It has been two decades since the legendary game hit the market across the Atlantic, giving players everywhere the opportunity to become rock legends. Not in reality, but try convincing anyone who has mastered Free Bird’s four-minute instrumental break in front of a packed crowd of friends.
Created by Harmonix, Guitar Hero provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to follow on-screen cues scrolling down the screen synchronized to the music. Each riff corresponded to particular chords, creating the feel of an authentic performance.
The studio previously experimented in the music genre before partnering with the publisher, which was purchased by Activision in 2006. Collaboratively, they laid the groundwork for an unlikely massively profitable franchise that had a significant impact for many musicians featured, introducing classic groups to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, remembers the initial budgetary hurdles of licensing the recordings – even though initial releases mostly used cover versions.
“We rerecorded every song since the dollar figure was so high,” he says. “Despite having the publishing rights alone, it was nearly impossible. We failed to secure bands like legendary groups – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were fairly certain it would fail. However, when the game became a hit, and record sales airtime increased, all artists desired to be in.”
He continues: “One of the amazing things was the number of parents reached out expressing gratitude for exposing their kids to the music they loved. It became a multigenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Gains a New Audience
Northern Irish group one featured act included their track in the 2008 release the popular installment. Lead musician the artist remembers the way the game revived classic rock to the forefront: “Guitar Hero provided a larger, new demographic. Typically such music was considered music that was past it, however when it was included in the title and teenagers were finding it, abruptly it was cool. This validated the genre, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It gave our catalog renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the band's debut album was still not available in the US, so Guitar Hero served as a primary platform of discovery for the band as they went on US tour supporting AC/DC. “Their crew were playing Never Too Late on the tour bus, and some of them recognized us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs Enduring Impact
Music's heavyweight names quickly took advantage of the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in dedicated game editions that focused on each band’s catalogue and associated lore, imagery and legendary status. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly earned the group greater revenue compared to their studio albums. It sold well over 500,000 units upon release, while demand for Aerosmith’s music rose significantly during an era when the music business was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero still motivates nimble-fingered dedication within the community. Recently, an online personality achieved a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult anthem popularized through Guitar Hero – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with similar gameplay and extensive personalization features. The song is difficult enough on the hardest setting, not to mention played at increased tempo and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. They claimed requiring nine months to accomplish.
“The game is a fun, imaginary experience. Just as with other games, that doesn’t mean you should use actual weapons and go to war,” notes DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
DragonForce previously completed a successful tour when their hit appeared in the third game, but Li says it turned them into a household name. “I recall our distributors calling to tell me that our records were moving rapidly,” he shares. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we were playing right ahead of top acts at the event.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure via the game was so immense that it has threatened to eclipsing everything else the band has done. Last year, the song featured in promotional material for a major film. “In the past I thought otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “Should you just hear a single track, it’s totally cool – each person has their own path in music and I’m glad we played a role of people’s lives”.
Enduring Impact of a Plastic Guitar
Top-tier marketing, be it for cars, apparel or video games, extends beyond mere transactions – it inspires a longing. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “That’s exactly what our team trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a music icon in the spotlight. From day one, the creators believed there’s an instinctive human desire to create songs, and their goal was to use technology to enable everyone to participate”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games were released over a mere five-year period from 2005 to 2010, including derivative titles such as DJ Hero, including a turntable controller, and Band Hero. After that, corporate focus on peripherals died down, except for a short-lived revival in 2015.
Titles like the fan project and Fortnite Festival have maintained the community active, with set to be something from the original publisher in development. Recently formed developers has entered work on its debut rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are participating in advisory roles. Is the world prepared to welcome another game in the spirit of the classic?
“We thought those games could be like Madden allowing annual update every year,” he remarks. “There’s so much fresh tracks that it could be perennially popular, so I’ve always been optimistic. It's entirely possible why it can’t persist for future fans.”
