Marking 20 years since the legendary game debuted in North America, offering players everywhere the tools to become a rock star. Figuratively speaking, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that someone who has mastered Free Bird’s four-minute instrumental break before a packed living-room audience.
Created by Harmonix, Guitar Hero provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to follow on-screen cues scrolling down the screen in time with a song. Every sequence corresponded to particular chords, creating the feel of a genuine live show.
Harmonix previously tried its hand with rhythm games before partnering with RedOctane, which was purchased by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for an unlikely massively profitable franchise that had a remarkable impact for many musicians featured, showcasing classic groups to millions of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, recalls the early financial challenges in securing the recordings – even though initial releases mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded all the music since the cost prohibitive,” he explains. “Even with the necessary permissions alone, it proved nearly impossible. We failed to secure acts such as the Who – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was pretty convinced the project would flop. However, when Guitar Hero became a hit, and record sales and radio play increased, everyone wanted to be in.”
He continues: “One of the amazing things was how many mothers and fathers got in touch expressing gratitude for introducing their children to the songs they adored. It became a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Gains a New Audience
Northern Irish blues-rock band one featured act included their track in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist the artist recalls how the series revived older hits back into vogue: “The game offered a bigger, younger audience. Generally this had been seen as outdated material, however when it was included in the title and teenagers discovered it, abruptly it became trendy. That legitimised it, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ label. It gave all our music a new life.”
In 2008, the band's debut album remained not available stateside, meaning the game was a key medium of discovery for the group during their US tour supporting AC/DC. “The roadies had on Never Too Late during travel, and some of them recognized us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Major Band Spin-offs Enduring Influence
Rock’s heavyweight names quickly took advantage of the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in specialized game editions that focused on their music collections and related lore, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly to have made the band greater revenue than any of their records. It sold more than half a million copies upon release, and sales of their songs rose of up to 40% during an era when the music business was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire quick-handed dedication within the community. Earlier this year, a streamer completed a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s the challenging track – a notoriously difficult power-metal song popularized through Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with similar gameplay but an array of customisation options. The song is difficult enough on the hardest setting, not to mention performed at increased tempo while hitting every one of its near 4,000 notes. They claimed it took months of practice of practice.
“The game is a fun, fantasy thing. Just as with Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you ought to pick up a real gun and enlist,” says DragonForce guitarist the artist.
The band had already completed a profitable run when Through the Fire and Flames appeared in the third game, yet he explains it turned them into a household name. “I recall our distributors calling to tell me that we were records were moving rapidly,” he shares. “It exploded when we next toured, and we were playing right ahead of top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it threatened to overshadow everything else the band has done. Last year, the song was used in a trailer for a major film. “In the past I felt otherwise, but now I accept it,” Li says. “If you only listen to one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – each person has a unique musical journey and I’m glad we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
Enduring Legacy of a Plastic Guitar
The best promotion, be it for cars, clothes or video games, extends beyond mere transactions – it inspires a longing. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “Precisely what our team trying to create,” he confirms. “The excitement of being a music icon in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the co-founders felt that humans have a natural human desire to make music, and their goal was to use technology to allow people to participate”.
Most installments were released in just a five-year period from 2005 to 2010, including derivative titles such as the DJ version, complete with a spinning deck, and Band Hero. Subsequently, corporate focus in plastic instruments died down, aside from a short-lived revival in 2015.
Titles like Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have kept the scene alive, with expectations of something from the founders in development. A new studio has entered production on its debut music game. Original co-founders are participating as special advisers. Is the world prepared to welcome a new entry in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“We thought such titles could be like Madden allowing annual update every year,” he remarks. “There’s so much fresh tracks it could remain perennially popular, thus I remain optimistic. It's entirely possible for it to persist for future fans.”
