It has been two decades since Guitar Hero hit the market across the Atlantic, offering players everywhere the means to feel like rock legends. Not in reality, but try convincing anyone who's nailed the epic 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 display synchronized to a song. Each riff corresponded to specific notes, creating the feel of an authentic live show.
The studio previously experimented with rhythm games before partnering with the publisher, later purchased by Activision during the mid-2000s. Together, they laid the foundations for a surprising massively profitable franchise which made a remarkable impact for many musicians included, showcasing decades-old groups to millions of younger players.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, recalls the early financial challenges of licensing the songs – despite the fact the first two games primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded every song because the dollar figure was so high,” he explains. “Despite having the publishing rights by themselves, it proved extremely difficult. We couldn’t get bands like the Who – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was pretty convinced it would fail. However, when the game became a hit, album purchases and radio play increased, everyone wanted to participate.”
He continues: “One of the amazing things was the number of parents got in touch expressing gratitude for introducing their kids to the music they adored. It became an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Gains a New Audience
Irish group the Answer had their track in the 2008 release the popular installment. Lead musician Paul Mahon remembers how the series brought classic rock to the forefront: “The game offered a bigger, new demographic. Generally this had been considered outdated material, but then when it was included in the game young people discovered it, abruptly it became trendy. This validated it, eliminating the outdated tag. It gave all our music renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the Answer’s debut album remained not available in the US, meaning the game was a key medium of discovery for the group as they went on US tour supporting the rock giants. “The roadies had on Never Too Late on the tour bus, and several knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Major Band Spin-offs Enduring Impact
Rock’s heavyweight names soon capitalised on the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in specialized game editions centered around each band’s catalogue and related stories, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly to have made the group more money compared to their records. It moved more than half a million units in its first week, while sales of their songs rose of up to 40% at a time when the music business was already collapsing.
The series still motivates nimble-fingered dedication among its fans. Earlier this year, an online personality completed an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult power-metal song made popular by the game – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with almost identical mechanics but an array of personalization features. The song is difficult enough on expert mode, let alone performed at double speed while hitting every one of the thousands of cues. They claimed it took months of practice of practice.
“The game offers a, imaginary experience. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you should use a real gun and go to war,” notes musician the artist.
The band had already completed a successful tour when their hit appeared in the third game, yet he explains it turned them into a household name. “I remember the record label calling to tell me that our records were moving like crazy,” he shares. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we performed right ahead of top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it risked overshadow all other accomplishments. Last year, the track was used in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I thought differently, but now I accept it,” Li says. “Should you just hear one DragonForce song, that's fine – everyone’s got their own path in music and I'm pleased we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Impact of a Plastic Guitar
The best marketing, whether it’s for automobiles, apparel or video games, extends beyond than selling something – it inspires a longing. Was the game able to harness this? “Precisely what we were trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of being a rock star in the spotlight. 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 participate”.
The majority installments came out over a mere half-decade from 2005 to 2010, featuring spin-offs like DJ Hero, including a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest on peripherals died down, aside from a short-lived revival in 2015.
Games such as Clone Hero and newer releases have maintained the community alive, and there’s set to be something from the original publisher in development. A new studio has entered production on their first rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are both involved as special advisers. Is the world prepared to welcome a new entry in the spirit of the classic?
“We thought such titles could be similar to sports games allowing annual update every year,” he remarks. “There’s so much new music it could remain perennially popular, so I’ve always been optimistic. There’s no reason why it can’t continue with new generations.”
