Marking two decades after the legendary game first launched across the Atlantic, giving players everywhere the opportunity to feel like rock legends. Not in reality, but try convincing anyone who's mastered the epic four-minute guitar solo before a packed living-room audience.
Created by the developers, the game gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to follow on-screen cues scrolling down the display in time with a song. Every sequence corresponded to particular chords, producing the feel of an authentic live show.
Harmonix had already tried its hand with rhythm games prior to teaming up with the publisher, which was purchased by Activision during the mid-2000s. Together, they laid the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar series which made a remarkable influence for many of the artists included, showcasing decades-old bands to a new generation of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO of Harmonix, recalls the initial financial challenges in securing the songs – despite the fact initial releases primarily featured cover versions.
“We rerecorded every song since the cost prohibitive,” he explains. “Despite having the publishing rights by themselves, it was nearly impossible. We couldn’t get bands like legendary groups – RedOctane had virtually no money, and our team was 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 the number of parents reached out and thanked us for exposing their children to the music they adored. It became an intergenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Gains a New Audience
Irish group one featured act had their track on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist the artist recalls the way the game revived older hits to the forefront: “Guitar Hero provided a larger, new demographic. Generally this had been considered outdated material, but then once it got included in the game young people discovered it, suddenly it was cool. This validated the genre, eliminating the outdated tag. It gave our catalog renewed popularity.”
At that time, the Answer’s first record remained not available in the US, meaning Guitar Hero served as a primary platform for exposure for the group during their US tour supporting the rock giants. “Their crew had on Never Too Late on the tour bus, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles and Lasting Impact
Music's biggest acts quickly took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in specialized spin-off titles that focused on each band’s catalogue and related lore, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly to have made the band more money than any of their records. It sold well over 500,000 units upon release, and sales of Aerosmith’s music saw an increase of up to 40% during an era when the music business was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero still motivates quick-handed fanaticism within the community. Recently, an online personality achieved a remarkable feat featuring Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough power-metal song popularized through the game – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical gameplay but an array of personalization features. The song is difficult even in expert mode, not to mention played at double speed and without missing a single one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer stated requiring nine months to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, imaginary experience. Just as with other games, it doesn't imply you ought to use actual weapons and go to war,” says DragonForce guitarist the artist.
DragonForce previously completed a successful tour when Through the Fire and Flames was featured on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it made them widely recognized. “I remember the record label calling to tell me that we were selling albums rapidly,” he shares. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we performed just before the headliners at the event.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure via the game was so immense that it has threatened to eclipsing all other accomplishments. Last year, the track featured in promotional material for a major film. “In the past I felt otherwise, but now I accept it,” he admits. “Should you just listen to a single track, it’s totally cool – each person has their own musical journey and I'm pleased we played a role of people’s lives”.
Enduring Impact from the Iconic Controller
Top-tier promotion, whether it’s for automobiles, apparel or video games, goes further than selling something – it inspires a desire. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “That’s exactly what we were trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a rock star on the stage. Since the beginning, the creators believed humans have a natural human desire to make music, and they wanted to use technology to allow people to participate”.
Most of Guitar Hero games came out over a mere half-decade from 2005 to 2010, featuring spin-offs like DJ Hero, complete with a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. After that, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments died down, aside from a brief comeback several years later.
Titles like Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have maintained the community active, and there’s set to be a new product from the founders on the way. A new studio has begun production on their first rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are participating in advisory roles. Are gamers prepared to welcome another game following Guitar Hero?
“We thought such titles might become like Madden allowing annual update every year,” he remarks. “There’s so much fresh tracks that it could be evergreen, thus I remain optimistic. There’s no reason why it can’t continue with new generations.”
