Marking two decades since Guitar Hero debuted across the Atlantic, giving everyday gamers the opportunity to become a rock star. Figuratively speaking, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that someone who has nailed the epic four-minute guitar solo before a packed living-room audience.
Created by Harmonix, Guitar Hero gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to match on-screen cues scrolling down the display synchronized to a song. Each riff corresponded to specific notes, producing the sensation of a genuine performance.
The studio had already tried its hand in the music genre prior to teaming up with RedOctane, which was acquired by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they laid the groundwork for an unlikely massively profitable franchise that had a remarkable influence on numerous musicians featured, introducing decades-old bands to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, remembers the early budgetary hurdles in securing the songs – despite the fact initial releases mostly used cover versions.
“We reproduced every song since the cost was so high,” he says. “Even with the publishing rights alone, it was extremely difficult. We failed to secure acts such as legendary groups – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were pretty convinced the project would flop. However, when Guitar Hero took off, and record sales airtime increased, everyone wanted to be in.”
He continues: “Among the amazing things was the number of parents reached out expressing gratitude for introducing their kids to the songs they loved. It became an intergenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Gains a New Audience
Northern Irish blues-rock band the Answer had Never Too Late in the 2008 release the popular installment. Guitarist Paul Mahon recalls how the series revived classic rock to the forefront: “The game provided a larger, younger audience. Generally this had been seen as music that was past it, however when it was included in the title young people were finding it, suddenly it became trendy. This validated the genre, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ label. It provided our catalog a new life.”
At that time, the Answer’s debut album was still not available stateside, so Guitar Hero was a key medium for exposure for the group during their US 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 and Lasting Impact
Rock’s heavyweight names soon took advantage of the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in specialized spin-off titles that focused on each band’s catalogue and related stories, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, the Aerosmith edition, it was said earned the group more money compared to their studio albums. It moved well over 500,000 units in its first week, and demand for Aerosmith’s music saw an increase of up to 40% at a time when the music business was already collapsing.
The series continues to inspire nimble-fingered fanaticism among its fans. Recently, a streamer achieved an impressive attempt featuring the challenging track – an infamously tough power-metal song popularized through Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical gameplay but an array of customisation options. This track is difficult enough on the hardest setting, let alone performed at double speed and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. The streamer claimed requiring months of practice to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you should use a real gun and enlist,” notes DragonForce guitarist the artist.
The band had already wrapped up a profitable run when Through the Fire and Flames was featured on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it made them widely recognized. “I remember the record label informing us that our selling albums rapidly,” he shares. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we were playing right ahead of top acts at the event.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it has threatened to overshadow everything else accomplishments. Last year, the song was used in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I thought differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “If you only listen to one DragonForce song, that's fine – everyone’s got a unique path in music and I’m glad we played a role in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Impact from the Iconic Controller
Top-tier marketing, whether it’s for automobiles, apparel or video games, extends beyond than selling something – it inspires a longing. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of being a rock star in the spotlight. From day one, the co-founders felt that there’s an instinctive urge to create songs, and they wanted to use technology to enable everyone to participate”.
Most of Guitar Hero games came out over a mere half-decade 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, except for a short-lived revival in 2015.
Titles such as the fan project and newer releases have kept the scene active, and there’s expectations of something from the original publisher in development. A new studio has begun work on their first music game. The initial creators are participating in advisory roles. Is the world ready to embrace a new entry following Guitar Hero?
“We thought such titles could be similar to sports games allowing annual update every year,” he remarks. “There’s so much fresh tracks it could remain evergreen, so I’ve always been optimistic. It's entirely possible for it to continue for future fans.”
