It has been two decades after the legendary game first launched in North America, offering everyday gamers the opportunity to become a rock star. Not literally, but try convincing someone who's mastered Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo before a packed crowd of friends.
Created by the developers, Guitar Hero gave players a guitar-shaped controller to follow coloured notes scrolling down the display in time with a song. Each riff mimicked particular chords, producing the feel of an authentic performance.
Harmonix previously experimented with rhythm games before partnering with the publisher, later acquired by the gaming giant in 2006. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for an unlikely massively profitable series that had a remarkable impact on numerous musicians included, introducing classic groups to millions of gaming enthusiasts.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO of Harmonix, recalls the early budgetary hurdles in securing the recordings – even though the first two games mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced all the music because the cost prohibitive,” he explains. “Even with the necessary permissions alone, it was extremely difficult. We failed to secure acts such as legendary groups – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were pretty convinced it would fail. However, when the game became a hit, and record sales airtime increased, all artists desired to be in.”
He continues: “Among the amazing things was the number of mothers and fathers reached out and thanked us for introducing their kids to the music they adored. It became a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock 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 remembers how the series revived older hits back into vogue: “Guitar Hero offered a bigger, new demographic. Typically such music was seen as outdated material, however when it was included in the title and teenagers were finding it, abruptly it became trendy. That legitimised the genre, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ tag. It gave all our music renewed popularity.”
At that time, the Answer’s first record was still not available in the US, so the game served as a primary platform of discovery for the band during their US tour opening for AC/DC. “Their crew were playing the song during travel, and some of them knew us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles and Lasting Influence
Music's biggest acts soon took advantage of the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in dedicated spin-off titles that focused on their music collections and related lore, visuals and legendary status. For example, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly to have made the band more money than any of their records. It moved well over 500,000 units in its first week, and demand for Aerosmith’s music rose of up to 40% at a time when the music business was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire quick-handed fanaticism among its fans. Recently, a streamer completed an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s the challenging track – a notoriously difficult power-metal song made popular by Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with similar gameplay but an array of personalization features. This track is challenging even in the hardest setting, let alone played at double speed and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. They stated requiring nine months to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero offers a, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you should use a real gun and enlist,” says DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
DragonForce had already wrapped up a profitable run when their hit appeared on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it turned them into a household name. “I remember the record label calling to tell me that we were selling albums like crazy,” he shares. “It exploded when we next toured, and we were playing just before top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it risked overshadow all other accomplishments. Last year, the track was used in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I thought differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “Should you just hear a single track, that's fine – each person has a unique path in music and I'm pleased we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Impact from the Iconic Controller
The best promotion, whether it’s for automobiles, apparel or games, goes further mere transactions – it evokes a longing. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “That’s exactly what our team aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of being a rock star in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the creators felt that there’s an instinctive human desire to create songs, and they wanted to leverage innovation to enable everyone to participate”.
The majority installments were released over a mere five-year period between 2005 and 2010, including derivative titles like the DJ version, including a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. After that, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments waned, aside from a brief comeback several years later.
Games such as Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have maintained the scene active, and there’s expectations of a new product from the original publisher on the way. A new studio has begun production on their first rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are both involved as special advisers. Are gamers ready to embrace a new entry following Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed such titles might become similar to sports games allowing annual releases,” he remarks. “With abundant fresh tracks that it could be evergreen, so I’ve always been hopeful. It's entirely possible why it can’t persist with new generations.”
