It has been 20 years after Guitar Hero debuted across the Atlantic, offering players everywhere the opportunity to feel like a rock star. Not in reality, but try telling that anyone who's mastered the epic four-minute guitar solo in front of an enthusiastic crowd of friends.
Created by the developers, Guitar Hero gave players a guitar-shaped controller to follow on-screen cues scrolling down the screen in time with the music. Every sequence mimicked particular chords, producing the sensation of an authentic live show.
The studio had already experimented with rhythm games prior to teaming up with the publisher, later acquired by Activision in 2006. Collaboratively, they established the groundwork for an unlikely billion-dollar franchise which made a remarkable impact for many musicians included, showcasing classic groups to a new generation of younger players.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, recalls the initial budgetary hurdles of licensing the songs – even though the first two games mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced every song since the dollar figure prohibitive,” he explains. “Despite having the publishing rights alone, it proved extremely difficult. We couldn’t get acts such as legendary groups – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were fairly certain it would fail. But once the game took off, and record sales and radio play increased, everyone wanted to participate.”
He continues: “Among the remarkable aspects was how many parents got in touch expressing gratitude for exposing their children to the songs they loved. It evolved into a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Gains Younger Fans
Northern Irish blues-rock band one featured act included their track in the 2008 release the popular installment. Lead musician Paul Mahon recalls how the series revived classic rock back into vogue: “Guitar Hero provided a larger, new demographic. Typically this had been considered music that was past it, but then once it got featured on the game and teenagers were finding it, suddenly it was cool. This validated the genre, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ label. It gave all our music renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the Answer’s first record remained unreleased stateside, so the game was a key medium for exposure for the group as they went on a North American tour supporting AC/DC. “Their crew were playing Never Too Late on the tour bus, and several knew us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles Enduring Impact
Music's heavyweight names soon capitalised on the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in dedicated game editions that focused on each band’s catalogue and associated lore, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, it was said to have made the group more money than any of their records. It moved more than half a million units upon release, and sales of their songs rose of up to 40% at a time when the music business was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero still motivates nimble-fingered dedication among its fans. Earlier this year, a streamer completed a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s the challenging track – a notoriously difficult anthem popularized through Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical mechanics but an array of customisation options. The song is challenging even in the hardest setting, not to mention played at increased tempo while hitting a single one of the thousands of cues. The streamer claimed it took months of practice of practice.
“The game is a fun, imaginary experience. Just as with other games, it doesn't imply you ought to pick up actual weapons and go to war,” notes musician the artist.
The band had already wrapped up a successful tour before Through the Fire and Flames appeared on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it made them a household name. “I remember the record label calling to tell me that our records were moving rapidly,” he says. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we were playing right ahead of top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, the band's visibility via the game proved so vast that it has threatened to eclipsing everything else the band has done. Recently, the song was used in a trailer for a major film. “Previously I thought differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “Should you just hear a single track, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got their own musical journey and I'm pleased we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Legacy of a Plastic Guitar
Top-tier promotion, be it for cars, clothes or games, goes further than selling something – it evokes a longing. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “That’s exactly what we were trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a rock star in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the creators believed humans have a natural human desire to make music, and their goal was to leverage innovation to allow people to participate”.
The majority installments were released in just a five-year period from 2005 to 2010, including spin-offs like DJ Hero, complete with a turntable controller, and Band Hero. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest on peripherals died down, except for a short-lived revival several years later.
Titles like Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have kept the community alive, and there’s set to be something from the original publisher on the way. Recently formed developers has entered work on its debut music game. Original co-founders are both involved in advisory roles. Are gamers ready to embrace another game following the classic?
“Our team believed those games might become similar to sports games allowing annual update every year,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much fresh tracks that it could be evergreen, so I’ve always been optimistic. It's entirely possible why it can’t continue with new generations.”
