Marking two decades since Guitar Hero first launched in North America, offering players everywhere the opportunity to become a rock star. Figuratively speaking, but try telling that anyone who has nailed the epic lengthy guitar solo before a packed crowd of friends.
Created by the developers, Guitar Hero gave players a guitar-shaped controller to follow on-screen cues moving along the screen in time with a song. Each riff corresponded to particular chords, creating the sensation of a genuine performance.
Harmonix had already tried its hand in the music genre before partnering with the publisher, later acquired by the gaming giant in 2006. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for an unlikely massively profitable series that had a significant impact on numerous musicians featured, introducing decades-old bands to millions of younger players.
A former executive, former COO of Harmonix, remembers the early financial challenges in securing the recordings – despite the fact the first two games primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced every song since the cost prohibitive,” he says. “Even with the publishing rights alone, it proved nearly impossible. We couldn’t get bands like the Who – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was fairly certain the project would flop. However, when Guitar Hero became a hit, album purchases and radio play were going up, everyone wanted to be in.”
He adds: “Among the remarkable aspects was how many parents got in touch and thanked us for introducing their children to the songs they adored. It evolved into a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Finds Younger Fans
Northern Irish blues-rock band one featured act included their track on the 2008 game the popular installment. Guitarist Paul Mahon remembers the way the game revived classic rock to the forefront: “Guitar Hero offered a larger, younger audience. Typically such music was considered outdated material, but then once it got included in the game and teenagers were finding it, suddenly it became trendy. That legitimised it, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ label. It provided our catalog renewed popularity.”
At that time, the Answer’s first record was still unreleased stateside, so Guitar Hero served as a primary platform for exposure for the band during their US tour supporting the rock giants. “Their crew had on Never Too Late on the tour bus, and some of them knew us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.
Major Band Spin-offs Enduring Impact
Music's biggest acts soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in specialized spin-off titles centered around each band’s catalogue and associated lore, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said to have made the band more money compared to their records. It sold more than half a million units upon release, while sales of Aerosmith’s music saw an increase significantly during an era as the industry faced decline.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire quick-handed dedication 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 the game – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with almost identical mechanics but an array of personalization features. This track is challenging even in expert mode, let alone played at double speed while hitting every one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer claimed requiring months of practice to accomplish.
“The game is a fun, imaginary experience. If you play Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you should use a real gun and go to war,” notes musician Herman Li.
DragonForce had already completed a profitable run before Through the Fire and Flames was featured in the third game, but Li says it made them a household name. “I recall the record label informing us that we were selling albums like crazy,” he shares. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we performed just before the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure via the game proved so vast that it has threatened to overshadow everything else accomplishments. Recently, the song featured in a trailer for a major film. “In the past I thought otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “If you only listen to a single track, it’s totally cool – each person has their own musical journey and I’m glad we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
Enduring Legacy from the Plastic Guitar
The best marketing, whether it’s for cars, apparel or games, extends beyond than selling something – it inspires a longing. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “That’s exactly what our team aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “That thrill of performing as a rock star in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the creators believed there’s an instinctive human desire to create songs, and their goal was to leverage innovation to enable everyone to do it”.
The majority installments came out over a mere five-year period between 2005 and 2010, including spin-offs like DJ Hero, complete with a spinning deck, and Band Hero. Subsequently, corporate focus in plastic instruments died down, except for a brief comeback several years later.
Games such as Clone Hero and newer releases have maintained the community alive, and there’s expectations of something from the original publisher on the way. A new studio has entered work on its debut rhythm-based title. The initial creators are participating in advisory roles. Is the world prepared to welcome another game in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed such titles might become similar to sports games where you can update every year,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much new music it could remain perennially popular, so I’ve always been hopeful. It's entirely possible why it can’t continue for future fans.”
