It has been two decades since Guitar Hero first launched in North America, giving everyday gamers the opportunity to feel like a rock star. Figuratively speaking, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing anyone who's nailed the epic four-minute guitar solo in front of a packed crowd of friends.
Developed by Harmonix, Guitar Hero gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to match on-screen cues scrolling down the screen in time with the music. Each riff corresponded to specific notes, producing the sensation of a genuine performance.
Harmonix previously experimented in the music genre prior to teaming up with RedOctane, which was acquired by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they laid the groundwork for a surprising billion-dollar series that had a significant impact on numerous of the artists featured, showcasing classic groups to a new generation of younger players.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, remembers the early budgetary hurdles in securing the recordings – despite the fact the first two games primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced every song since the cost was so high,” he says. “Even with the necessary permissions by themselves, it was extremely difficult. We failed to secure acts such as legendary groups – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were fairly certain it would fail. But once Guitar Hero became a hit, album purchases and radio play increased, all artists desired to be in.”
He continues: “One of the amazing things was the number of mothers and fathers got in touch expressing gratitude for exposing their children to the music they adored. It became an intergenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Gains a New Audience
Northern Irish blues-rock band one featured act included Never Too Late on the 2008 game the popular installment. Lead musician the artist recalls the way the game revived older hits to the forefront: “The game offered a bigger, new demographic. Generally such music was seen as music that was past it, however when it was included in the title and teenagers discovered it, suddenly it was cool. This validated it, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It provided all our music a new life.”
At that time, the band's first record remained not available stateside, so Guitar Hero served as a primary platform of discovery for the band as they went on a North American tour opening for AC/DC. “The roadies had on the song during travel, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles Enduring Influence
Rock’s biggest acts quickly took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in specialized spin-off titles centered around their music collections and associated lore, visuals and legendary status. For example, the Aerosmith edition, it was said earned the band more money than any of their records. It sold more than 500,000 units upon release, while sales of Aerosmith’s music rose significantly at a time when the music business was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire nimble-fingered 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 no-cost alternative with similar gameplay but an array of customisation options. The song is difficult enough on the hardest setting, not to mention performed at increased tempo and without missing every one of its near 4,000 notes. They stated requiring months of practice to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, fantasy thing. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you should use a real gun and enlist,” notes DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
DragonForce previously wrapped up a successful tour before their hit was featured on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it made them widely recognized. “I recall the record label calling to tell me that we were records were moving like crazy,” 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 has threatened to overshadow everything else accomplishments. Recently, the track was used in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I thought differently, but now I accept it,” he admits. “If you only listen to one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – each person has their own path in music and I’m glad we played a role in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Legacy from the Plastic Guitar
The best promotion, whether it’s for cars, clothes or video games, goes further than selling something – it inspires a longing. Was the game able to harness this? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of being a rock star in the spotlight. From day one, the creators felt that there’s an instinctive urge to create songs, and they wanted to leverage innovation to allow people to participate”.
The majority installments were released over a mere half-decade from 2005 to 2010, including spin-offs like the DJ version, including a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest on peripherals waned, aside from a short-lived revival in 2015.
Games such as the fan project and Fortnite Festival have maintained the scene alive, with set to be something from the original publisher in development. A new studio has entered work on its debut music game. The initial creators are participating as special advisers. Are gamers prepared to welcome a new entry following the classic?
“We thought those games could be similar to sports games allowing annual update every year,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant fresh tracks that it could be evergreen, thus I remain optimistic. There’s no reason why it can’t persist for future fans.”
