an authentic live show.
Harmonix had already experimented with rhythm games prior to teaming up with RedOctane, later acquired by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for a surprising billion-dollar series that had a significant impact on numerous of the artists featured, introducing decades-old bands to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO from the developer, remembers the early budgetary hurdles of licensing the songs – even though initial releases primarily featured cover versions.
“We rerecorded all the music because the cost prohibitive,” he explains. “Despite having the publishing rights by themselves, it was extremely difficult. We couldn’t get acts such as legendary groups – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was fairly certain the project would flop. However, when Guitar Hero became a hit, and record sales and radio play increased, all artists desired to be in.”
He continues: “One of the remarkable aspects was the number of parents reached out expressing gratitude for introducing their children to the music they loved. It became a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Finds a New Audience
Northern Irish group the Answer had Never Too Late on the 2008 game the popular installment. Guitarist the artist recalls how the series revived older hits back into vogue: “The game provided a larger, younger audience. Typically such music was considered outdated material, but then once it got included in the title young people were finding it, abruptly it was cool. This validated it, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ label. It provided all our music a new life.”
In 2008, the Answer’s first record remained not available stateside, so the game served as a primary platform of discovery for the group as they went on US tour opening for the rock giants. “Their crew had on the song during travel, and some of them knew us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles Enduring Influence
Music's biggest acts soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in specialized spin-off titles centered around each band’s catalogue and associated lore, imagery and legendary status. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said to have made the group greater revenue than any of their records. It moved well over half a million units upon release, and sales of Aerosmith’s music saw an increase significantly 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 Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough power-metal song popularized through the game – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with similar mechanics and extensive customisation options. This track is difficult even in expert mode, let alone performed at double speed while hitting every one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer stated it took nine months to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero offers a, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you ought to pick up a real gun and go to war,” notes musician the artist.
The band had already completed a successful tour before their hit appeared in the third game, but Li says it turned them into a household name. “I recall the record label informing us that we were records were moving rapidly,” he says. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we performed just before top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, the band's visibility via the game proved so vast that it has threatened to overshadow all other the band has done. Last year, the song was used in promotional material for a major film. “Previously I thought differently, but now I accept it,” he admits. “Should you just hear one DragonForce song, that's fine – each person has a unique musical journey and I’m glad we played a role in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Impact of a Plastic Guitar
The best marketing, whether it’s for cars, clothes or games, goes further than selling something – it inspires a longing. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “Precisely what our team trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a music icon in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the co-founders believed humans have a natural urge to make music, and they wanted to leverage innovation to enable everyone to do it”.
Most of Guitar Hero games came out in just a half-decade from 2005 to 2010, featuring derivative titles like the DJ version, complete with a turntable controller, and Band Hero. Subsequently, corporate focus in plastic instruments waned, aside from a brief comeback in 2015.
Games like the fan project and Fortnite Festival have kept the scene active, and there’s expectations of something from the original publisher in development. A new studio has begun work on their first music game. Original co-founders are both involved as special advisers. Are gamers ready to embrace a new entry in the spirit of the classic?
“Our team believed those games could be like Madden where you can update every year,” he remarks. “There’s so much fresh tracks that it could be perennially popular, thus I remain hopeful. There’s no reason for it to continue with new generations.”
