Marking 20 years since the legendary game first launched across the Atlantic, giving players everywhere the opportunity to feel like a rock star. Not literally, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that someone who's mastered Free Bird’s lengthy guitar solo in front of a packed crowd of friends.
Developed by Harmonix, the game gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to follow on-screen cues moving along the screen synchronized to a song. Each riff corresponded to specific notes, creating the feel of a genuine live show.
Harmonix had already experimented with rhythm games before partnering with the publisher, which was purchased by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar franchise which made a significant impact for many of the artists included, showcasing decades-old bands to a new generation of younger players.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, remembers the initial budgetary hurdles in securing the songs – despite the fact initial releases mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded all the music because the dollar figure was so high,” he says. “Even with the publishing rights alone, it proved nearly impossible. We failed to secure acts such as the Who – RedOctane had virtually no money, and we were pretty convinced it would fail. But once the game took off, and record sales airtime increased, everyone wanted to participate.”
He continues: “One of the remarkable aspects was how many parents got in touch expressing gratitude for introducing their children to the music they loved. It evolved into an intergenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Gains a New Audience
Irish group the Answer included Never Too Late in the 2008 release the popular installment. Guitarist the artist recalls the way the game revived older hits to the forefront: “Guitar Hero offered a bigger, new demographic. Typically such music was considered music that was past it, however once it got included in the title young people were finding it, suddenly it became trendy. That legitimised it, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It gave our catalog renewed popularity.”
At that time, the band's first record remained not available stateside, meaning Guitar Hero was a key medium of discovery for the band during their a North American tour opening for AC/DC. “The roadies had on Never Too Late during travel, and several knew us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Major Band Titles and Lasting Influence
Rock’s biggest acts quickly took advantage of the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in specialized game editions that focused on their music collections and related stories, imagery and legendary status. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said to have made the band greater revenue compared to their records. It sold well over 500,000 copies upon release, while sales of their songs saw an increase of up to 40% during an era when the music business faced decline.
Guitar Hero still motivates nimble-fingered dedication within the community. Earlier this year, an online personality completed an impressive attempt featuring 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 and extensive personalization features. The song is challenging even in expert mode, not to mention performed at double speed and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. The streamer claimed it took months of practice of practice.
“The game offers a, imaginary experience. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to use a real gun and enlist,” notes musician Herman Li.
DragonForce had already completed a successful tour when their hit was featured on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it made them widely recognized. “I remember our distributors informing us that we were records were moving rapidly,” he shares. “It exploded when we next toured, and we were playing right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, the band's visibility via the game was so immense that it has threatened to eclipsing everything else the band has done. Recently, the song featured in promotional material for a major film. “In the past I felt differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “If you only listen to one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – each person has a unique path in music and I’m glad we played a role in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Legacy from the Plastic Guitar
The best marketing, be it for automobiles, apparel or video games, goes further than selling something – it evokes a longing. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of being a rock star on the stage. From day one, the creators felt that there’s an instinctive human desire to make music, and they wanted to leverage innovation to allow people to do it”.
Most installments came out in just a five-year period between 2005 and 2010, including spin-offs such as the DJ version, including a turntable controller, and Band Hero. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments waned, except for a brief comeback in 2015.
Titles like Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have kept the scene alive, and there’s set to be something from the original publisher in development. A new studio has begun production on its debut music game. The initial creators are participating as special advisers. Are gamers ready to embrace a new entry following the classic?
“We thought those games could be similar to sports games allowing annual releases,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant fresh tracks that it could be evergreen, so I’ve always been hopeful. It's entirely possible why it can’t persist for future fans.”
