It has been two decades after Guitar Hero first launched across the Atlantic, providing players everywhere the tools to become rock legends. Figuratively speaking, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that someone who's nailed the epic four-minute guitar solo before a packed living-room audience.
Developed by Harmonix, Guitar Hero provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to match on-screen cues scrolling down the display in time with a song. Each riff corresponded to specific notes, creating the feel of an authentic performance.
Harmonix previously tried its hand in the music genre prior to teaming up with the publisher, later purchased by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar franchise which made a significant impact on numerous of the artists featured, introducing decades-old bands to millions of younger players.
A former executive, former COO of Harmonix, recalls the initial budgetary hurdles of licensing the recordings – despite the fact initial releases primarily featured cover versions.
“We rerecorded all the music because the cost prohibitive,” he explains. “Despite having the publishing rights alone, it was nearly impossible. We failed to secure acts such as the Who – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were pretty convinced the project would flop. However, when the game became a hit, album purchases and radio play increased, all artists desired to participate.”
He continues: “One of the remarkable aspects was the number of mothers and fathers reached out and thanked us for introducing their kids to the music they adored. It became an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Gains a New Audience
Irish group the Answer included their track in the 2008 release the popular installment. Lead musician the artist recalls how the series brought classic rock to the forefront: “The game offered a larger, younger audience. Generally such music was seen as outdated material, but then once it got included in the title young people discovered it, abruptly it became trendy. This validated the genre, and got rid of the outdated tag. It provided our catalog renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the band's debut album remained not available in the US, so the game was a key medium for exposure for the band during their US tour supporting AC/DC. “Their crew were playing the song on the tour bus, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Major Band Titles Enduring Impact
Music's heavyweight names soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in dedicated spin-off titles that focused on each band’s catalogue and associated stories, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly earned the band greater revenue than any of their studio albums. It sold well over 500,000 copies in its first week, while demand for Aerosmith’s music rose of up to 40% at a time when the music business was already collapsing.
The series continues to inspire quick-handed fanaticism within the community. Recently, an online personality achieved an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s the challenging track – an infamously tough power-metal song made popular by the game – using a fan-made version, a no-cost alternative with almost identical mechanics and extensive 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 claimed requiring nine months of practice.
“The game offers a, fantasy thing. Just as with other games, that doesn’t mean you should use actual weapons and go to war,” says musician the artist.
The band previously completed a successful tour when Through the Fire and Flames appeared in the third game, but Li says it turned them into widely recognized. “I remember the record label informing us that our selling albums rapidly,” he shares. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we performed right ahead of top acts at the event.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it threatened to eclipsing everything else accomplishments. Recently, the song was used in promotional material for a major film. “Previously I thought otherwise, but now I accept it,” he admits. “If you only listen to one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got their own musical journey and I’m glad we played a role of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Impact of a Plastic Guitar
The best marketing, be it for cars, clothes or games, extends beyond mere transactions – it inspires a desire. Was the game able to harness this? “That’s exactly what we were trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of being a music icon on the stage. Since the beginning, the creators felt that humans have a natural urge to create songs, and their goal was to use technology to enable everyone to do it”.
Most of Guitar Hero games came out over a mere half-decade between 2005 and 2010, including derivative titles such as the DJ version, including a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, corporate focus on peripherals waned, aside from a brief comeback several years later.
Titles like Clone Hero and newer releases have kept the community active, with expectations of something from the founders on the way. A new studio has entered work on their first rhythm-based title. The initial creators are participating as special advisers. Are gamers ready to embrace another game in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed such titles could be similar to sports games allowing annual releases,” he remarks. “There’s so much new music it could remain evergreen, thus I remain optimistic. There’s no reason why it can’t continue with new generations.”
