It has been two decades after the legendary game hit the market in North America, offering players everywhere the tools to feel like a rock star. Not literally, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that someone who has mastered Free Bird’s lengthy guitar solo in front of a packed crowd of friends.
Created by the developers, Guitar Hero provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to follow on-screen cues moving along the screen synchronized to a song. Every sequence corresponded to particular chords, creating the sensation of a genuine live show.
Harmonix previously experimented with rhythm games before partnering with RedOctane, which was acquired by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they established the groundwork for a surprising massively profitable series that had a significant impact for many of the artists featured, showcasing decades-old bands to a new generation of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, recalls the initial budgetary hurdles of licensing the songs – despite the fact the first two games primarily featured cover versions.
“We reproduced every song since the dollar figure was so high,” he explains. “Even with the publishing rights alone, it was nearly impossible. We failed to secure bands like legendary groups – the publisher had virtually no money, and our team was fairly certain it would fail. However, when the game took off, and record sales airtime were going up, everyone wanted to be in.”
He adds: “One of the remarkable aspects was the number of parents got in touch expressing gratitude for introducing their kids to the songs they loved. It evolved into a multigenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Finds Younger Fans
Irish group one featured act included their track on the 2008 game the popular installment. Guitarist the artist remembers the way the game revived classic rock to the forefront: “Guitar Hero offered a larger, new demographic. Typically such music was considered music that was past it, however when it was included in the title and teenagers were finding it, suddenly it was cool. That legitimised the genre, and got rid of the outdated tag. It provided all our music renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the Answer’s debut album was still unreleased stateside, meaning Guitar Hero served as a primary platform of discovery for the group during their a North American tour supporting the rock giants. “Their crew had on the song during travel, and several knew us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Major Band Titles Enduring Impact
Music's biggest acts soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in specialized spin-off titles that focused on each band’s catalogue and associated stories, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly to have made the band more money than any of their studio albums. It sold more than 500,000 copies in its first week, while demand for their songs rose of up to 40% at a time when the music business faced decline.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire quick-handed dedication among its fans. Recently, an online personality achieved an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult anthem made popular by Guitar Hero – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with similar mechanics but an array of customisation options. The song is difficult even in expert mode, let alone played at double speed while hitting every one of the thousands of cues. The streamer claimed requiring nine months of practice.
“The game offers a, fantasy thing. Just as with other games, that doesn’t mean you should pick up actual weapons and go to war,” notes DragonForce guitarist the artist.
DragonForce had already wrapped up a successful tour before Through the Fire and Flames was featured on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it made them a household name. “I remember the record label calling to tell me that our records were moving like crazy,” he says. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we were playing right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, the band's visibility via the game proved so vast that it has risked eclipsing all other the band has done. Recently, the song 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 hear a single track, that's fine – each person has a unique musical journey and I'm pleased we played a role in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Impact from the Plastic Guitar
Top-tier marketing, be it for automobiles, apparel or video games, extends beyond mere transactions – it inspires a longing. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “That’s exactly what our team trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of being a music icon in the spotlight. From day one, the co-founders believed there’s an instinctive human desire to create songs, and their goal was to leverage innovation to allow people to do it”.
Most of Guitar Hero games came out in just a five-year period from 2005 to 2010, featuring derivative titles such as the DJ version, including a spinning deck, and Band Hero. After that, corporate focus in plastic instruments died down, except for a brief comeback several years later.
Titles like the fan project and newer releases have kept the scene active, and there’s expectations of a new product from the founders on the way. Recently formed developers has begun work on its debut music game. The initial creators are participating in advisory roles. Is the world prepared to welcome a new entry following the classic?
“We thought such titles could be like Madden allowing annual update every year,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much new music it could remain evergreen, thus I remain optimistic. It's entirely possible why it can’t persist for future fans.”
