Marking 20 years after the legendary game hit the market in North America, giving everyday gamers the opportunity to become rock legends. Not literally, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that someone who has nailed Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo before a packed living-room audience.
Developed by the developers, Guitar Hero gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to follow coloured notes moving along the screen synchronized to a song. Each riff mimicked specific notes, creating the sensation of an authentic performance.
Harmonix previously experimented with rhythm games before partnering with RedOctane, later acquired by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they established the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar series which made a significant influence on numerous of the artists featured, showcasing classic bands to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, remembers the initial financial challenges in securing the recordings – even though initial releases mostly used cover versions.
“We rerecorded all the music since the cost was so high,” he explains. “Despite having the publishing rights alone, it proved extremely difficult. We failed to secure acts such as the Who – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was fairly certain it would fail. But once Guitar Hero became a hit, album purchases and radio play were going up, all artists desired to be in.”
He continues: “One of the remarkable aspects was how many parents reached out and thanked us for exposing their kids to the music they loved. It became an intergenerational thing.”
Timeless Music Gains Younger Fans
Irish group the Answer had Never Too Late on the 2008 game the popular installment. Guitarist the artist recalls how the series brought classic rock to the forefront: “The game provided a larger, new demographic. Typically such music was considered outdated material, but then when it was featured on the title young people discovered it, abruptly it was cool. This validated the genre, eliminating the outdated tag. It gave all our music renewed popularity.”
At that time, the band's debut album was still unreleased in the US, so Guitar Hero was a key medium of discovery for the group as they went on a North American tour supporting the rock giants. “Their crew had on Never Too Late during travel, and several recognized us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles Enduring Influence
Rock’s biggest acts soon took advantage of the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in dedicated game editions that focused on each band’s catalogue and associated stories, imagery and legendary status. For example, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly to have made the band greater revenue than any of their records. It moved well over 500,000 copies upon release, and demand for their songs saw an increase of up to 40% during an era when the music business faced decline.
The series continues to inspire quick-handed dedication within the community. Earlier this year, an online personality completed an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough power-metal song popularized through Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with similar gameplay but an array of customisation options. This track is difficult enough on the hardest setting, let alone played at double speed and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. The streamer claimed requiring nine months of practice.
“The game is a fun, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you ought to use actual weapons and go to war,” notes musician Herman Li.
DragonForce previously completed a successful tour before their hit was featured in the third game, but Li says it turned them into a household name. “I remember the record label informing us that our selling albums like crazy,” he says. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we were playing right ahead of top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure via the game proved so vast that it has threatened to overshadow all other the band has done. Recently, the track featured in promotional material for a major film. “In the past I thought differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “Should you just listen to a single track, it’s totally cool – each person has their own path in music and I’m glad we played a role of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Legacy of a Plastic Guitar
The best marketing, whether it’s for automobiles, apparel or video games, goes further than selling something – it evokes a longing. Was the game able to tap into that? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of being a music icon in the spotlight. From day one, the creators believed there’s an instinctive urge to make music, and they wanted to use technology to enable everyone to participate”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games were released over a mere half-decade from 2005 to 2010, including derivative titles such as DJ Hero, including a turntable controller, and Band Hero. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest on peripherals waned, except for a brief comeback several years later.
Games like the fan project and Fortnite Festival have maintained the community active, with expectations of a new product from the original publisher on the way. A new studio has begun work on their first music game. Original co-founders are participating as special advisers. Are gamers prepared to welcome a new entry following the classic?
“Our team believed such titles could be similar to sports games where you can releases,” he remarks. “There’s so much new music it could remain evergreen, so I’ve always been hopeful. There’s no reason for it to continue for future fans.”
