It has been 20 years since Guitar Hero hit the market across the Atlantic, giving everyday gamers the opportunity to become a rock star. Not literally, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing someone who has nailed Free Bird’s lengthy guitar solo in front of an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by Harmonix, Guitar Hero provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to follow on-screen cues scrolling down the display in time with a song. Each riff corresponded to specific notes, producing the sensation of an authentic performance.
Harmonix previously tried its hand in the music genre prior to teaming up with RedOctane, which was acquired by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for a surprising massively profitable franchise which made a remarkable impact for many of the artists featured, showcasing classic groups to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, remembers the early financial challenges in securing the songs – despite the fact the first two games primarily featured cover versions.
“We reproduced all the music since the dollar figure was so high,” he says. “Even with the publishing rights alone, it was nearly impossible. We couldn’t get acts such as legendary groups – RedOctane had virtually no money, and our team was pretty convinced the project would flop. But once Guitar Hero took off, and record sales and radio play increased, all artists desired to be in.”
He adds: “Among the amazing things was the number of parents got in touch and thanked us for introducing their children to the music they adored. It evolved into a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Finds Younger Fans
Irish blues-rock band the Answer had their track on the 2008 game the popular installment. Lead musician the artist remembers how the series brought classic rock to the forefront: “Guitar Hero provided a bigger, new demographic. Generally such music was considered music that was past it, but then when it was included in the title and teenagers were finding it, suddenly it became trendy. That legitimised it, and got rid of the outdated label. It provided our catalog renewed popularity.”
At that time, the Answer’s first record was still unreleased stateside, meaning the game was a key medium of discovery for the band as they went on a North American tour supporting the rock giants. “Their crew were playing Never Too Late on the tour bus, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs and Lasting Influence
Music's heavyweight names soon capitalised on the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in specialized game editions centered around their music collections and related stories, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said to have made the band greater revenue than any of their studio albums. It sold well over 500,000 copies upon release, while sales of their songs saw an increase significantly during an era when the music business faced decline.
Guitar Hero still motivates nimble-fingered fanaticism within the community. Earlier this year, a streamer achieved an impressive attempt featuring Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult power-metal song made popular by Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical mechanics and extensive customisation options. This track is challenging enough on the hardest setting, not to mention performed at double speed while hitting every one of its near 4,000 notes. They claimed it took months of practice of practice.
“The game offers a, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you ought to use a real gun and go to war,” says musician the artist.
The band had already completed a successful tour when their hit appeared on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it turned them into a household name. “I remember the record label informing us that our selling albums rapidly,” he says. “It exploded when we next toured, and we performed just before top acts at the event.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it has risked eclipsing all other the band has done. Recently, the track featured in a trailer for a major film. “Previously I thought otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “If you only listen to one DragonForce song, that's fine – everyone’s got a unique musical journey and I'm pleased we played a role of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Impact from the Iconic Controller
Top-tier promotion, be it for cars, clothes or games, goes further mere transactions – it inspires a longing. Was the game able to tap into that? “That’s exactly what our team aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of performing as a music icon in the spotlight. From day one, the creators believed there’s an instinctive urge to create songs, and they wanted to leverage innovation to allow people to participate”.
The majority installments came out over a mere half-decade from 2005 to 2010, featuring spin-offs like the DJ version, including a turntable controller, and Band Hero. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments died down, except for a short-lived revival several years later.
Games such as Clone Hero and newer releases have maintained the scene active, with expectations of a new product from the founders on the way. A new studio has begun production on their first rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are both involved as special advisers. Is the world prepared to welcome a new entry in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“We thought those games might become like Madden allowing annual update every year,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much fresh tracks that it could be perennially popular, thus I remain hopeful. It's entirely possible for it to continue with new generations.”
