Marking 20 years since Guitar Hero first launched in North America, offering players everywhere the tools to feel like rock legends. Figuratively speaking, but try convincing someone who's nailed Free Bird’s four-minute instrumental break in front of a packed living-room audience.
Developed by the developers, the game gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to follow coloured notes scrolling down the display in time with a song. Each riff corresponded to particular chords, producing the feel of an authentic live show.
Harmonix previously experimented in the music genre before partnering with RedOctane, which was acquired by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they established the groundwork for an unlikely massively profitable series that had a remarkable impact for many musicians included, showcasing decades-old bands to millions of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, recalls the initial budgetary hurdles in securing the songs – despite the fact the first two games primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced every song since the dollar figure prohibitive,” he says. “Even with the publishing rights alone, it proved extremely difficult. We couldn’t get acts such as legendary groups – RedOctane had virtually no money, and we were pretty convinced the project would flop. But once the game became a hit, and record sales airtime increased, all artists desired to participate.”
He continues: “Among the remarkable aspects was how many parents got in touch expressing gratitude for exposing their kids to the songs they adored. It evolved into a multigenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Finds Younger Fans
Irish group the Answer had their track in the 2008 release the popular installment. Guitarist the artist recalls the way the game brought classic rock back into vogue: “The game provided a larger, new demographic. Generally this had been seen as outdated material, however once it got included in the title young people were finding it, abruptly it became trendy. That legitimised the genre, eliminating the outdated tag. It provided our catalog a new life.”
At that time, the Answer’s first record was still not available stateside, so the game was a key medium for exposure for the band during their a North American tour supporting AC/DC. “Their crew were playing Never Too Late during travel, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Major Band Titles and Lasting Impact
Music's heavyweight names soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in dedicated spin-off titles that focused on their music collections and related stories, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly to have made the group greater revenue than any of their studio albums. It moved more than half a million units upon release, and demand for their songs rose significantly during an era as the industry faced decline.
The series still motivates quick-handed dedication within the community. Recently, a streamer achieved an impressive attempt featuring Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult anthem made popular by the game – using a fan-made version, a no-cost alternative with similar mechanics but an array of customisation options. This track is difficult even in expert mode, not to mention played at increased tempo and without missing every one of its near 4,000 notes. They claimed it took nine months to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you ought to pick up actual weapons and go to war,” notes musician Herman Li.
The band had already completed a successful tour when Through the Fire and Flames appeared on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it made them widely recognized. “I remember our distributors calling to tell me that our selling albums rapidly,” he shares. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we were playing right ahead of the headliners at the event.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure via the game was so immense that it has risked eclipsing all other accomplishments. Recently, the song was used in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I thought differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “Should you just hear a single track, that's fine – each person has a unique path in music and I'm pleased we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Legacy from the Iconic Controller
Top-tier promotion, be it for cars, clothes or video games, extends beyond than selling something – it inspires a desire. Was the game able to harness this? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of being a rock star on the stage. Since the beginning, the creators felt that there’s an instinctive human desire to make music, and they wanted to leverage innovation to enable everyone to do it”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games came out in just a five-year period from 2005 to 2010, including derivative titles like the DJ version, including a spinning deck, and Band Hero. After that, corporate focus on peripherals died down, aside from a short-lived revival in 2015.
Titles such as the fan project and Fortnite Festival have kept the community active, with set to be a new product from the founders on the way. Recently formed developers has begun work on their first music game. The initial creators are participating as special advisers. Is the world prepared to welcome a new entry following Guitar Hero?
“We thought those games might become like Madden allowing annual update every year,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant new music that it could be perennially popular, thus I remain hopeful. It's entirely possible for it to persist with new generations.”
