It has been 20 years since Guitar Hero hit the market in North America, providing everyday gamers the means to become a rock star. Not literally, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that anyone who has mastered Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo before a packed living-room audience.
Developed by Harmonix, Guitar Hero gave players a guitar-shaped controller to follow coloured notes scrolling down the display in time with the music. Every sequence corresponded to specific notes, creating the feel of a genuine live show.
The studio previously experimented in the music genre before partnering with the publisher, later purchased by the gaming giant in 2006. Collaboratively, they established the foundations for a surprising massively profitable series that had a remarkable impact on numerous musicians featured, introducing decades-old groups to a new generation of younger players.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, recalls the initial financial challenges in securing the recordings – even though the first two games primarily featured cover versions.
“We rerecorded all the music because the cost was so high,” he says. “Even with the necessary permissions alone, it proved extremely difficult. We couldn’t get bands like the Who – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was pretty convinced the project would flop. But once the game took off, album purchases airtime increased, all artists desired to participate.”
He adds: “Among the amazing things was the number of parents got in touch and thanked us for introducing their kids to the music they adored. It became an intergenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Finds Younger Fans
Irish group the Answer included Never Too Late on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist the artist remembers the way the game revived older hits to the forefront: “Guitar Hero offered a bigger, younger audience. Generally this had been seen as outdated material, however once it got included in the title and teenagers discovered it, abruptly it was cool. That legitimised it, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ tag. It gave all our music a new life.”
In 2008, the band's first record was still not available stateside, meaning Guitar Hero was a key medium for exposure for the band as they went on a North American tour supporting the rock giants. “Their crew had on the song on the tour bus, and some of them knew us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles Enduring Impact
Music's biggest acts quickly took advantage of the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in dedicated spin-off titles centered around each band’s catalogue and associated stories, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said earned the group greater revenue than any of their records. It sold well over half a million copies in its first week, and demand for their songs saw an increase of up to 40% at a time when the music business faced decline.
Guitar Hero still motivates nimble-fingered dedication within the community. Earlier this year, an online personality achieved an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s the challenging track – a notoriously difficult power-metal song popularized through Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with similar gameplay and extensive customisation options. The song is difficult enough on expert mode, let alone performed at double speed and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. The streamer claimed requiring months of practice of practice.
“Guitar Hero offers a, imaginary experience. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to pick up a real gun and go to war,” says musician Herman Li.
DragonForce previously wrapped up a successful tour before their hit was featured on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it turned them into widely recognized. “I recall the record label informing us that we were records were moving rapidly,” he says. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we performed right ahead of top acts at the event.”
In fact, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it threatened to eclipsing all other the band has done. Last year, the track was used in promotional material for a major film. “In the past I felt differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “If you only listen to a single track, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got a unique path in music and I'm pleased we played a role in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Legacy from the Iconic Controller
Top-tier promotion, be it for cars, clothes or video games, extends beyond than selling something – it inspires a longing. Was the game able to harness this? “That’s exactly what our team trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of performing as a rock star on the stage. Since the beginning, the co-founders believed there’s an instinctive human desire 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 spin-offs like DJ Hero, including a turntable controller, and Band Hero. After that, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments waned, aside from a brief comeback several years later.
Titles such as Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have kept the scene alive, and there’s expectations of a new product from the original publisher on the way. A new studio has entered work on its debut rhythm-based title. The initial creators are participating as special advisers. Are gamers ready to embrace a new entry following the classic?
“Our team believed such titles could be similar to sports games where you can update every year,” he remarks. “There’s so much fresh tracks that it could be evergreen, so I’ve always been optimistic. There’s no reason why it can’t continue for future fans.”
