Marking two decades since Guitar Hero first launched in North America, offering everyday gamers the opportunity to feel like rock legends. Figuratively speaking, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing anyone who's nailed Free Bird’s lengthy guitar solo before a packed crowd of friends.
Created by Harmonix, Guitar Hero provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to match on-screen cues scrolling down the display in time with a song. Each riff mimicked particular chords, producing the sensation of a genuine performance.
Harmonix previously tried its hand in the music genre prior to teaming up with RedOctane, later purchased by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they established the foundations for an unlikely massively profitable franchise that had a significant impact for many musicians featured, showcasing classic bands to millions of younger players.
A former executive, former COO from the developer, recalls the initial financial challenges of licensing the songs – despite the fact initial releases primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded all the music since the dollar figure prohibitive,” he says. “Even with the necessary permissions by themselves, it proved nearly impossible. We failed to secure bands like the Who – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were fairly certain it would fail. But once the game became a hit, album purchases airtime increased, all artists desired to participate.”
He adds: “One of the amazing things was the number of parents got in touch expressing gratitude for exposing their kids to the music they loved. It evolved into a multigenerational thing.”
Timeless Music Finds Younger Fans
Northern Irish group one featured act had their track in the 2008 release the popular installment. Lead musician the artist remembers how the series brought classic rock to the forefront: “Guitar Hero offered a bigger, younger audience. Typically such music was seen as outdated material, but then when it was included in the title young people were finding it, suddenly it was cool. That legitimised the genre, and got rid of the outdated label. It gave our catalog renewed popularity.”
At that time, the Answer’s debut album remained not available stateside, so the game was a key medium of discovery for the group as they went on a North American tour opening for the rock giants. “The roadies had on Never Too Late during travel, and several knew us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles Enduring Impact
Rock’s biggest acts soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in specialized game editions centered around their music collections and related stories, visuals and legendary status. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly to have made the group greater revenue than any of their records. It moved well over 500,000 copies upon release, while sales of Aerosmith’s music rose significantly during an era as the industry was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire quick-handed fanaticism within the community. Earlier this year, an online personality achieved a remarkable feat featuring Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult power-metal song popularized through the game – using a fan-made version, a no-cost alternative with almost identical mechanics and extensive customisation options. The song is difficult enough on expert mode, let alone performed at increased tempo and without missing every one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer claimed requiring nine months to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero offers a, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you ought to use actual weapons and go to war,” notes DragonForce guitarist the artist.
DragonForce had already completed a successful tour before Through the Fire and Flames appeared in the third game, yet he explains it turned them into a household name. “I recall the record label calling to tell me that we were selling albums like crazy,” he says. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we performed just before the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero was so immense that it has threatened to overshadow everything else the band has done. Recently, the track featured in promotional material for a major film. “Previously I felt differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “If you only hear a single track, that's fine – everyone’s got their own path in music and I'm pleased we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Legacy from the Iconic Controller
The best marketing, whether it’s for cars, apparel or games, goes further than selling something – it inspires a desire. Was the game able to tap into that? “Precisely what our team aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “The excitement of performing as a music icon on the stage. From day one, the creators believed there’s an instinctive human desire to create songs, and their goal was to use technology to allow people to do it”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games came out over a mere five-year period between 2005 and 2010, including derivative titles such as the DJ version, including a turntable controller, and Band Hero. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments died down, aside from a brief comeback several years later.
Games like the fan project and Fortnite Festival have kept the community active, with expectations of something from the original publisher in development. A new studio has begun production on their first rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are both involved in advisory roles. Are gamers ready to embrace a new entry 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 new music it could remain perennially popular, thus I remain hopeful. It's entirely possible why it can’t persist for future fans.”
