Marking 20 years after Guitar Hero debuted in North America, offering players everywhere the opportunity to become a rock star. Figuratively speaking, but try telling that anyone who's nailed the epic lengthy instrumental break before a packed living-room audience.
Created by Harmonix, the game gave players a guitar-shaped controller to follow on-screen cues moving along the display synchronized to the music. Every sequence corresponded to particular chords, producing the feel of an authentic live show.
The studio had already experimented with rhythm games prior to teaming up with the publisher, which was purchased by Activision in 2006. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for a surprising billion-dollar series which made a remarkable influence for many of the artists included, showcasing decades-old groups to a new generation of younger players.
A former executive, former COO of Harmonix, recalls the initial financial challenges of licensing the recordings – despite the fact the first two games primarily featured cover versions.
“We rerecorded all the music since the dollar figure prohibitive,” he says. “Despite having the necessary permissions by themselves, it was nearly impossible. We failed to secure acts such as legendary groups – the publisher had virtually no money, and our team was fairly certain the project would flop. However, when the game took off, album purchases and radio play increased, everyone wanted to participate.”
He continues: “Among the amazing things was how many mothers and fathers reached out and thanked us for exposing their kids to the music they loved. It evolved into a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Gains Younger Fans
Irish blues-rock band one featured act included their track on the 2008 game the popular installment. Lead musician the artist recalls the way the game brought older hits to the forefront: “Guitar Hero provided a bigger, younger audience. Generally such music was seen as music that was past it, but then when it was included in the game young people were finding it, abruptly it was cool. That legitimised it, and got rid of the outdated label. It provided our catalog renewed popularity.”
At that time, the Answer’s first record was still not available in the US, meaning the game served as a primary platform for exposure for the band as they went on US tour supporting the rock giants. “The roadies were playing the song on the tour bus, and several recognized us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Major Band Titles and Lasting Influence
Rock’s heavyweight names soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in dedicated game editions that focused on their music collections and related lore, visuals and legendary status. For example, the Aerosmith edition, it was said to have made the band greater revenue compared to their studio albums. It moved well over 500,000 units upon release, and sales of their songs rose of up to 40% during an era when the music business faced decline.
The series continues to inspire quick-handed fanaticism among its fans. Earlier this year, a streamer achieved a remarkable feat featuring Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough power-metal song made popular by Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with similar mechanics but an array of customisation options. This track is difficult enough on expert mode, let alone played at double speed while hitting every one of the thousands of cues. They claimed requiring months of practice of practice.
“Guitar Hero offers a, imaginary experience. Just as with Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you should pick up a real gun and go to war,” says musician the artist.
The band had already completed a profitable run before Through the Fire and Flames was featured in the third game, but Li says it made them widely recognized. “I remember the record label informing us that our selling albums rapidly,” he says. “It exploded when we next toured, and we performed right ahead of top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it has threatened to eclipsing all other accomplishments. Recently, the song featured in a trailer for a major film. “Previously I felt otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “If you only listen to one DragonForce song, that's fine – everyone’s got their own musical journey and I'm pleased we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Impact from the Iconic Controller
Top-tier promotion, whether it’s for cars, apparel or games, goes further mere transactions – it evokes a longing. Was the game able to tap into that? “That’s exactly what our team aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a music icon in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the co-founders felt that humans have a natural urge to make music, and they wanted to use technology to allow people to do it”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games came out over a mere five-year period between 2005 and 2010, including derivative titles such as the DJ version, complete with a turntable controller, and Band Hero. Subsequently, corporate focus in plastic instruments died down, except for a short-lived revival in 2015.
Titles such as Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have maintained the community alive, and there’s expectations of something from the founders on the way. Recently formed developers has entered production on their first music game. Original co-founders are participating as special advisers. Are gamers ready to embrace a new entry in the spirit of the classic?
“We thought those games might become like Madden allowing annual update every year,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much 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.”
