Marking 20 years since the legendary game debuted in North America, providing everyday gamers the tools to become a rock star. Figuratively speaking, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that anyone who has nailed the epic four-minute guitar solo in front of an enthusiastic crowd of friends.
Created by the developers, the game provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to follow coloured notes moving along the screen in time with the music. Each riff corresponded to particular chords, creating the feel of an authentic live show.
The studio had already experimented in the music genre prior to teaming up with the publisher, which was purchased by Activision in 2006. Together, they laid the groundwork for a surprising billion-dollar franchise which made a significant impact for many musicians featured, showcasing decades-old groups to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, former COO of Harmonix, remembers the early budgetary hurdles of licensing the recordings – despite the fact initial releases mostly used cover versions.
“We rerecorded all the music since the dollar figure prohibitive,” he says. “Despite having the publishing rights by themselves, it was nearly impossible. We failed to secure bands like the Who – the publisher had virtually no money, and our team was pretty convinced it would fail. But once the game became a hit, album purchases and radio play were going up, all artists desired to be in.”
He continues: “One of the remarkable aspects was the number of parents got in touch and thanked us for introducing their kids to the music they loved. It evolved into a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Finds a New Audience
Irish group the Answer included their track on the 2008 game the popular installment. Guitarist Paul Mahon remembers how the series revived older hits back into vogue: “The game offered a bigger, new demographic. Typically such music was seen as music that was past it, however when it was included in the title and teenagers were finding it, abruptly it became trendy. That legitimised it, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It provided all our music renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the band's first record was still not available in the US, so the game served as a primary platform of discovery for the band as they went on a North American tour supporting the rock giants. “The roadies had on the song during travel, and some of them recognized us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Major Band Titles Enduring Influence
Rock’s heavyweight names quickly capitalised on the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in dedicated game editions centered around each band’s catalogue and related lore, visuals and legendary status. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly earned the band greater revenue than any of their records. It sold more than half a million units upon release, and sales of Aerosmith’s music rose of up to 40% at a time when the music business was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire quick-handed dedication within the community. Earlier this year, an online personality completed a remarkable feat featuring Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult anthem popularized through the game – using a fan-made version, a no-cost alternative with almost identical gameplay but an array of personalization features. The song is difficult even in the hardest setting, let alone performed at double speed while hitting every one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer claimed it took nine months to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero offers a, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you should use a real gun and enlist,” says DragonForce guitarist the artist.
DragonForce previously completed a successful tour before Through the Fire and Flames was featured in the third game, but Li says it turned them into widely recognized. “I recall our distributors calling to tell me that we were selling albums like crazy,” he says. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we performed just before the headliners at the event.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it has risked overshadow all other accomplishments. Recently, the track was used in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I thought otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “Should you just listen to one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got their own path in music and I'm pleased we played a role of people’s lives”.
Enduring Impact from the Plastic Guitar
Top-tier marketing, be it for automobiles, clothes or video games, extends beyond mere transactions – it inspires a longing. Was the game able to harness this? “Precisely what we were trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of being a rock star on the stage. Since the beginning, the co-founders felt that there’s an instinctive human desire to create songs, and they wanted to leverage innovation to enable everyone to participate”.
Most of Guitar Hero games were released over a mere five-year period from 2005 to 2010, including derivative titles like DJ Hero, complete with a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. After that, the publisher’s interest on peripherals waned, except for a brief comeback several years later.
Games like the fan project and newer releases have maintained the community active, and there’s expectations of a new product from the founders on the way. A new studio has entered work on its debut music game. The initial creators are participating in advisory roles. Are gamers ready to embrace a new entry following Guitar Hero?
“We thought those games could be similar to sports games allowing annual update every year,” he remarks. “There’s so much fresh tracks that it could be perennially popular, so I’ve always been hopeful. It's entirely possible for it to persist with new generations.”
