Marking 20 years after the legendary game hit the market in North America, offering everyday gamers the tools to become a rock star. Not in reality, but try convincing someone who's nailed Free Bird’s four-minute instrumental break in front of an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by the developers, the game provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to follow coloured notes moving along the screen in time with the music. Each riff corresponded to particular chords, producing the feel of an authentic performance.
Harmonix had already experimented in the music genre prior to teaming up with RedOctane, which was acquired by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they established the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar series which made a significant influence on numerous musicians included, introducing decades-old groups to a new generation of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO of Harmonix, recalls the early financial challenges of licensing the recordings – even though the first two games mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded every song because the cost prohibitive,” he says. “Even with the necessary permissions alone, it was extremely difficult. We couldn’t get acts such as legendary groups – the publisher had virtually no money, and our team was fairly certain it would fail. However, when Guitar Hero became a hit, and record sales and radio play were going up, all artists desired to participate.”
He adds: “Among the amazing things was how many mothers and fathers reached out and thanked us for introducing their children to the music they adored. It became an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Gains Younger Fans
Northern Irish group the Answer included their track on the 2008 game the popular installment. Guitarist Paul Mahon recalls the way the game revived older hits back into vogue: “Guitar Hero offered a larger, new demographic. Generally this had been considered outdated material, however once it got featured on the title young people discovered it, suddenly it was cool. That legitimised it, and got rid of the outdated tag. It gave all our music a new life.”
At that time, the Answer’s first record was still unreleased in the US, so the game served as a primary platform of discovery for the band as they went on a North American tour opening for the rock giants. “Their crew were playing Never Too Late during travel, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles Enduring Impact
Rock’s heavyweight names quickly capitalised on the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in dedicated game editions centered around each band’s catalogue and associated stories, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, 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, while sales of Aerosmith’s music rose significantly at a time as the industry was already collapsing.
The series still motivates nimble-fingered fanaticism within the community. Recently, an online personality completed a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s the challenging track – a notoriously difficult power-metal song popularized through the game – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with similar gameplay and extensive customisation options. This track is challenging enough on expert mode, let alone performed at increased tempo and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. The streamer stated requiring months of practice to accomplish.
“The game offers a, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you should use a real gun and go to war,” says musician the artist.
DragonForce previously completed a profitable run when their hit was featured in the third game, yet he explains it made them a household name. “I remember the record label informing us that we were records were moving rapidly,” he shares. “It exploded when we next toured, and we were playing right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero was so immense that it has risked eclipsing all other accomplishments. Recently, the song featured in a trailer for a major film. “In the past I thought otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “Should you just listen to a single track, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got their own path in music and I'm pleased we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Impact from the Plastic Guitar
Top-tier marketing, be it for cars, clothes or games, goes further than selling something – it evokes a desire. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “Precisely what we were trying to create,” he confirms. “That thrill of being a rock star on the stage. From day one, the creators believed there’s an instinctive human desire to create songs, and they wanted to use technology to allow people to do it”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games came out in just a five-year period from 2005 to 2010, featuring spin-offs such as DJ Hero, complete with a turntable controller, and Band Hero. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments waned, aside from a short-lived revival in 2015.
Games like Clone Hero and newer releases have kept the scene active, with set to be something from the founders on the way. A new studio has begun production on their first rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are participating in advisory roles. Are gamers ready to embrace another game following Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed those games could be similar to sports games allowing annual releases,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant fresh tracks that it could be perennially popular, thus I remain hopeful. There’s no reason why it can’t continue for future fans.”
