It has been 20 years since the legendary game debuted across the Atlantic, giving everyday gamers the means to feel like a rock star. Figuratively speaking, but try telling that anyone who's nailed Free Bird’s four-minute instrumental break before an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Developed by the developers, the game gave players a guitar-shaped controller to match coloured notes scrolling down the display synchronized to a song. Every sequence corresponded to particular chords, producing the sensation of a genuine live show.
The studio previously experimented in the music genre prior to teaming up with the publisher, later purchased by Activision during the mid-2000s. Together, they established the groundwork for a surprising massively profitable franchise which made a remarkable influence for many musicians featured, introducing classic groups to millions of younger players.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, recalls the early budgetary hurdles of licensing the recordings – despite the fact the first two games primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded all the music because the cost prohibitive,” he explains. “Despite having the necessary permissions by themselves, it was extremely difficult. We couldn’t get acts such as the Who – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was pretty convinced it would fail. But once the game took off, album purchases airtime increased, everyone wanted to participate.”
He adds: “One of the amazing things was how many parents got in touch expressing gratitude for exposing their kids to the music they adored. It became a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Finds a New Audience
Northern Irish blues-rock band the Answer had their track in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist the artist recalls the way the game brought classic rock back into vogue: “Guitar Hero provided a larger, younger audience. Typically this had been seen as music that was past it, but then when it was featured on the game young people discovered it, abruptly it became trendy. This validated the genre, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It gave our catalog renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the Answer’s debut album was still unreleased in the US, meaning the game was a key medium for exposure for the group during their a North American tour opening for the rock giants. “Their crew were playing Never Too Late during travel, and some of them knew us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Major Band Spin-offs Enduring Influence
Music's heavyweight names quickly took advantage of the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in specialized spin-off titles centered around their music collections and associated lore, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said to have made the band greater revenue than any of their records. It moved well over half a million units in its first week, and demand for Aerosmith’s music saw an increase of up to 40% during an era as the industry faced decline.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire quick-handed fanaticism within the community. Earlier this year, an online personality achieved a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s the challenging track – a notoriously difficult power-metal song made popular by Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical mechanics and extensive personalization features. The song is challenging even in expert mode, let alone performed at double speed and without missing every one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer stated it took nine months of practice.
“Guitar Hero offers a, fantasy thing. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you should pick up a real gun and go to war,” notes musician Herman Li.
DragonForce had already wrapped up a profitable run before their hit appeared on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it made them a household name. “I remember the record label informing us that we were selling albums like crazy,” he shares. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we performed just before top acts at the event.”
Indeed, the band's visibility via the game was so immense that it threatened to overshadow all other accomplishments. Last year, the track was used in a trailer for a major film. “In the past I thought otherwise, but now I accept it,” he admits. “If you only hear one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – each person has their own path in music and I'm pleased we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
Enduring Impact of a Plastic Guitar
The best promotion, whether it’s for automobiles, clothes or video games, extends beyond mere transactions – it evokes a longing. Was the game able to harness this? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a music icon on the stage. Since the beginning, the co-founders felt that humans have a natural human desire to create songs, and they wanted to use technology to allow people to do it”.
Most of Guitar Hero games came out over a mere half-decade from 2005 to 2010, featuring derivative titles such as the DJ version, complete with a turntable controller, and Band Hero. Subsequently, corporate focus in plastic instruments died down, aside from a short-lived revival in 2015.
Titles such as Clone Hero and newer releases have kept the community active, and there’s expectations of a new product from the founders in development. Recently formed developers has begun production on its debut music game. Original co-founders are participating as special advisers. Is the world prepared to welcome another game in the spirit of the classic?
“Our team believed those games could be similar to sports games allowing annual releases,” he remarks. “There’s so much fresh tracks that it could be evergreen, so I’ve always been optimistic. It's entirely possible for it to continue with new generations.”
