It has been 20 years since Guitar Hero hit the market across the Atlantic, offering everyday gamers the means to become rock legends. Figuratively speaking, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing anyone who's nailed the epic four-minute instrumental break before an enthusiastic crowd of friends.
Developed by Harmonix, Guitar Hero provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to match coloured notes moving along the display in time with the music. Every sequence corresponded to specific notes, creating the sensation of a genuine live show.
Harmonix had already tried its hand in the music genre before partnering with the publisher, which was purchased by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Together, they laid the foundations for a surprising massively profitable franchise that had a significant impact for many of the artists featured, showcasing decades-old bands to a new generation of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, remembers the initial budgetary hurdles in securing the recordings – despite the fact initial releases primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced every song since the cost prohibitive,” he explains. “Even with the necessary permissions by themselves, it was nearly impossible. We failed to secure acts such as the Who – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was pretty convinced the project would flop. However, when Guitar Hero became a hit, album purchases and radio play were going up, all artists desired to participate.”
He adds: “One of the amazing things was the number of parents got in touch and thanked us for exposing their kids to the music they adored. It evolved into a multigenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Finds a New Audience
Northern Irish blues-rock band one featured act had Never Too Late on the 2008 game the popular installment. Guitarist the artist recalls how the series revived older hits back into vogue: “Guitar Hero offered a larger, new demographic. Generally such music was seen as outdated material, but then when it was included in the title and teenagers discovered it, suddenly it was cool. This validated it, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ label. It gave all our music renewed popularity.”
At that time, the band's debut album remained unreleased in the US, meaning Guitar Hero served as a primary platform of discovery for the group during their a North American tour supporting the rock giants. “Their crew were playing Never Too Late on the tour bus, and several knew us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs Enduring Influence
Music's biggest acts soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in dedicated game editions that focused on each band’s catalogue and related lore, imagery and legendary status. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly to have made the band more money compared to their studio albums. It sold more than 500,000 units upon release, and sales of Aerosmith’s music rose of up to 40% during an era as the industry was already collapsing.
The series continues to inspire quick-handed dedication among its fans. Earlier this year, a streamer completed an impressive attempt featuring the challenging track – a notoriously difficult anthem made popular by the game – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with almost identical gameplay and extensive customisation options. This track is difficult enough on the hardest setting, let alone performed at increased tempo and without missing every one of the thousands of cues. They claimed it took months of practice to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you should pick up a real gun and enlist,” says DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
The band had already completed a successful tour when Through the Fire and Flames was featured in the third game, yet he explains it made them widely recognized. “I recall the record label informing us that we were selling albums rapidly,” he says. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we performed just before top acts at the event.”
In fact, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it has threatened to overshadow all other the band has done. Recently, the song was used in promotional material for a major film. “In the past I thought otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “Should you just hear a single track, that's fine – everyone’s got a unique path in music and I'm pleased we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Impact from the Plastic Guitar
The best marketing, whether it’s for cars, clothes or games, extends beyond than selling something – it evokes a desire. Was the game able to tap into that? “That’s exactly what our team trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of being a music icon on the stage. From day one, the creators believed there’s an instinctive urge to create songs, and their goal was to use technology to allow people to do it”.
The majority installments came out over a mere five-year period from 2005 to 2010, including derivative titles like the DJ version, including a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. After that, corporate focus on peripherals died down, except for a short-lived revival in 2015.
Titles like the fan project and newer releases have kept the scene alive, and there’s expectations of something from the founders in development. Recently formed developers has entered production on its debut rhythm-based title. The initial creators are both involved as special advisers. Is the world ready to embrace another game in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“We thought those games could be like Madden allowing annual update every year,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant fresh tracks that it could be perennially popular, so I’ve always been optimistic. There’s no reason for it to persist with new generations.”
