It has been two decades after Guitar Hero first launched in North America, offering players everywhere the means to feel like rock legends. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that someone who has mastered the epic four-minute instrumental break in front of a packed crowd of friends.
Created by Harmonix, Guitar Hero provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to match on-screen cues moving along the display in time with a song. Every sequence corresponded to particular chords, creating the sensation of an authentic live show.
Harmonix had already tried its hand with rhythm games prior to teaming up with RedOctane, later acquired by Activision in 2006. Collaboratively, they laid the groundwork for an unlikely massively profitable series which made a remarkable impact for many of the artists included, showcasing decades-old groups to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO from the developer, remembers the early financial challenges in securing the recordings – despite the fact initial releases primarily featured cover versions.
“We reproduced every song since the dollar figure was so high,” he says. “Even with the necessary permissions by themselves, it proved nearly impossible. We couldn’t get acts such as the Who – the publisher had virtually no money, and our team was fairly certain it would fail. However, when the game became a hit, and record sales and radio play were going up, all artists desired to participate.”
He continues: “Among the amazing things was how many mothers and fathers got in touch expressing gratitude for exposing their children to the songs they adored. It evolved into a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Gains a New Audience
Northern Irish blues-rock band the Answer included their track in the 2008 release the popular installment. Lead musician Paul Mahon recalls how the series brought older hits to the forefront: “The game provided a bigger, new demographic. Generally this had been considered music that was past it, but then once it got featured on the game and teenagers were finding it, suddenly it became trendy. This validated the genre, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ label. It gave our catalog a new life.”
At that time, the Answer’s debut album remained unreleased stateside, so Guitar Hero was a key medium of discovery for the band as they went on a North American tour supporting AC/DC. “Their crew had on the song during travel, and some of them recognized us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Major Band Titles and Lasting Influence
Music's heavyweight names quickly capitalised on the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in dedicated game editions that focused on each band’s catalogue and related stories, imagery 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 well over 500,000 units upon release, while sales of Aerosmith’s music saw an increase significantly during an era as the industry faced decline.
Guitar Hero still motivates nimble-fingered dedication within the community. Recently, a streamer achieved an impressive attempt featuring Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough power-metal song popularized through the game – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with almost identical gameplay and extensive personalization features. This track is challenging even in expert mode, let alone performed at increased tempo while hitting a single one of the thousands of cues. They claimed requiring months of practice of practice.
“The game offers a, imaginary experience. If you play other games, it doesn't imply you ought to use actual weapons and enlist,” notes DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
DragonForce had already wrapped up a profitable run when Through the Fire and Flames was featured in the third game, yet he explains it made them widely recognized. “I recall the record label calling to tell me that we were selling albums like crazy,” he says. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we were playing right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero was so immense that it threatened to overshadow everything else the band has done. Last year, the song was used in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I thought otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “If you only hear one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got their own path in music and I'm pleased we played a role in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Impact from the Plastic Guitar
Top-tier marketing, whether it’s for cars, apparel or games, goes further mere transactions – it evokes a longing. Was the game able to harness this? “Precisely what our team trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of being a music icon in the spotlight. From day one, the co-founders believed there’s an instinctive urge to create songs, and their goal was to use technology to enable everyone to do it”.
Most installments came out over a mere five-year period from 2005 to 2010, including spin-offs such as the DJ version, including a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. After that, the publisher’s interest on peripherals waned, aside from a short-lived revival in 2015.
Titles like the fan project and Fortnite Festival have kept the scene alive, and there’s expectations of a new product from the original publisher in development. Recently formed developers has entered work on their first music game. The initial creators are participating in advisory roles. Is the world prepared to welcome a new entry in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“We thought those games could be similar to sports games where you can update every year,” he remarks. “With abundant fresh tracks it could remain evergreen, thus I remain optimistic. It's entirely possible why it can’t continue with new generations.”
