Marking two decades since Guitar Hero debuted in North America, providing everyday gamers the opportunity to become rock legends. Figuratively speaking, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that anyone who has nailed the epic lengthy guitar solo before a packed living-room audience.
Developed by Harmonix, Guitar Hero provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to follow on-screen cues scrolling down the screen synchronized to a song. Every sequence corresponded to particular chords, creating the sensation of a genuine live show.
Harmonix previously tried its hand with rhythm games prior to teaming up with RedOctane, later acquired by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they established the foundations for an unlikely massively profitable series which made a remarkable impact on numerous musicians included, showcasing classic groups to millions of younger players.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, recalls the initial budgetary hurdles of licensing the recordings – despite the fact the first two games primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded every song since the dollar figure prohibitive,” he explains. “Despite having the publishing rights by themselves, it was nearly impossible. We couldn’t get acts such as the Who – the publisher had virtually no money, and our team was pretty convinced it would fail. However, when the game became a hit, album purchases and radio play were going up, all artists desired to participate.”
He continues: “Among the remarkable aspects was the number of parents reached out expressing gratitude for exposing their kids to the music they loved. It became a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Finds a New Audience
Irish group the Answer had Never Too Late in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist Paul Mahon remembers how the series revived classic rock back into vogue: “Guitar Hero provided a larger, new demographic. Generally such music was considered outdated material, but then once it got included in the title young people were finding it, suddenly it became trendy. That legitimised the genre, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ label. It gave all our music a new life.”
In 2008, the band's debut album was still unreleased in the US, meaning Guitar Hero was a key medium for exposure for the group as they went on a North American tour opening for the rock giants. “Their crew were playing the song on the tour bus, and some of them recognized us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs Enduring Influence
Rock’s biggest acts soon capitalised on the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in dedicated game editions centered around their music collections and related stories, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said to have made the band more money compared to their records. It sold well over half a million units upon release, and demand for their songs rose significantly at a time as the industry faced decline.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire quick-handed dedication within the community. Earlier this year, an online personality completed an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough anthem popularized through the game – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with almost identical gameplay but an array of customisation options. This track is difficult enough on expert mode, not to mention performed at double speed while hitting every one of its near 4,000 notes. They claimed requiring months of practice of practice.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, imaginary experience. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to use a real gun and go to war,” says DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
The band previously completed a successful tour before their hit was featured in the third game, but Li says it made them widely recognized. “I recall our distributors calling to tell me that our selling albums rapidly,” he says. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we were playing right ahead of top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, the band's visibility via the game proved so vast that it has threatened to eclipsing all other the band has done. Recently, the track was used in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I thought otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “If you only hear a single track, that's fine – each person has a unique path in music and I’m glad we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Legacy of a Iconic Controller
The best marketing, whether it’s for automobiles, clothes or games, goes further than selling something – it inspires a longing. Was the game able to harness this? “Precisely what we were trying to create,” he confirms. “That thrill of being a rock star on the stage. From day one, the creators felt that humans have a natural human desire to make music, and their goal was to leverage innovation to allow people to participate”.
The majority installments came out over a mere half-decade between 2005 and 2010, featuring spin-offs such as the DJ version, complete with a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest on peripherals died down, except for a short-lived revival several years later.
Titles 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 production on their first rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are participating in advisory roles. Is the world prepared to welcome another game in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed those games might become like Madden where you can releases,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much fresh tracks it could remain perennially popular, so I’ve always been hopeful. It's entirely possible for it to persist for future fans.”
