Marking two decades since Guitar Hero debuted across the Atlantic, giving players everywhere the tools to become rock legends. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that anyone who's nailed the epic lengthy guitar solo in front of an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by Harmonix, the game gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to follow on-screen cues scrolling down the screen synchronized to a song. Each riff mimicked particular chords, creating the feel of an authentic performance.
The studio previously tried its hand in the music genre prior to teaming up with RedOctane, later acquired by the gaming giant in 2006. Collaboratively, they laid the groundwork for an unlikely massively profitable series that had a significant impact for many of the artists included, showcasing classic groups to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO from the developer, remembers the early financial challenges of licensing the recordings – even though initial releases mostly used cover versions.
“We rerecorded all the music since the cost was so high,” he says. “Despite having the publishing rights by themselves, it was extremely difficult. We failed to secure acts such as the Who – RedOctane had virtually no money, and we were pretty convinced the project would flop. But once the game took off, album purchases and radio play were going up, all artists desired to participate.”
He adds: “One of the remarkable aspects was the number of parents reached out and thanked us for exposing their children to the music they loved. It became an intergenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Gains Younger Fans
Northern Irish group the Answer included their track on the 2008 game the popular installment. Guitarist the artist remembers the way the game revived older hits back into vogue: “Guitar Hero offered a bigger, new demographic. Typically such music was considered music that was past it, but then once it got included in the game young people discovered it, abruptly it was cool. That legitimised it, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ tag. It gave all our music a new life.”
At that time, the band's debut album was still unreleased stateside, meaning the game was a key medium for exposure for the band as they went on US tour opening for the rock giants. “The roadies were playing Never Too Late during travel, and several recognized us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs and Lasting Influence
Music's heavyweight names soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in specialized game editions centered around each band’s catalogue and related lore, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, the Aerosmith edition, it was said earned the band more money compared to their records. It sold more than 500,000 copies upon release, while demand for their songs saw an increase significantly during an era as the industry faced decline.
Guitar Hero still motivates nimble-fingered dedication among its fans. Earlier this year, a streamer achieved a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult anthem popularized through the game – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with similar gameplay and extensive personalization features. The song is difficult even in expert mode, not to mention played at double speed while hitting every one of the thousands of cues. The streamer stated it took nine months of practice.
“Guitar Hero offers a, imaginary experience. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to pick up a real gun and go to war,” says musician the artist.
The band had already wrapped up a profitable run when Through the Fire and Flames appeared in the third game, yet he explains it turned them into a household name. “I recall the record label informing us that our selling albums like crazy,” he shares. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we performed right ahead of the headliners at the event.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it has risked eclipsing all other the band has done. Recently, the track featured in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I thought differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “If you only listen to one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got their own path in music and I’m glad we played a role in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Legacy from the Plastic Guitar
Top-tier promotion, whether it’s for automobiles, clothes or video games, goes further mere transactions – it evokes a longing. Was the game able to tap into that? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “That thrill of performing as a rock star in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the co-founders believed there’s an instinctive human desire to make music, and they wanted to leverage innovation to enable everyone to do it”.
Most of Guitar Hero games came out over a mere half-decade from 2005 to 2010, including derivative titles like DJ Hero, complete with a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments died down, except for a brief comeback in 2015.
Titles such as Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have maintained the community active, and there’s set to be a new product from the founders in development. A new studio has begun work on their first music game. The initial creators are both involved in advisory roles. Are gamers prepared to welcome a new entry in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed those games might become like Madden allowing annual update every year,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant fresh tracks it could remain perennially popular, thus I remain optimistic. It's entirely possible why it can’t persist with new generations.”
