It has been 20 years since the legendary game hit the market across the Atlantic, giving players everywhere the means to feel like rock legends. Not in reality, but try telling that someone who's nailed Free Bird’s lengthy instrumental break in front of an enthusiastic crowd of friends.
Created by Harmonix, Guitar Hero gave players a guitar-shaped controller to follow on-screen cues moving along the display in time with a song. Each riff mimicked specific notes, creating the feel of an authentic performance.
Harmonix had already tried its hand in the music genre before partnering with RedOctane, later purchased by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Together, they established the groundwork for an unlikely massively profitable series which made a significant influence for many of the artists featured, introducing decades-old bands to a new generation of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, remembers the early financial challenges in securing the recordings – even though initial releases mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced all the music since the cost prohibitive,” he says. “Even with the publishing rights alone, it was nearly impossible. We couldn’t get bands like legendary groups – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was fairly certain it would fail. But once Guitar Hero took off, album purchases airtime were going up, everyone wanted to participate.”
He adds: “Among the remarkable aspects was how many mothers and fathers reached out expressing gratitude for introducing their children to the music they loved. It evolved into a multigenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Gains a New Audience
Northern Irish group the Answer had Never Too Late in the 2008 release the popular installment. Lead musician the artist recalls how the series revived older hits to the forefront: “The game offered a bigger, new demographic. Generally this had been seen as outdated material, however once it got included in the game young people discovered it, abruptly it was cool. That legitimised the genre, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ label. It provided our catalog a new life.”
In 2008, the Answer’s debut album remained not available stateside, meaning the game was a key medium for exposure for the group as they went on US tour supporting the rock giants. “The roadies had on Never Too Late during travel, and several knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Major Band Titles and Lasting Influence
Music's heavyweight names quickly capitalised on the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in dedicated game editions centered around each band’s catalogue and associated stories, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, it was said earned the group greater revenue compared to their studio albums. It moved well over 500,000 copies in its first week, and demand for their songs saw an increase of up to 40% during an era when the music business was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire quick-handed fanaticism among its fans. Earlier this year, an online personality achieved a remarkable feat featuring Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult power-metal song made popular by Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with similar gameplay but an array of personalization features. The song is challenging enough on expert mode, let alone played at double speed while hitting a single one of the thousands of cues. They claimed it took months of practice of practice.
“The game offers a, imaginary experience. If you play Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you should pick up actual weapons and enlist,” says musician Herman Li.
DragonForce previously completed a successful tour before their hit appeared on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it turned them into widely recognized. “I recall the record label informing us that our records were moving rapidly,” he says. “It exploded when we next toured, and we performed just before top acts at the event.”
Indeed, the band's visibility via the game proved so vast that it has threatened to overshadow everything else accomplishments. Last year, the song 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 one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got a unique path in music and I'm pleased we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Legacy of a Plastic Guitar
Top-tier marketing, be it for automobiles, apparel or video games, goes further mere transactions – it evokes a longing. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “Precisely what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of being a music icon in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the co-founders felt that there’s an instinctive urge to create songs, and they wanted to use technology to allow people to participate”.
The majority installments came out in just a five-year period between 2005 and 2010, including spin-offs such as the DJ version, complete with a spinning deck, and Band Hero. After that, the publisher’s interest on peripherals waned, except for a short-lived revival several years later.
Games like Clone Hero and newer releases have kept the scene alive, and there’s expectations of a new product from the founders on the way. A new studio has entered production on its debut music game. The initial creators are both involved as special advisers. Is the world ready to embrace another game in the spirit of the classic?
“Our team believed those games might become like Madden allowing annual update every year,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much fresh tracks it could remain perennially popular, thus I remain hopeful. There’s no reason why it can’t continue for future fans.”
