It has been two decades since the legendary game debuted across the Atlantic, providing players everywhere the means to become a rock star. Not literally, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that anyone who has nailed the epic four-minute instrumental break in front of a packed crowd of friends.
Developed by the developers, Guitar Hero gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to follow coloured notes scrolling down the display in time with the music. Every sequence mimicked particular chords, producing the sensation of a genuine performance.
Harmonix previously tried its hand with rhythm games before partnering with the publisher, which was acquired by Activision in 2006. Together, they established the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar series that had a remarkable impact for many of the artists featured, showcasing classic bands to millions of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, former COO from the developer, remembers the early financial challenges of licensing the recordings – even though initial releases primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced all the music since the cost was so high,” he says. “Despite having the publishing rights by themselves, it proved nearly impossible. We couldn’t get acts such as legendary groups – RedOctane had virtually no money, and we were pretty convinced it would fail. But once Guitar Hero became a hit, album purchases and radio play increased, everyone wanted to be in.”
He continues: “Among the remarkable aspects was how many parents got in touch and thanked us for introducing their children to the music they loved. It became a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Gains Younger Fans
Irish blues-rock band one featured act included Never Too Late on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician Paul Mahon recalls how the series revived classic rock to the forefront: “The game offered a bigger, new demographic. Generally this had been seen as outdated material, however when it was featured on the title and teenagers were finding it, abruptly it was cool. That legitimised it, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It provided our catalog a new life.”
At that time, the band's first record remained not available in the US, so Guitar Hero served as a primary platform of discovery for the band as they went on US tour opening for AC/DC. “The roadies were playing Never Too Late during travel, and several knew us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Major Band Spin-offs Enduring Influence
Music's heavyweight names soon took advantage of the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in dedicated game editions that focused on each band’s catalogue and associated stories, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, the Aerosmith edition, it was said to have made the band more money compared to their records. It moved well over half a million units upon release, and sales of their songs rose significantly at a time as the industry was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire nimble-fingered fanaticism within the community. Earlier this year, an online personality achieved a remarkable feat featuring the challenging track – a notoriously difficult anthem made popular by the game – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with almost identical mechanics and extensive personalization features. The song is difficult even in expert mode, not to mention performed at increased tempo while hitting every one of the thousands of cues. They claimed requiring nine months to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero offers a, fantasy thing. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to use actual weapons and go to war,” says DragonForce guitarist the artist.
DragonForce previously completed a profitable run before their hit appeared on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it turned them into widely recognized. “I remember our distributors informing us that our records were moving rapidly,” he says. “It exploded when we next toured, and we were playing right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero was so immense that it has risked eclipsing everything else the band has done. Last year, the song featured in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I felt otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “Should you just listen to a single track, that's fine – each person has their own musical journey and I'm pleased we played a role of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Impact from the Iconic Controller
The best promotion, whether it’s for cars, clothes or games, extends beyond than selling something – it inspires a desire. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “Precisely what our team trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of being a rock star on the stage. Since the beginning, the creators felt that there’s an instinctive human desire to create songs, and their goal was to leverage innovation to enable everyone to participate”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games came out over a mere five-year period between 2005 and 2010, featuring derivative titles such as the DJ version, including a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments waned, aside from a short-lived revival several years later.
Games like the fan project and Fortnite Festival have kept the community alive, and there’s set to be a new product from the original publisher in development. A new studio has begun work on its debut music game. The initial creators are participating as special advisers. Are gamers ready to embrace another game following Guitar Hero?
“We thought such titles could be similar to sports games where you can releases,” he remarks. “With abundant new music that it could be evergreen, so I’ve always been hopeful. It's entirely possible why it can’t persist with new generations.”
