It has been two decades since Guitar Hero hit the market in North America, giving everyday gamers the means to become rock legends. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing anyone who's nailed the epic four-minute guitar solo in front of an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by the developers, the game gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to match coloured notes scrolling down the screen in time with a song. Every sequence mimicked particular chords, producing the feel of a genuine live show.
The studio had already tried its hand in the music genre before partnering with RedOctane, later purchased by the gaming giant in 2006. Together, they laid the groundwork for a surprising massively profitable series that had a significant influence on numerous musicians included, showcasing decades-old bands to millions of younger players.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, remembers the early financial challenges in securing the songs – despite the fact the first two games mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced all the music because the dollar figure prohibitive,” he explains. “Even with the publishing rights alone, it proved extremely difficult. We failed to secure bands like legendary groups – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was fairly certain the project would flop. However, when the game took off, album purchases airtime increased, everyone wanted to be in.”
He continues: “Among the amazing things was the number of mothers and fathers got in touch expressing gratitude for introducing their kids to the music they adored. It became an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Gains a New Audience
Irish group the Answer had their track on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician the artist recalls how the series brought older hits to the forefront: “Guitar Hero offered a bigger, new demographic. Generally this had been considered music that was past it, but then once it got featured on the game and teenagers were finding it, abruptly it became trendy. This validated it, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ tag. It gave our catalog renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the Answer’s first record remained not available in the US, so Guitar Hero served as a primary platform of discovery for the band during their a North American tour opening for AC/DC. “Their crew were playing Never Too Late on the tour bus, and several recognized us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs Enduring Impact
Music's heavyweight names soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in specialized game editions that focused on each band’s catalogue and associated lore, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said earned the band greater revenue compared to their studio albums. It sold more than 500,000 units upon release, while demand for their songs rose significantly at a time when the music business faced decline.
The series continues to inspire nimble-fingered fanaticism among its fans. Earlier this year, a streamer completed an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult power-metal song popularized through Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with almost identical mechanics and extensive personalization features. This track is difficult even in the hardest setting, let alone played at increased tempo while hitting a single one of the thousands of cues. They claimed it took months of practice of practice.
“The game is a fun, fantasy thing. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you should pick up a real gun and go to war,” says musician Herman Li.
The band had already completed a profitable run when Through the Fire and Flames was featured on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it made them widely recognized. “I remember our distributors calling to tell me that we were records were moving like crazy,” he shares. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we were playing right ahead of top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, the band's visibility via the game was so immense that it has threatened to overshadow everything else accomplishments. Recently, the song was used in promotional material for a major film. “Previously I thought otherwise, but now I accept it,” Li says. “If you only listen to a single track, it’s totally cool – each person has their own musical journey and I’m glad we played a role in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Legacy from the Plastic Guitar
The best marketing, whether it’s for cars, apparel or games, extends beyond mere transactions – it inspires a desire. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “Precisely what our team aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of performing as a rock star on the stage. Since the beginning, the co-founders believed there’s an instinctive urge to create songs, and they wanted to leverage innovation to enable everyone to participate”.
Most of Guitar Hero games were released over a mere half-decade from 2005 to 2010, featuring spin-offs like the DJ version, complete with a turntable controller, and Band Hero. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments waned, aside from a brief comeback in 2015.
Games like Clone Hero and newer releases have maintained the scene alive, with set to be a new product from the founders on the way. Recently formed developers has begun production on its debut music game. Original co-founders are both involved as special advisers. Is the world ready to embrace a new entry in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“We thought those games might become similar to sports games allowing annual releases,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much new music that it could be perennially popular, thus I remain optimistic. There’s no reason why it can’t continue for future fans.”
