It has been 20 years since Guitar Hero first launched across the Atlantic, giving everyday gamers the opportunity to become a rock star. Figuratively speaking, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that someone who's mastered Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo in front of a packed living-room audience.
Created by Harmonix, Guitar Hero gave players a guitar-shaped controller to match on-screen cues moving along the screen synchronized to a song. Every sequence corresponded to specific notes, creating the sensation of an authentic live show.
Harmonix had already experimented with rhythm games prior to teaming up with RedOctane, later acquired by Activision during the mid-2000s. Together, they established the foundations for a surprising billion-dollar franchise which made a significant impact on numerous of the artists included, showcasing classic groups to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, remembers the early financial challenges of licensing the recordings – even though initial releases primarily featured cover versions.
“We rerecorded every song because the dollar figure prohibitive,” he says. “Despite having the publishing rights alone, it proved extremely difficult. We couldn’t get acts such as legendary groups – RedOctane had virtually no money, and our team was pretty convinced it would fail. But once Guitar Hero took off, album purchases airtime increased, everyone wanted to participate.”
He continues: “One of the amazing things was how many mothers and fathers got in touch expressing gratitude for exposing their kids to the music they adored. It evolved into a multigenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Gains a New Audience
Irish group one featured act included Never Too Late on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician Paul Mahon recalls how the series brought older hits to the forefront: “Guitar Hero provided a bigger, younger audience. Typically this had been considered music that was past it, but then when it was included in the title and teenagers were finding it, suddenly it became trendy. That legitimised it, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ label. It provided all our music renewed popularity.”
At that time, the band's first record was still not available stateside, so the game served as a primary platform of discovery for the group during their US tour supporting AC/DC. “Their crew were playing the song during travel, and several knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Major Band Titles and Lasting Influence
Music's heavyweight names soon capitalised on the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in dedicated game editions that focused on each band’s catalogue and related lore, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, it was said earned the group more money compared to their records. It moved more than half a million units upon release, and sales of Aerosmith’s music rose of up to 40% during an era when the music business was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero still motivates quick-handed dedication within the community. Earlier this year, a streamer achieved a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough power-metal song made popular by Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical mechanics and extensive personalization features. This track is difficult enough on expert mode, let alone performed at increased tempo while hitting a single one of its near 4,000 notes. They stated it took nine months of practice.
“The game offers a, fantasy thing. If you play other games, it doesn't imply you ought to pick up a real gun and enlist,” notes DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
DragonForce previously wrapped up a profitable run when their hit appeared on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it made them a household name. “I recall the record label informing us that our selling albums rapidly,” he says. “It exploded when we next toured, and we were playing just before the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, the band's visibility via the game was so immense that it threatened to eclipsing all other the band has done. Recently, the song was used in promotional material for a major film. “Previously I thought differently, but now I accept it,” Li says. “If you only hear one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got a unique musical journey and I’m glad we played a role of people’s lives”.
Enduring Impact from the Iconic Controller
The best promotion, be it for cars, apparel or video games, extends beyond than selling something – it evokes a longing. Was the game able to tap into that? “Precisely what our team trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of being a music icon in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the creators believed there’s an instinctive urge to make music, and their goal was to use technology to enable everyone to do it”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games were released over a mere five-year period from 2005 to 2010, featuring spin-offs such as DJ Hero, including a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. After that, the publisher’s interest on peripherals died down, aside from a brief comeback in 2015.
Games such as the fan project and Fortnite Festival have maintained the community active, and there’s set to be something from the founders in development. Recently formed developers has begun production on their first music game. The initial creators are participating as special advisers. Are gamers ready to embrace another game following Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed those games might become like Madden where you can update every year,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant new music that it could be evergreen, so I’ve always been optimistic. There’s no reason why it can’t continue with new generations.”