It has been 20 years after the legendary game debuted across the Atlantic, giving players everywhere the opportunity to become rock legends. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that anyone who has nailed the epic lengthy instrumental break in front of an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Developed by Harmonix, the game gave players a guitar-shaped controller to follow on-screen cues moving along the display in time with the music. Each riff mimicked specific notes, producing the sensation of an authentic live show.
The studio previously tried its hand in the music genre prior to teaming up with the publisher, later acquired by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they established the groundwork for an unlikely billion-dollar series which made a remarkable impact on numerous musicians featured, showcasing decades-old bands to millions of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, remembers the early budgetary hurdles in securing the recordings – even though the first two games mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded all the music since the cost was so high,” he explains. “Even with the necessary permissions alone, it proved nearly impossible. We failed to secure acts such as legendary groups – the publisher had virtually no money, and we were fairly certain the project would flop. However, when the game took off, album purchases and radio play were going up, everyone wanted to be in.”
He continues: “Among the amazing things was how many mothers and fathers got in touch and thanked us for introducing their kids to the music they adored. It evolved into an intergenerational thing.”
Timeless Music Finds a New Audience
Northern Irish group the Answer had Never Too Late on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist the artist recalls the way the game brought classic rock back into vogue: “Guitar Hero offered a larger, new demographic. Generally such music was seen as outdated material, however once it got included in the title young people were finding it, abruptly it was cool. This validated the genre, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ tag. It provided our catalog renewed popularity.”
At that time, the Answer’s debut album was still unreleased stateside, meaning Guitar Hero served as a primary platform of discovery for the group during their US tour opening for AC/DC. “Their crew had on Never Too Late on the tour bus, and some of them recognized us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.
Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs Enduring Impact
Rock’s biggest acts soon took advantage of the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in specialized game editions that focused on each band’s catalogue and associated lore, imagery and legendary status. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly to have made the band greater revenue than any of their studio albums. It moved well over 500,000 units upon release, while sales of Aerosmith’s music rose of up to 40% during an era as the industry was already collapsing.
The series still motivates quick-handed dedication within the community. Recently, an online personality 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 freeware game with similar mechanics but an array of customisation options. This track is difficult even in the hardest setting, let alone performed at double speed and without missing every one of its near 4,000 notes. They claimed it took months of practice to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero offers a, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you should pick up actual weapons and enlist,” notes musician Herman Li.
The band previously completed a successful tour when Through the Fire and Flames appeared in the third game, but Li says it made them widely recognized. “I remember the record label informing us that our records were moving like crazy,” he says. “It exploded when we next toured, and we were playing right ahead of top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it has threatened to eclipsing everything else the band has done. Recently, the track was used in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I thought differently, but now I accept it,” Li says. “If you only hear a single track, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got their own musical journey and I’m glad we played a role of people’s lives”.
Enduring Impact from the Iconic Controller
Top-tier marketing, be it for automobiles, clothes or video games, extends beyond than selling something – it evokes a desire. Was the game able to tap into that? “That’s exactly what we were trying to create,” he confirms. “That thrill of being a music icon on the stage. From day one, the co-founders believed there’s an instinctive human desire to create songs, and their goal was to leverage innovation to allow people to participate”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games were released in just a half-decade between 2005 and 2010, featuring derivative titles like the DJ version, including a turntable controller, and Band Hero. After that, the publisher’s interest on peripherals died down, aside from a brief comeback in 2015.
Games such as Clone Hero and newer releases have maintained the community active, with set to be a new product from the original publisher on the way. Recently formed developers has begun production on their first music game. Original co-founders are both involved as special advisers. Is the world ready to embrace a new entry in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed such titles might become like Madden allowing annual releases,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much fresh tracks it could remain evergreen, thus I remain optimistic. It's entirely possible why it can’t persist with new generations.”
