It has been 20 years after the legendary game hit the market in North America, providing players everywhere the means to feel like rock legends. Not literally, but try convincing anyone who has nailed the epic four-minute instrumental break before an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by the developers, Guitar Hero gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to match on-screen cues moving along the display in time with the music. Each riff corresponded to specific notes, creating the sensation of an authentic performance.
Harmonix had already experimented in the music genre prior to teaming up with RedOctane, later acquired by the gaming giant in 2006. Together, they established the foundations for an unlikely massively profitable series which made a significant impact on numerous of the artists included, showcasing classic groups to a new generation of younger players.
A former executive, former COO of Harmonix, remembers the initial financial challenges of licensing the recordings – despite the fact initial releases mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded all the music because the dollar figure was so high,” he explains. “Even with the necessary permissions alone, it proved nearly impossible. We couldn’t get acts such as legendary groups – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were fairly certain it would fail. However, when the game became a hit, album purchases and radio play were going up, all artists desired to be in.”
He adds: “Among the amazing things was how many mothers and fathers got in touch and thanked us for introducing their kids to the music they loved. It became a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Gains a New Audience
Irish blues-rock band one featured act had Never Too Late on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician Paul Mahon remembers the way the game brought older hits to the forefront: “The game offered a bigger, new demographic. Generally such music was seen as music that was past it, however once it got included in the title and teenagers were finding it, suddenly it became trendy. That legitimised it, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ label. It gave all our music a new life.”
In 2008, the band's first record remained not available in the US, so Guitar Hero was a key medium of discovery for the group during their US tour supporting AC/DC. “Their crew had on the song during travel, and some of them recognized us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.
Major Band Spin-offs and Lasting Impact
Rock’s biggest acts quickly capitalised on the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in dedicated game editions centered around each band’s catalogue and related lore, imagery and legendary status. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, it was said to have made the band greater revenue than any of their studio albums. It moved more than 500,000 units in its first week, and demand for Aerosmith’s music rose significantly at a time as the industry faced decline.
Guitar Hero still motivates quick-handed dedication among its fans. Recently, an online personality achieved an impressive attempt featuring Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult anthem popularized through Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with similar gameplay but an array of personalization features. The song is difficult even in the hardest setting, let alone performed at increased tempo and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. They claimed it took months of practice of practice.
“Guitar Hero offers a, fantasy thing. Just as with other games, it doesn't imply you ought to use actual weapons and go to war,” says DragonForce guitarist the artist.
DragonForce previously completed a successful tour when Through the Fire and Flames was featured on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it turned them into a household name. “I remember our distributors calling to tell me that our records were moving like crazy,” he shares. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we were playing right ahead of the headliners at the event.”
Indeed, the band's visibility via the game was so immense that it risked overshadow everything else accomplishments. Recently, the song featured in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I felt otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “Should you just hear one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got their own path in music and I’m glad we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Legacy from the Iconic Controller
The best promotion, whether it’s for cars, apparel or video games, goes further than selling something – it inspires a desire. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a music icon in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the creators felt that there’s an instinctive human desire to create songs, and they wanted to use technology to enable everyone to participate”.
Most of Guitar Hero games were released in just a five-year period from 2005 to 2010, including derivative titles like the DJ version, complete with a turntable controller, and Band Hero. After that, corporate focus in plastic instruments died down, except for a brief comeback several years later.
Titles 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. Recently formed developers has begun work on their first music game. The initial creators are participating as special advisers. Are gamers ready to embrace a new entry following Guitar Hero?
“We thought those games might become similar to sports games allowing annual update every year,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much new music that it could be evergreen, thus I remain hopeful. It's entirely possible why it can’t continue with new generations.”
