Marking 20 years since the legendary game hit the market across the Atlantic, offering players everywhere the tools to become rock legends. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing someone who's nailed Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo in front of an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by Harmonix, Guitar Hero provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to follow coloured notes moving along the display synchronized to a song. Every sequence mimicked particular chords, producing the feel of an authentic performance.
The studio previously tried its hand with rhythm games prior to teaming up with RedOctane, later purchased by Activision in 2006. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for a surprising billion-dollar series that had a significant influence on numerous musicians included, showcasing classic bands to millions of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, recalls the early budgetary hurdles of licensing the songs – despite the fact the first two games primarily featured cover versions.
“We reproduced all the music since the dollar figure was so high,” he says. “Despite having the necessary permissions by themselves, it proved extremely difficult. We failed to secure bands like legendary groups – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were fairly certain the project would flop. However, when the game took off, album purchases airtime were going up, all artists desired to participate.”
He continues: “Among the amazing things was how many mothers and fathers reached out expressing gratitude for exposing their kids to the music they loved. It became an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Gains a New Audience
Irish group the Answer included their track in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician the artist remembers the way the game brought older hits to the forefront: “Guitar Hero offered a bigger, younger audience. Typically such music was considered 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 gave all our music renewed popularity.”
At that time, the band's debut album remained not available stateside, meaning Guitar Hero served as a primary platform of discovery for the group during their US tour opening for the rock giants. “Their crew had on the song during travel, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Major Band Spin-offs Enduring Impact
Rock’s heavyweight names quickly capitalised on the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in dedicated game editions centered around their music collections and related lore, visuals and legendary status. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said earned the group more money than any of their records. It sold more than 500,000 copies upon release, and sales of Aerosmith’s music rose of up to 40% during an era as the industry was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero still motivates quick-handed fanaticism among its fans. Earlier this year, a streamer achieved an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s the challenging track – a notoriously difficult anthem popularized through the game – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with similar gameplay and extensive personalization features. The song is difficult enough on expert mode, not to mention performed at increased tempo and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. The streamer stated it took nine months of practice.
“The game offers a, fantasy thing. Just as with other games, it doesn't imply you ought to pick up a real gun and go to war,” says DragonForce guitarist the artist.
DragonForce previously wrapped up a profitable run when Through the Fire and Flames appeared in the third game, yet he explains it turned them into widely recognized. “I remember the record label informing us that we were records were moving like crazy,” he says. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we performed just before the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it threatened to eclipsing all other the band has done. Recently, the track was used in promotional material for a major film. “Previously I thought otherwise, but now I accept it,” Li says. “Should you just hear one DragonForce song, that's fine – everyone’s got a unique path in music and I’m glad we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Legacy from the Plastic Guitar
Top-tier promotion, whether it’s for cars, apparel or video games, goes further than selling something – it inspires a longing. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “That’s exactly what our team trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of performing as a rock star in the spotlight. From day one, the co-founders believed humans have a natural urge to make music, and their goal was to use technology to enable everyone to do it”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games were released in just a five-year period from 2005 to 2010, including spin-offs like the DJ version, complete with a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, corporate focus on peripherals waned, except for a short-lived revival several years later.
Titles like the fan project and newer releases have maintained the community alive, and there’s expectations of something from the founders in development. Recently formed developers has entered work on its debut music game. Original co-founders are participating as special advisers. Are gamers ready to embrace a new entry in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“We thought those games could be similar to sports games where you can update every year,” he remarks. “There’s so much new music it could remain perennially popular, so I’ve always been hopeful. There’s no reason why it can’t persist for future fans.”
