It has been two decades after the legendary game first launched across the Atlantic, giving players everywhere the tools to feel like a rock star. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing anyone who's mastered Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo in front of a packed living-room audience.
Developed by the developers, Guitar Hero provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to follow coloured notes moving along the display in time with a song. Every sequence mimicked particular chords, creating the feel of a genuine performance.
The studio had already tried its hand with rhythm games prior to teaming up with RedOctane, which was purchased by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they laid the groundwork for a surprising massively profitable franchise which made a remarkable influence for many of the artists featured, showcasing decades-old groups to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, former COO of Harmonix, remembers the initial financial challenges of licensing the recordings – even though initial releases mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced all the music since the dollar figure prohibitive,” he says. “Despite having the publishing rights by themselves, it was nearly impossible. We couldn’t get bands like legendary groups – the publisher had virtually no money, and our team was fairly certain it would fail. However, when Guitar Hero became a hit, and record sales airtime increased, everyone wanted to participate.”
He adds: “One of the amazing things was how many parents reached out and thanked us for introducing their children to the music they loved. It evolved into a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Gains Younger Fans
Northern Irish group one featured act included Never Too Late on the 2008 game the popular installment. Guitarist the artist remembers how the series brought classic rock to the forefront: “The game offered a bigger, younger audience. Generally such music was considered music that was past it, however once it got featured on the title young people were finding it, abruptly it became trendy. That legitimised it, and got rid of the outdated label. It gave our catalog a new life.”
At that time, the Answer’s first record remained unreleased stateside, so the game served as a primary platform of discovery for the band as they went on US tour supporting the rock giants. “Their crew were playing the song during travel, and some of them recognized us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Major Band Spin-offs Enduring Impact
Music's biggest acts soon took advantage of the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in specialized game editions that focused on each band’s catalogue and related lore, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly to have made the band greater revenue than any of their records. It sold more than half a million copies upon release, and demand for their songs rose of up to 40% during an era when the music business was already collapsing.
The series continues to inspire nimble-fingered fanaticism among its fans. Earlier this year, a streamer completed a remarkable feat featuring the challenging track – a notoriously difficult power-metal song popularized through the game – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with similar mechanics and extensive customisation options. This track is difficult enough on expert mode, let alone performed at increased tempo while hitting a single one of its near 4,000 notes. They stated it took months of practice to accomplish.
“The game offers a, imaginary experience. If you play other games, it doesn't imply you should pick up a real gun and enlist,” says musician Herman Li.
The band had already wrapped up a successful tour before their hit appeared in the third game, but Li says it turned them into a household name. “I recall our distributors informing us that our records were moving like crazy,” he shares. “It exploded when we next toured, and we were playing just before the headliners at the event.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it threatened to eclipsing everything else the band has done. Recently, the song featured in a trailer 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 a unique path in music and I’m glad we played a role of people’s lives”.
Enduring Impact of a Iconic Controller
The best marketing, whether it’s for cars, apparel or video games, goes further mere transactions – it inspires a longing. Was the game able to harness this? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “The excitement of performing as a rock star in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the creators believed there’s an instinctive urge to make music, and their goal was to use technology to allow people to do it”.
The majority installments were released over a mere five-year period from 2005 to 2010, featuring derivative titles like DJ Hero, including a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. After that, corporate focus on peripherals died down, except for a brief comeback several years later.
Titles such as Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have kept the community active, with expectations of a new product from the original publisher on the way. Recently formed developers has entered production on their first music game. Original co-founders are both involved in advisory roles. Is the world prepared to welcome a new entry following Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed those games might become like Madden where you can releases,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much new music that it could be evergreen, thus I remain hopeful. It's entirely possible for it to continue with new generations.”
