It has been two decades after Guitar Hero debuted in North America, providing players everywhere the means to become rock legends. Not in reality, but try convincing someone who's mastered the epic lengthy guitar solo in front of an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by the developers, Guitar Hero provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to follow coloured notes moving along the screen in time with the music. Each riff mimicked specific notes, producing the feel of an authentic performance.
The studio had already tried its hand with rhythm games before partnering with RedOctane, later acquired by the gaming giant in 2006. Together, they established the groundwork for a surprising massively profitable franchise that had a remarkable impact for many musicians featured, introducing classic bands to millions of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, recalls the initial budgetary hurdles of licensing the recordings – despite the fact the first two games mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded all the music because the dollar figure prohibitive,” he says. “Despite having the necessary permissions alone, it was nearly impossible. We couldn’t get acts such as the Who – the publisher had virtually no money, and our team was pretty convinced the project would flop. However, when Guitar Hero became a hit, and record sales and radio play were going up, everyone wanted to participate.”
He adds: “One of the remarkable aspects was the number of parents reached out and thanked us for introducing their children to the songs they adored. It evolved into a multigenerational thing.”
Timeless Music Finds Younger Fans
Irish group the Answer had Never Too Late in the 2008 release the popular installment. Guitarist Paul Mahon recalls the way the game brought classic rock to the forefront: “Guitar Hero provided a larger, younger audience. Typically such music was seen as outdated material, however when it was featured on the game and teenagers discovered it, abruptly it was cool. This validated it, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ label. It provided all our music renewed popularity.”
At that time, the Answer’s debut album was still unreleased stateside, so Guitar Hero served as a primary platform for exposure for the group as they went on a North American tour opening for AC/DC. “Their crew had on the song during travel, and several recognized us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.
Major Band Spin-offs Enduring Influence
Rock’s heavyweight names quickly took advantage of the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in dedicated spin-off titles centered around their music collections and related stories, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, the Aerosmith edition, it was said earned the band more money than any of their records. It sold well over 500,000 units upon release, while demand for Aerosmith’s music saw an increase of up to 40% at a time when the music business faced decline.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire quick-handed dedication within the community. Recently, an online personality achieved an impressive attempt featuring the challenging track – an infamously tough anthem popularized through Guitar Hero – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with almost identical mechanics and extensive personalization features. The song is difficult enough on expert mode, not to mention played at increased tempo and without missing every one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer stated it took nine months to accomplish.
“The game is a fun, fantasy thing. Just as with other games, that doesn’t mean you should use a real gun and enlist,” says musician Herman Li.
The band had already completed a successful tour before Through the Fire and Flames appeared in the third game, but Li says it made them a household name. “I remember the record label calling to tell me that we were records were moving like crazy,” he says. “It exploded when we next toured, and we performed just before the headliners at the event.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it risked eclipsing all other the band has done. Last year, the song featured in a trailer for a major film. “In the past I thought otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “If you only listen to one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – each person has their own musical journey and I’m glad we played a role of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Impact of a Iconic Controller
The best promotion, whether it’s for cars, clothes or games, goes further mere transactions – it evokes a longing. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “That’s exactly what our team aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “The excitement of being a music icon in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the co-founders felt that humans have a natural urge to make music, and they wanted to leverage innovation to allow people to do it”.
The majority installments came out in just a half-decade from 2005 to 2010, featuring spin-offs like the DJ version, complete with a turntable controller, and Band Hero. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest on peripherals died down, except for a brief comeback in 2015.
Games like Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have kept the community alive, with set to be something from the original publisher in development. A new studio has entered work on their first music game. The initial creators are both involved as special advisers. Are gamers ready to embrace a new entry following Guitar Hero?
“We thought such titles might become like Madden where you can releases,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much fresh tracks that it could be evergreen, thus I remain hopeful. There’s no reason for it to continue with new generations.”
