Marking two decades after the legendary game first launched across the Atlantic, offering everyday gamers the tools to become rock legends. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing someone who has nailed Free Bird’s lengthy guitar solo in front of a packed crowd of friends.
Created by Harmonix, Guitar Hero provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to follow on-screen cues moving along the display synchronized to a song. Every sequence corresponded to particular chords, creating the sensation of an authentic performance.
The studio previously experimented with rhythm games before partnering with the publisher, which was acquired by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they established the foundations for a surprising billion-dollar series that had a significant impact on numerous musicians featured, showcasing decades-old bands to a new generation of younger players.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, recalls the initial financial challenges of licensing the recordings – despite the fact initial releases mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded every song since the dollar figure prohibitive,” he explains. “Despite having the necessary permissions by themselves, it was extremely difficult. We couldn’t get bands like legendary groups – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were fairly certain the project would flop. But once Guitar Hero took off, album purchases and radio play increased, everyone wanted to be in.”
He continues: “One of the amazing things was the number of mothers and fathers got in touch and thanked us for introducing their kids to the songs they loved. It evolved into an intergenerational thing.”
Timeless Music Finds a New Audience
Northern Irish group the Answer had Never Too Late on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician Paul Mahon remembers the way the game revived classic rock back into vogue: “The game provided a bigger, new demographic. Typically this had been considered outdated material, however when it was included in the title and teenagers were finding it, suddenly it was cool. This validated it, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ label. It provided all our music a new life.”
At that time, the band's first record was still not available stateside, so the game served as a primary platform of discovery for the band during their US tour opening for AC/DC. “The roadies had on the song on the tour bus, and several recognized us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles and Lasting Impact
Rock’s heavyweight names quickly took advantage of the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in dedicated spin-off titles that focused on their music collections and associated lore, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said to have made the band greater revenue compared to their studio albums. It moved more than 500,000 units in its first week, and demand for their songs saw an increase significantly during an era as the industry faced decline.
Guitar Hero still motivates nimble-fingered fanaticism among its fans. Earlier this year, a streamer achieved a remarkable feat featuring the challenging track – an infamously tough anthem popularized through the game – using a fan-made version, a no-cost alternative with almost identical gameplay but an array of personalization features. This track is challenging enough on the hardest setting, not to mention played at double speed and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. They stated requiring months of practice to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, imaginary experience. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to use actual weapons and go to war,” says musician Herman Li.
DragonForce had already wrapped up a profitable run before their hit was featured on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it turned them into widely recognized. “I recall the record label calling to tell me that our selling albums rapidly,” he shares. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we performed right ahead of the headliners at the event.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure via the game proved so vast that it has risked eclipsing all other accomplishments. Recently, the song was used in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I thought differently, but now I accept it,” he admits. “If you only hear a single track, that's fine – each person has their own musical journey and I'm pleased we played a role of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Legacy from the Iconic Controller
The best promotion, be it for cars, apparel or video games, extends beyond than selling something – it evokes a longing. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “That’s exactly what we were trying to create,” he confirms. “The excitement of performing as a rock star in the spotlight. From day one, the co-founders felt that humans have a natural urge to make music, and their goal was to leverage innovation to enable everyone to do it”.
Most of Guitar Hero games were released over a mere five-year period from 2005 to 2010, featuring spin-offs like the DJ version, complete with a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. After that, corporate focus in plastic instruments died down, except for a short-lived revival several years later.
Games such as the fan project and newer releases have kept the community active, and there’s expectations of a new product from the founders on the way. Recently formed developers has begun work on its debut rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are both involved as special advisers. Is the world ready to embrace another game following Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed such titles could be like Madden allowing annual update every year,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much fresh tracks that it could be evergreen, so I’ve always been hopeful. It's entirely possible why it can’t persist with new generations.”
