It has been 20 years since the legendary game debuted in North America, offering everyday gamers the means to become a rock star. Figuratively speaking, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing someone who has mastered the epic four-minute guitar solo in front of a packed living-room audience.
Created by Harmonix, the game gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to follow on-screen cues scrolling down the display synchronized to a song. Every sequence mimicked specific notes, creating the sensation of a genuine live show.
The studio previously tried its hand with rhythm games before partnering with RedOctane, which was acquired by Activision in 2006. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for an unlikely massively profitable franchise which made a remarkable impact on numerous of the artists featured, introducing decades-old groups to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, former COO from the developer, recalls the early financial challenges in securing the recordings – despite the fact the first two games mostly used cover versions.
“We reproduced all the music since the dollar figure prohibitive,” he explains. “Even with the publishing rights by themselves, it proved extremely difficult. We failed to secure bands like the Who – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were pretty convinced it would fail. But once Guitar Hero took off, album purchases airtime increased, all artists desired to be in.”
He adds: “Among the remarkable aspects was how many parents got in touch and thanked us for introducing their kids to the music they adored. It became a multigenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Finds Younger Fans
Irish blues-rock band one featured act had their track in the 2008 release the popular installment. Guitarist Paul Mahon recalls how the series revived older hits to the forefront: “The game provided a bigger, younger audience. Typically this had been seen as music that was past it, but then once it got included in the game young people discovered it, abruptly it was cool. This validated it, eliminating the outdated tag. It gave our catalog a new life.”
At that time, the band's debut album remained not available stateside, so Guitar Hero was a key medium of discovery for the band as they went on a North American tour supporting AC/DC. “Their crew were playing Never Too Late on the tour bus, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs Enduring Influence
Music's heavyweight names soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in dedicated game editions that focused on each band’s catalogue and associated stories, imagery and legendary status. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly to have made the group more money than any of their studio albums. It sold more than 500,000 copies upon release, while sales of Aerosmith’s music saw an increase significantly at a time when the music business was already collapsing.
The series still motivates quick-handed fanaticism among its fans. Recently, a streamer achieved a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult anthem popularized through the game – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical gameplay but an array of personalization features. This track is difficult enough on the hardest setting, not to mention played at double speed while hitting a single one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer stated it took months of practice of practice.
“The game is a fun, fantasy thing. Just as with Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you ought to pick up actual weapons and enlist,” notes DragonForce guitarist the artist.
The band had already wrapped up a profitable run before their hit was featured in the third game, but Li says it made them widely recognized. “I recall the record label calling to tell me that we were selling albums like crazy,” he shares. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we performed right ahead of top acts at the event.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure via the game proved so vast that it threatened to overshadow everything else accomplishments. Recently, the track featured in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I thought differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “Should you just listen to one DragonForce song, that's fine – everyone’s got their own path in music and I'm pleased we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Impact from the Plastic Guitar
Top-tier marketing, be it for cars, clothes or games, extends beyond than selling something – it evokes a desire. Was the game able to harness this? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “That thrill of being a music icon on the stage. Since the beginning, the co-founders felt that there’s an instinctive human desire to make music, and their goal was to leverage innovation to allow people to do it”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games came out over a mere half-decade between 2005 and 2010, featuring spin-offs such as the DJ version, including a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. After that, the publisher’s interest on peripherals died down, except for a brief comeback in 2015.
Titles like Clone Hero and newer releases have maintained the community active, with expectations of something from the original publisher on the way. A new studio has entered work on its debut music game. The initial creators are both involved as special advisers. Are gamers prepared to welcome a new entry in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed those games could be like Madden allowing annual releases,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much new music it could remain perennially popular, so I’ve always been optimistic. It's entirely possible for it to persist for future fans.”
