Marking 20 years after Guitar Hero first launched in North America, giving players everywhere the opportunity to feel like a rock star. Not literally, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that someone who's nailed the epic four-minute guitar solo in front of a packed living-room audience.
Developed by Harmonix, the game provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to match coloured notes moving along the display in time with the music. Each riff corresponded to particular chords, producing the sensation of an authentic live show.
Harmonix had already tried its hand with rhythm games before partnering with the publisher, which was purchased by Activision in 2006. Together, they laid the foundations for a surprising massively profitable series which made a remarkable influence for many musicians featured, introducing decades-old bands to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, recalls the early budgetary hurdles in securing the songs – even though initial releases primarily featured cover versions.
“We reproduced every song because the dollar figure was so high,” he says. “Even with the publishing rights alone, it was nearly impossible. We failed to secure acts such as legendary groups – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was pretty convinced the project would flop. But once Guitar Hero became a hit, album purchases airtime were going up, everyone wanted to participate.”
He continues: “Among the remarkable aspects was how many mothers and fathers reached out expressing gratitude for exposing their children to the songs they adored. It became an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Finds a New Audience
Northern Irish blues-rock band one featured act included Never Too Late in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician Paul Mahon remembers the way the game brought older hits to the forefront: “The game offered a bigger, new demographic. Typically this had been seen as outdated material, but then once it got featured on the game and teenagers were finding it, suddenly it became trendy. This validated the genre, and got rid of the outdated label. It provided our catalog renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the band's first record was still unreleased in the US, so Guitar Hero served as a primary platform of discovery for the group during their a North American tour supporting AC/DC. “Their crew were playing Never Too Late on the tour bus, and several knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Major Band Spin-offs Enduring Impact
Rock’s heavyweight names soon capitalised on the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in specialized game editions centered around each band’s catalogue and associated stories, imagery and legendary status. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, it was said to have made the group greater revenue compared to their records. It sold more than 500,000 copies in its first week, and sales of Aerosmith’s music saw an increase of up to 40% during an era as the industry was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire nimble-fingered dedication among its fans. Earlier this year, a streamer achieved a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s the challenging track – an infamously tough anthem popularized through Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with almost identical gameplay and extensive customisation options. The song is difficult enough on the hardest setting, not to mention performed at increased tempo and without missing every one of the thousands of cues. They claimed requiring nine months of practice.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you ought to use actual weapons and enlist,” notes musician Herman Li.
The band previously wrapped up a successful tour when their hit appeared on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it turned them into widely recognized. “I remember our distributors informing us that we were records were moving like crazy,” he says. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we performed just before top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, the band's visibility via the game was so immense that it risked eclipsing everything else accomplishments. Recently, the song featured in a trailer for a major film. “Previously I felt differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “Should you just hear one DragonForce song, that's fine – each person has a unique musical journey and I’m glad we played a role of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Legacy from the Plastic Guitar
The best promotion, be it for automobiles, apparel or video games, extends beyond than selling something – it inspires a desire. 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 co-founders believed there’s an instinctive urge to make music, and they wanted to leverage innovation to allow people to participate”.
Most of Guitar Hero games came out over a mere half-decade from 2005 to 2010, including spin-offs such as DJ Hero, including a spinning deck, and Band Hero. After that, corporate focus on peripherals died down, aside from a short-lived revival in 2015.
Games such as the fan project and Fortnite Festival have maintained the scene alive, and there’s set to be a new product from the founders on the way. A new studio has entered work on their first rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are both involved in advisory roles. Is the world ready to embrace a new entry following the classic?
“We thought such titles could be like Madden where you can releases,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much fresh tracks it could remain evergreen, thus I remain hopeful. There’s no reason for it to continue for future fans.”
