It has been 20 years after Guitar Hero hit the market in North America, giving players everywhere the means to feel like rock legends. Not in reality, but try convincing someone who's nailed the epic lengthy instrumental break in front of an enthusiastic crowd of friends.
Developed by Harmonix, the game provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to match on-screen cues moving along the display synchronized to a song. Every sequence mimicked particular chords, producing the feel of an authentic performance.
The studio had already experimented with rhythm games before partnering with the publisher, which was acquired by Activision in 2006. Together, they established the groundwork for a surprising massively profitable series that had a significant influence for many of the artists featured, introducing decades-old bands to millions of younger players.
A former executive, former COO from the developer, recalls the initial budgetary hurdles of licensing the recordings – despite the fact initial releases primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced all the music because the cost prohibitive,” he explains. “Despite having the publishing rights alone, it proved extremely difficult. We couldn’t get acts such as legendary groups – the publisher had virtually no money, and we were pretty convinced the project would flop. However, when Guitar Hero became a hit, album purchases and radio play were going up, all artists desired to be in.”
He adds: “Among the remarkable aspects was the number of parents got in touch and thanked us for introducing their children to the songs they adored. It evolved into an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Gains a New Audience
Northern Irish blues-rock band one featured act included their track in the 2008 release the popular installment. Lead musician Paul Mahon recalls how the series brought older hits back into vogue: “Guitar Hero offered a bigger, younger audience. Typically this had been considered music that was past it, but then once it got included in the title and teenagers were finding it, suddenly it became trendy. This validated it, eliminating the outdated label. It provided all our music a new life.”
At that time, the Answer’s first record remained unreleased stateside, meaning Guitar Hero served as a primary platform of discovery for the group during their US tour supporting the rock giants. “The roadies had on the song on the tour bus, and some of them recognized us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.
Major Band Titles Enduring Influence
Music's heavyweight names quickly took advantage of the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in dedicated game editions centered around each band’s catalogue and related lore, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, the Aerosmith edition, it was said earned the group greater revenue than any of their records. It sold well over half a million copies in its first week, and sales of their songs saw an increase significantly at a time as the industry was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire nimble-fingered dedication within the community. Earlier this year, an online personality achieved a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult power-metal song made popular by 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 enough on the hardest setting, let alone played at double speed and without missing a single one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer stated requiring months of practice to accomplish.
“The game is a fun, fantasy thing. Just as with Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you ought to use actual weapons and go to war,” notes DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
DragonForce had already wrapped up a successful tour when their hit was featured in the third game, yet he explains it turned them into widely recognized. “I remember the record label informing us that we were records were moving like crazy,” he says. “It exploded when we next toured, and we were playing right ahead of top acts at the event.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero was so immense that it risked overshadow all other accomplishments. Recently, the song featured in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I felt otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “If you only listen to one DragonForce song, that's fine – everyone’s got their own path in music and I’m glad we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Legacy of a Plastic Guitar
Top-tier promotion, whether it’s for cars, clothes or video games, extends beyond mere transactions – it evokes a longing. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “That’s exactly what our team aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of performing as a rock star in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the co-founders believed humans have a natural urge to make music, and they wanted to use technology to allow people to do it”.
The majority installments came out over a mere five-year period from 2005 to 2010, including derivative titles like DJ Hero, complete with a spinning deck, and Band Hero. After that, corporate focus on peripherals died down, aside from a short-lived revival several years later.
Games such as the fan project and newer releases 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. The initial creators are participating as special advisers. Is the world prepared to welcome a new entry in the spirit of the classic?
“We thought such titles might become similar to sports games where you can update every year,” he remarks. “There’s so much fresh tracks it could remain perennially popular, thus I remain optimistic. There’s no reason why it can’t persist for future fans.”
