It has been 20 years since the legendary game hit the market in North America, offering everyday gamers the tools to feel like rock legends. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing someone who's mastered the epic lengthy instrumental break before a packed living-room audience.
Created by the developers, the game gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to follow on-screen cues moving along the screen in time with a song. Every sequence mimicked specific notes, creating the sensation of an authentic performance.
Harmonix had already tried its hand with rhythm games before partnering with the publisher, which was acquired by the gaming giant in 2006. Together, they established the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar franchise that had a significant influence on numerous musicians featured, showcasing classic groups to a new generation of younger players.
A former executive, former COO of Harmonix, remembers the early budgetary hurdles of licensing the songs – even though the first two games mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced all the music since the dollar figure was so high,” he says. “Despite having the necessary permissions alone, it was nearly impossible. We couldn’t get bands like legendary groups – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was fairly certain the project would flop. But once Guitar Hero became a hit, album purchases and radio play were going up, everyone wanted to participate.”
He adds: “One of the amazing things was the number of mothers and fathers reached out and thanked us for exposing their kids to the songs they adored. It evolved into an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Finds a New Audience
Northern Irish group the Answer included Never Too Late on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician the artist remembers how the series 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 Typically such music was seen as outdated material, however when it was included in the game young people discovered it, abruptly it became trendy. This validated it, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ tag. It gave all our music a new life.”
At that time, the band's first record was still unreleased stateside, meaning Guitar Hero served as a primary platform of discovery for the group during their a North American tour opening for the rock giants. “The roadies were playing the song on the tour bus, and several recognized us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.
Major Band Spin-offs and Lasting Impact
Music's heavyweight names soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in specialized spin-off titles that focused on each band’s catalogue and associated lore, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly earned the group greater revenue than any of their records. It sold well over 500,000 copies upon release, and sales of Aerosmith’s music rose of up to 40% at a time when the music business faced decline.
The series still motivates nimble-fingered fanaticism among its fans. Recently, a streamer achieved a remarkable feat featuring Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough anthem popularized through the game – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with similar gameplay and extensive personalization features. The song is challenging even in expert mode, let alone performed at increased tempo while hitting a single one of the thousands of cues. The streamer claimed it took months of practice to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, imaginary experience. Just as with Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you should pick up a real gun and enlist,” notes DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
The band previously wrapped up a profitable run when Through the Fire and Flames was featured on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it made them a household name. “I remember our distributors informing us that our selling albums like crazy,” he shares. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we were playing just before the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero was so immense that it threatened to overshadow all other accomplishments. Last year, the song featured in a trailer for a major film. “Previously I thought differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “If you only hear a single track, that's fine – everyone’s got their own path in music and I’m glad we played a role of people’s lives”.
Enduring Impact from the Iconic Controller
Top-tier promotion, whether it’s for automobiles, clothes or video games, goes further mere transactions – it inspires a longing. Was the game able to harness this? “That’s exactly what our team aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of being a music icon on the stage. Since the beginning, the creators believed humans have a natural urge to create songs, and their goal was to use technology to allow people to participate”.
Most installments came out in just a half-decade between 2005 and 2010, including spin-offs such as DJ Hero, complete with a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. After that, corporate focus in plastic instruments died down, aside from a brief comeback several years later.
Games such as Clone Hero and newer releases have maintained the community alive, and there’s set to be a new product from the founders on the way. Recently formed developers has begun work on its debut music game. Original co-founders are participating in advisory roles. Is the world ready to embrace a new entry in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed such titles might become like Madden allowing annual releases,” he remarks. “With abundant new music it could remain evergreen, so I’ve always been optimistic. There’s no reason why it can’t persist for future fans.”
