It has been 20 years after the legendary game debuted across the Atlantic, offering everyday gamers the opportunity to feel like rock legends. Not in reality, but try telling that someone who's nailed the epic four-minute instrumental break before an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by the developers, the game gave players a guitar-shaped controller to match coloured notes scrolling down the display in time with a song. Every sequence corresponded to specific notes, producing the sensation of an authentic performance.
Harmonix had already experimented with rhythm games prior to teaming up with RedOctane, which was purchased by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they established the groundwork for an unlikely massively profitable series which made a remarkable influence for many musicians featured, introducing decades-old groups to a new generation of younger players.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, remembers the early financial challenges of licensing the recordings – even though initial releases primarily featured cover versions.
“We reproduced all the music since the dollar figure prohibitive,” he explains. “Even with the publishing rights alone, it was nearly impossible. We failed to secure bands like the Who – the publisher had virtually no money, and we were pretty convinced it would fail. But once Guitar Hero became a hit, and record sales airtime increased, everyone wanted to be in.”
He continues: “One of the amazing things was the number of parents got in touch expressing gratitude for exposing their children to the music they adored. It became an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Finds a New Audience
Irish group one featured act included their track in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist the artist recalls the way the game brought older hits to the forefront: “Guitar Hero provided a bigger, younger audience. Typically this had been considered outdated material, but then once it got featured on the title young people discovered it, suddenly it became trendy. This validated it, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ tag. It provided our catalog a new life.”
In 2008, the Answer’s debut album was still unreleased in the US, so Guitar Hero served as a primary platform for exposure for the group during their a North American tour opening for the rock giants. “The roadies had on the song on the tour bus, and some of them knew us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Major Band Titles and Lasting Influence
Music's heavyweight names soon capitalised on the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in specialized spin-off titles centered around their music collections and related lore, imagery and legendary status. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly earned the group greater revenue than any of their studio albums. It moved more than half a million copies in its first week, while demand for Aerosmith’s music saw an increase of up to 40% during an era when the music business was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero still motivates quick-handed fanaticism within the community. Recently, an online personality achieved a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult power-metal song popularized through Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with similar gameplay and extensive personalization features. The song is challenging enough on expert mode, not to mention played at double speed while hitting a single one of the thousands of cues. The streamer stated requiring nine months of practice.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you should pick up actual weapons and enlist,” says musician Herman Li.
The band previously completed a successful tour when their hit appeared in the third game, yet he explains it turned them into 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 were playing just before the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero was so immense that it risked overshadow all other the band has done. Last year, the track was used in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I felt differently, but now I accept it,” Li says. “Should you just hear a single track, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got a unique path in music and I'm pleased we played a role in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Legacy of a Iconic Controller
The best promotion, whether it’s for cars, apparel or video games, goes further mere transactions – it inspires a desire. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “That’s exactly what we were trying to create,” he confirms. “The excitement of being a rock star on the stage. Since the beginning, the co-founders believed there’s an instinctive urge to make music, and they wanted to leverage innovation to allow people to do it”.
The majority installments were released in just a half-decade from 2005 to 2010, featuring spin-offs such as the DJ version, including a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. After that, corporate focus on peripherals died down, aside from a brief comeback in 2015.
Titles such as the fan project and newer releases have maintained the community alive, and there’s expectations of a new product from the founders on the way. Recently formed developers has begun work on their first music game. Original co-founders are participating as special advisers. Is the world ready to embrace a new entry following the classic?
“Our team believed such titles might become similar to sports games allowing annual releases,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much new music that it could be perennially popular, thus I remain hopeful. There’s no reason for it to persist for future fans.”
