Marking two decades since the legendary game hit the market in North America, providing everyday gamers the means to feel like rock legends. Figuratively speaking, but try telling that someone who has nailed the epic four-minute guitar solo in front of a packed living-room audience.
Created by Harmonix, Guitar Hero gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to follow on-screen cues scrolling down the display synchronized to the music. Every sequence corresponded to specific notes, producing the feel of an authentic live show.
The studio had already tried its hand in the music genre prior to teaming up with the publisher, later purchased by Activision during the mid-2000s. Together, they established the foundations for a surprising massively profitable series which made a significant impact on numerous of the artists included, introducing classic groups to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, recalls the initial budgetary hurdles of licensing the songs – even though initial releases primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded every song since the dollar figure was so high,” he says. “Even with the publishing rights by themselves, it was extremely difficult. We failed to secure bands like legendary groups – the publisher had virtually no money, and we were fairly certain it would fail. But once Guitar Hero became a hit, and record sales and radio play were going up, all artists desired to be in.”
He continues: “One of the amazing things was the number of parents reached out expressing gratitude for exposing their kids to the songs they loved. It became a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Finds a New Audience
Irish blues-rock band the Answer had their track on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist the artist remembers the way the game brought classic rock to the forefront: “The game offered a bigger, new demographic. Typically this had been seen as music that was past it, however when it was included in the title and teenagers were finding it, abruptly it was cool. This validated the genre, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ label. It provided all our music a new life.”
At that time, the Answer’s first record was still unreleased stateside, meaning the game served as a primary platform of discovery for the band during their a North American tour opening for the rock giants. “Their crew were playing the song during travel, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Major Band Spin-offs and Lasting Influence
Rock’s biggest acts soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in specialized game editions centered around their music collections and related stories, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly to have made the group more money compared to their studio albums. It sold well over half a million units in its first week, and sales of their songs rose significantly at a time as the industry faced decline.
Guitar Hero still motivates quick-handed fanaticism within the community. Recently, an online personality achieved a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s the challenging track – an infamously tough power-metal song popularized through Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical gameplay and extensive customisation options. The song is difficult enough on expert mode, let alone performed at increased tempo while hitting every one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer stated requiring nine months to accomplish.
“The game offers a, imaginary experience. Just as with Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you should use a real gun and enlist,” notes DragonForce guitarist the artist.
The band previously wrapped up a profitable run before their hit was featured in the third game, but Li says it made them widely recognized. “I recall our distributors calling to tell me that our records were moving rapidly,” he says. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we were playing just before the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure via the game was so immense that it risked eclipsing all other accomplishments. Last year, the song featured in a trailer for a major film. “Previously I felt otherwise, but now I accept it,” he admits. “Should you just hear one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got a unique path in music and I'm pleased we played a role of people’s lives”.
Enduring Impact from the Iconic Controller
Top-tier promotion, whether it’s for automobiles, clothes or games, goes further mere transactions – it evokes a desire. Was the game able to tap into that? “That’s exactly what we were trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of being a music icon on the stage. Since the beginning, the creators felt that there’s an instinctive urge to make music, and their goal was to leverage innovation to allow people to do it”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games were released in just a half-decade between 2005 and 2010, including derivative titles like the DJ version, complete with a spinning deck, and Band Hero. Subsequently, corporate focus on peripherals waned, except for a short-lived revival in 2015.
Games such as Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have maintained the scene alive, with expectations of a new product from the original publisher on the way. Recently formed developers has begun work on its debut music game. The initial creators are both involved in advisory roles. Are gamers ready to embrace a new entry following Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed such titles might become similar to sports games where you can update every year,” he remarks. “There’s so much fresh tracks it could remain perennially popular, thus I remain hopeful. It's entirely possible for it to persist for future fans.”
