It has been two decades since the legendary game hit the market in North America, giving players everywhere the means to become rock legends. Not literally, but try convincing anyone who has nailed the epic four-minute instrumental break before an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Developed by Harmonix, the game provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to follow on-screen cues scrolling down the screen in time with a song. Each riff corresponded to specific notes, creating the feel of an authentic live show.
The studio had already experimented with rhythm games prior to teaming up with RedOctane, which was acquired by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for an unlikely massively profitable series that had a remarkable influence for many of the artists included, introducing classic groups to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO from the developer, recalls the early budgetary hurdles of licensing the recordings – even though the first two games mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded every song since the dollar figure was so high,” he explains. “Even with the necessary permissions alone, it proved extremely difficult. We couldn’t get bands like legendary groups – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was pretty convinced it would fail. But once Guitar Hero became a hit, and record sales and radio play increased, all artists desired to be in.”
He adds: “Among the remarkable aspects was the number of parents reached out and thanked us for exposing their children to the songs they adored. It evolved into a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Gains a New Audience
Northern Irish blues-rock band the Answer included their track on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician the artist recalls the way the game revived older hits to the forefront: “The game offered a larger, new demographic. Generally this had been seen as music that was past it, however once it got featured on the game young people were finding it, abruptly it was cool. That legitimised the genre, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It provided our catalog a new life.”
At that time, the band's first record was still unreleased stateside, so the game was a key medium of discovery for the group during their a North American tour supporting the rock giants. “The roadies were playing the song during travel, and some of them recognized us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Major Band Titles and Lasting Impact
Music's biggest acts quickly capitalised on the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in specialized spin-off titles centered around each band’s catalogue and related lore, visuals and legendary status. For example, the Aerosmith edition, it was said to have made the group greater revenue than any of their studio albums. It moved well over half a million copies upon release, while sales of Aerosmith’s music rose of up to 40% during an era when the music business faced decline.
Guitar Hero still motivates nimble-fingered dedication among its fans. Recently, a streamer achieved an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult anthem popularized through the game – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with almost identical mechanics but an array of personalization features. The song is challenging enough on expert mode, not to mention performed at increased tempo and without missing every one of the thousands of cues. The streamer claimed requiring months of practice of practice.
“Guitar Hero offers a, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you should pick up a real gun and go to war,” says musician the artist.
DragonForce previously completed a successful tour before their hit appeared in the third game, yet he explains it made them widely recognized. “I remember the record label informing us that our selling albums like crazy,” he says. “It exploded when we next toured, and we performed right ahead of the headliners at the event.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure via the game was so immense that it has threatened to overshadow all other accomplishments. Recently, the track was used in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I felt otherwise, but now I accept it,” Li says. “If you only hear one DragonForce song, that's fine – each person has a unique path in music and I’m glad we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Legacy from the Plastic Guitar
The best marketing, whether it’s for cars, apparel or games, extends beyond than selling something – it evokes a longing. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “Precisely what we were trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of being a music icon on the stage. Since the beginning, the creators believed humans have a natural human desire to create songs, and their goal was to leverage innovation to enable everyone to participate”.
The majority installments were released in just a five-year period from 2005 to 2010, including spin-offs such as the DJ version, complete with a spinning deck, and Band Hero. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments died down, except for a brief comeback in 2015.
Titles like the fan project and newer releases have kept the community active, and there’s set to be a new product from the founders in development. Recently formed developers has begun work on their first music game. The initial creators are participating in advisory roles. Are gamers prepared to welcome a new entry following the classic?
“Our team believed such titles could be like Madden allowing annual releases,” he remarks. “With abundant fresh tracks that it could be perennially popular, thus I remain optimistic. There’s no reason for it to persist with new generations.”
