It has been 20 years since Guitar Hero debuted across the Atlantic, giving everyday gamers the means to feel like a rock star. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that anyone who's nailed the epic four-minute guitar solo before an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by Harmonix, the game gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to match on-screen cues scrolling down the display in time with a song. Every sequence corresponded to particular chords, creating the sensation of an authentic performance.
Harmonix had already experimented with rhythm games before partnering with the publisher, which was acquired by the gaming giant in 2006. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar series that had a significant influence on numerous of the artists featured, showcasing decades-old groups to a new generation of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO from the developer, recalls the initial financial challenges of licensing the songs – even though initial releases primarily featured cover versions.
“We rerecorded all the music because the cost was so high,” he says. “Even with the necessary permissions by themselves, it was extremely difficult. We failed to secure bands like the Who – RedOctane had virtually no money, and we were pretty convinced the project would flop. However, when the game took off, and record sales and radio play increased, all artists desired to participate.”
He adds: “One of the amazing things was the number of parents reached out expressing gratitude for introducing their children to the music they adored. It became a multigenerational thing.”
Timeless Music Finds Younger Fans
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 revived classic rock back into vogue: “Guitar Hero offered a larger, younger audience. Typically such music was seen as outdated material, however once it got included in the game and teenagers discovered it, abruptly it became trendy. That legitimised it, eliminating the outdated tag. It gave all our music a new life.”
In 2008, the Answer’s debut album was still unreleased stateside, so the game was a key medium for exposure for the group during their a North American tour supporting AC/DC. “Their crew were playing the song on the tour bus, and several knew us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Major Band Titles and Lasting Impact
Rock’s heavyweight names soon took advantage of the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in dedicated game editions centered around each band’s catalogue and related stories, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said earned the group greater revenue than any of their records. It moved more than 500,000 copies upon release, and sales of Aerosmith’s music rose of up to 40% at a time when the music business faced decline.
Guitar Hero still motivates quick-handed dedication within the community. Recently, a streamer completed a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough power-metal song made popular by the game – using a fan-made version, a no-cost alternative with similar gameplay and extensive customisation options. This track is difficult even in expert mode, not to mention performed at double speed while hitting every one of its near 4,000 notes. They claimed it took months of practice of practice.
“The game offers a, imaginary experience. Just as with Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you ought to use actual weapons and go to war,” notes DragonForce guitarist the artist.
DragonForce had already wrapped up a successful tour when Through the Fire and Flames was featured on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it made them widely recognized. “I recall the record label calling to tell me that our records were moving rapidly,” he says. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we were playing right ahead of the headliners at the event.”
In fact, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero was so immense that it has threatened to overshadow all other the band has done. Last year, the song was used in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I felt otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “Should you just hear a single track, that's fine – everyone’s got their own path in music and I’m glad we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Impact of a Iconic Controller
Top-tier promotion, whether it’s for cars, clothes or video games, extends beyond than selling something – it evokes a desire. Was the game able to tap into that? “Precisely what our team trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of performing as a music icon in the spotlight. From day one, the creators believed there’s an instinctive human desire to create songs, and their goal was to leverage innovation to enable everyone to do it”.
Most installments were released over a mere half-decade between 2005 and 2010, including spin-offs such as the DJ version, complete with a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. After that, the publisher’s interest on peripherals died down, aside from a short-lived revival in 2015.
Games such as the fan project and Fortnite Festival have kept the community alive, and there’s expectations of a new product from the original publisher in development. Recently formed developers has begun work on its debut music game. Original co-founders are both involved as special advisers. Is the world prepared to welcome another game in the spirit of the classic?
“Our team believed such titles could be like Madden where you can releases,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant new music that it could be perennially popular, so I’ve always been hopeful. There’s no reason why it can’t continue for future fans.”
