It has been two decades after the legendary game debuted in North America, offering players everywhere the means to feel like rock legends. Figuratively speaking, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that anyone who has nailed the epic lengthy guitar solo in front of an enthusiastic crowd of friends.
Created by Harmonix, Guitar Hero gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to match on-screen cues scrolling down the screen in time with a song. Every sequence corresponded to particular chords, producing the sensation of an authentic performance.
The studio had already tried its hand with rhythm games prior to teaming up with the publisher, which was purchased by the gaming giant in 2006. Together, they established the foundations for a surprising billion-dollar franchise which made a remarkable impact on numerous musicians featured, introducing decades-old bands to a new generation of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO of Harmonix, remembers the initial financial challenges in securing the recordings – even though the first two games primarily featured cover versions.
“We rerecorded all the music since the dollar figure prohibitive,” he explains. “Even with the publishing rights by themselves, it was extremely difficult. We failed to secure bands like the Who – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were fairly certain the project would flop. But once Guitar Hero became a hit, album purchases airtime were going up, all artists desired to be in.”
He continues: “Among the remarkable aspects was how many mothers and fathers got in touch and thanked us for introducing their children to the music they adored. It became an intergenerational thing.”
Timeless Music Finds a New Audience
Irish group the Answer had their track on the 2008 game the popular installment. Lead musician Paul Mahon remembers the way the game brought older hits to the forefront: “The game offered a larger, younger audience. Generally this had been considered music that was past it, but then once it got included in the title young people were finding it, abruptly it was cool. That legitimised the genre, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ label. It provided our catalog a new life.”
In 2008, the band's first record was still not available in the US, so Guitar Hero served as a primary platform for exposure for the group during their US tour supporting the rock giants. “Their crew had on the song during travel, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Major Band Titles and Lasting Influence
Music's biggest acts soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in dedicated game editions centered around their music collections and related lore, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said earned the group greater revenue than any of their studio albums. It sold well over half a million copies in its first week, and demand for their songs saw an increase of up to 40% at a time when the music business faced decline.
Guitar Hero still motivates quick-handed dedication within the community. Earlier this year, an online personality achieved an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult anthem made popular by the game – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical mechanics but an array of personalization features. This track is difficult even in expert mode, let alone played at increased tempo and without missing every one of the thousands of cues. They claimed requiring months of practice to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you ought to pick up actual weapons and enlist,” says musician Herman Li.
DragonForce previously completed a profitable run when Through the Fire and Flames was featured on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it turned them into a household name. “I recall the record label informing us that we were records were moving like crazy,” he shares. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we were playing right ahead of top acts at the event.”
Indeed, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it threatened to eclipsing all other accomplishments. Recently, the track was used in a trailer for a major film. “Previously I thought differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “If you only hear one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got their own path in music and I'm pleased we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
Enduring Legacy from the Iconic Controller
Top-tier marketing, be it for automobiles, apparel or games, extends beyond than selling something – it inspires a desire. Was the game able to tap into that? “That’s exactly what our team aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of being a music icon on the stage. Since the beginning, the co-founders believed there’s an instinctive urge to make music, and they wanted to use technology to allow people to do it”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games were released over a mere half-decade from 2005 to 2010, featuring spin-offs like DJ Hero, including a turntable controller, and Band Hero. After that, corporate focus on peripherals waned, aside from a short-lived revival in 2015.
Games like Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have maintained the scene active, and there’s set to be something from the original publisher in development. A new studio has begun production on its debut rhythm-based title. The initial creators are participating in advisory roles. Is the world prepared to welcome a new entry in the spirit of the classic?
“Our team believed those games might become like Madden allowing annual releases,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much fresh tracks that it could be perennially popular, so I’ve always been hopeful. It's entirely possible why it can’t persist for future fans.”
