Marking two decades after Guitar Hero hit the market across the Atlantic, providing players everywhere the tools to feel like a rock star. Not in reality, but try convincing anyone who's mastered Free Bird’s four-minute instrumental break before a packed living-room audience.
Developed by the developers, Guitar Hero gave players 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 an authentic live show.
Harmonix had already tried its hand in the music genre before partnering 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 significant impact for many of the artists included, showcasing decades-old bands to millions of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, remembers the initial budgetary hurdles of licensing the recordings – despite the fact the first two games mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded all the music since the dollar figure was so high,” he says. “Even with the necessary permissions alone, it was nearly impossible. We failed to secure acts such as legendary groups – the publisher had virtually no money, and our team was fairly certain it would fail. However, when the game took off, album purchases airtime were going up, everyone wanted to participate.”
He adds: “Among the remarkable aspects was the number of mothers and fathers got in touch and thanked us for exposing their kids to the songs they loved. It evolved into an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Gains a New Audience
Irish blues-rock band the Answer had Never Too Late on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist the artist recalls how the series revived older hits to the forefront: “Guitar Hero offered a larger, younger audience. Generally this had been seen as music that was past it, but then once it got included in the title and teenagers were finding it, suddenly it was cool. That legitimised it, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ tag. It gave all our music a new life.”
In 2008, the Answer’s debut album was still unreleased in the US, meaning the game served as a primary platform of discovery 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 some of them knew us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.
Major Band Titles and Lasting Impact
Music's biggest acts soon capitalised on the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in specialized game editions that focused on each band’s catalogue and associated lore, visuals and legendary status. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly to have made the group greater revenue than any of their records. It moved well over half a million copies in its first week, and demand for Aerosmith’s music rose of up to 40% during an era when the music business faced decline.
Guitar Hero still motivates nimble-fingered fanaticism among its fans. Recently, a streamer achieved an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s the challenging track – an infamously tough anthem made popular by Guitar Hero – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with almost identical mechanics but an array of customisation options. This track 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 requiring nine months of practice.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you should pick up a real gun and enlist,” notes DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
DragonForce previously completed a successful tour before their hit was featured in the third game, yet he explains it turned them into widely recognized. “I recall our distributors calling to tell me that our selling albums rapidly,” he shares. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we performed right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure via the game proved so vast that it has risked eclipsing everything else accomplishments. Recently, the song was used in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I felt otherwise, but now I accept it,” he admits. “Should you just hear one DragonForce song, that's fine – each person has a unique path in music and I'm pleased we played a role of people’s lives”.
Enduring Impact of a Plastic Guitar
Top-tier marketing, whether it’s for cars, apparel or video games, goes further mere transactions – it inspires a longing. Was the game able to harness this? “Precisely what our team aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “The excitement of being a rock star on the stage. Since the beginning, the co-founders believed there’s an instinctive human desire to create songs, and they wanted to use technology to allow people to do it”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games were released in just a five-year period from 2005 to 2010, including spin-offs such as DJ Hero, including a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. After that, the publisher’s interest on peripherals died down, aside from a short-lived revival in 2015.
Games like the fan project and newer releases have maintained the community active, and there’s expectations of a new product from the original publisher in development. A new studio has entered work on their first music game. Original co-founders are participating in advisory roles. Is the world ready to embrace another game in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed those games might become similar to sports games allowing annual releases,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant fresh tracks that it could be perennially popular, thus I remain optimistic. It's entirely possible why it can’t continue with new generations.”
