It has been 20 years since Guitar Hero hit the market in North America, providing everyday gamers the means to become a rock star. Not literally, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that someone who's mastered the epic lengthy instrumental break before a packed living-room audience.
Created by the developers, the game provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to follow on-screen cues scrolling down the display synchronized to the music. Every sequence mimicked specific notes, producing the sensation of an authentic live show.
Harmonix had already tried its hand with rhythm games before partnering with RedOctane, later purchased by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for a surprising massively profitable series that had 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, recalls the initial financial challenges of licensing the songs – even though initial releases mostly used cover versions.
“We reproduced every song since the cost prohibitive,” he says. “Despite having the necessary permissions by themselves, it was extremely difficult. 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 Guitar Hero became a hit, and record sales airtime increased, all artists desired to be in.”
He adds: “One of the remarkable aspects was how many mothers and fathers reached out expressing gratitude for introducing their kids to the music they adored. It became an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Finds Younger Fans
Irish blues-rock band the Answer had their track in the 2008 release the popular installment. Lead musician Paul Mahon recalls the way the game brought classic rock to the forefront: “The game provided a bigger, new demographic. Typically such music was seen as outdated material, however when it was featured on the title and teenagers were finding it, suddenly it was cool. This validated it, eliminating the outdated label. It provided our catalog a new life.”
In 2008, the band's first record was still unreleased 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 AC/DC. “The roadies were playing the song on the tour bus, and some of them recognized us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Major Band Titles Enduring Impact
Music's biggest acts soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in specialized game editions centered around their music collections and related lore, visuals and legendary status. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said to have made the group greater revenue than any of their studio albums. It sold more than half a million copies upon release, while demand for their songs saw an increase of up to 40% during an era when the music business faced decline.
The series still motivates quick-handed fanaticism within the community. Earlier this year, an online personality completed an impressive attempt featuring Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult power-metal song popularized through Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with similar mechanics and extensive personalization features. This track is challenging enough on the hardest setting, let alone performed at double speed while hitting every one of its near 4,000 notes. They claimed requiring months of practice of practice.
“Guitar Hero offers a, imaginary experience. If you play Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you ought to pick up a real gun and enlist,” says musician Herman Li.
The band previously completed a successful tour before their hit appeared on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it made them widely recognized. “I remember our distributors informing us that we were records were moving rapidly,” he says. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we were playing right ahead of top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure via the game proved so vast that it risked overshadow all other accomplishments. Recently, the song was used in promotional material for a major film. “Previously I thought otherwise, but now I accept it,” Li says. “Should you just hear one DragonForce song, that's fine – everyone’s got their own musical journey and I'm pleased we played a role of people’s lives”.
Enduring Legacy of a Plastic Guitar
The best promotion, be it for cars, clothes or games, goes further mere transactions – it evokes a desire. Was the game able to harness this? “That’s exactly what our team aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of being a rock star in the spotlight. From day one, the co-founders felt that humans have a natural human desire to make music, and they wanted to leverage innovation to enable everyone to participate”.
The majority installments were released over a mere five-year period from 2005 to 2010, including spin-offs such as the DJ version, including a spinning deck, and Band Hero. After that, corporate focus in plastic instruments waned, except for a short-lived revival several years later.
Titles such as Clone Hero and newer releases have maintained the scene alive, with expectations of something from the original publisher in development. A new studio has entered production on its debut music game. The initial creators are both involved in advisory roles. Is the world ready to embrace another game in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“We thought such titles might become like Madden allowing annual releases,” he remarks. “There’s so much new music it could remain perennially popular, so I’ve always been optimistic. There’s no reason why it can’t persist for future fans.”
