Marking two decades since the legendary game debuted in North America, providing everyday gamers the tools to become a rock star. Figuratively speaking, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing someone who has nailed Free Bird’s lengthy guitar solo before an enthusiastic crowd of friends.
Developed by the developers, Guitar Hero provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to match on-screen cues scrolling down the display in time with the music. Every sequence corresponded to particular chords, producing the sensation of a genuine performance.
Harmonix previously tried its hand with rhythm games prior to teaming up with RedOctane, which was acquired by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they established the groundwork for an unlikely billion-dollar series that had a significant impact on numerous musicians featured, introducing classic groups to a new generation of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, recalls the initial budgetary hurdles in securing the songs – even though initial releases mostly used cover versions.
“We rerecorded every song because the cost prohibitive,” he explains. “Even with the necessary permissions alone, it was nearly impossible. We couldn’t get acts such as the Who – the publisher had virtually no money, and we were pretty convinced the project would flop. However, when Guitar Hero became a hit, and record sales and radio play increased, all artists desired to participate.”
He continues: “Among the amazing things was how many parents reached out and thanked us for introducing their children to the music they adored. It became an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Gains a New Audience
Northern Irish group one featured act had their track in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician the artist recalls the way the game brought older hits to the forefront: “Guitar Hero provided a bigger, younger audience. Generally such music was seen as music that was past it, however when it was featured on the title young people discovered it, suddenly it was cool. That legitimised it, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ label. It provided our catalog a new life.”
At that time, the Answer’s first record was still not available stateside, meaning Guitar Hero was a key medium of discovery for the group as they went on a North American tour opening for AC/DC. “Their crew were playing Never Too Late during travel, and several knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Major Band Titles Enduring Impact
Rock’s biggest acts quickly capitalised on the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in dedicated spin-off titles centered around their music collections and related stories, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly to have made the group greater revenue compared to their records. It sold well over 500,000 units upon release, and sales of Aerosmith’s music rose of up to 40% at a time when the music business was already collapsing.
The series continues to inspire nimble-fingered fanaticism among its fans. Earlier this year, an online personality achieved a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough power-metal song popularized through the game – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with similar mechanics and extensive personalization features. The song is challenging enough on the hardest setting, not to mention played at increased tempo while hitting a single one of the thousands of cues. They claimed requiring nine months of practice.
“Guitar Hero offers a, imaginary experience. If you play Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you ought to pick up actual weapons and go to war,” says DragonForce guitarist the artist.
DragonForce previously wrapped up a profitable run before Through the Fire and Flames was featured on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it turned them into a household name. “I remember our distributors informing us that our selling albums like crazy,” he says. “It exploded when we next toured, and we were playing just before the headliners at the event.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it threatened to overshadow all other accomplishments. Last year, the track was used in a trailer for a major film. “Previously I thought otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “If you only hear one DragonForce song, that's fine – each person has a unique path in music and I’m glad we played a role in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Impact from the Plastic Guitar
The best promotion, be it for cars, apparel or video games, goes further mere transactions – it inspires a longing. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of being a music icon in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the co-founders felt that there’s an instinctive urge to make music, and their goal was to leverage innovation to enable everyone to do it”.
Most installments came out over a mere five-year period between 2005 and 2010, including spin-offs such as the DJ version, complete with a turntable controller, and Band Hero. After that, the publisher’s interest on peripherals waned, except for a short-lived revival several years later.
Titles such as the fan project and Fortnite Festival have kept the scene active, with expectations of something from the original publisher on the way. A new studio has entered production on its debut rhythm-based title. The initial creators are both involved as special advisers. Is the world prepared to welcome another game following the classic?
“We thought such titles could be similar to sports games allowing annual update every year,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much fresh tracks it could remain perennially popular, thus I remain optimistic. There’s no reason why it can’t persist with new generations.”
