Marking 20 years after Guitar Hero first launched across the Atlantic, offering players everywhere the means to feel like rock legends. Not literally, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing someone who has nailed the epic lengthy instrumental break before an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by the developers, the game gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to follow on-screen cues moving along the display in time with a song. Each riff mimicked specific notes, producing the sensation of an authentic performance.
Harmonix had already experimented in the music genre before partnering with RedOctane, which was purchased by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Together, they established the foundations for a surprising massively profitable franchise that had a significant impact for many of the artists included, showcasing decades-old groups to millions of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, remembers the initial budgetary hurdles of licensing the recordings – even though the first two games primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded all the music because the dollar figure prohibitive,” he explains. “Despite having the publishing rights by themselves, it proved nearly impossible. We failed to secure bands like legendary groups – the publisher had virtually no money, and our team was pretty convinced the project would flop. However, when the game took off, and record sales airtime increased, everyone wanted to participate.”
He adds: “One of the remarkable aspects was the number of parents reached out and thanked us for introducing their kids to the music they adored. It evolved into an intergenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Finds a New Audience
Irish blues-rock band the Answer included their track in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician Paul Mahon recalls how the series revived classic rock back into vogue: “Guitar Hero offered a larger, new demographic. Typically such music was seen as outdated material, but then once it got featured on the title and teenagers discovered it, suddenly it was cool. That legitimised the genre, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ tag. It provided our catalog renewed popularity.”
At that time, the band's first record was still unreleased in the US, meaning Guitar Hero served as a primary platform for exposure for the group as they went on US tour supporting the rock giants. “Their crew had on Never Too Late on the tour bus, and several recognized us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Major Band Titles and Lasting Influence
Music's biggest acts quickly capitalised on the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in specialized game editions centered around their music collections and related lore, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly to have made the group greater revenue than any of their records. It moved more than half a million units upon release, while demand for their songs saw an increase significantly during an era when the music business was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire quick-handed dedication among its fans. Recently, an online personality achieved an impressive attempt featuring Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult power-metal song popularized through Guitar Hero – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with similar mechanics but an array of customisation options. The song is difficult even in expert mode, not to mention performed at increased tempo and without missing every one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer stated requiring months of practice to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, fantasy thing. Just as with other games, it doesn't imply you ought to pick up a real gun and go to war,” says DragonForce guitarist the artist.
The band had already wrapped up a profitable run when Through the Fire and Flames was featured on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it turned them into a household name. “I remember our distributors calling to tell me that we were records were moving like crazy,” he says. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we performed just before top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure via the game was so immense that it has risked overshadow everything else the band has done. Last year, the song was used in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I thought differently, but now I accept it,” Li says. “Should you just listen to a single track, that's fine – each person has their own musical journey and I’m glad we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
Enduring Legacy of a Plastic Guitar
The best promotion, whether it’s for automobiles, apparel or video games, extends beyond mere transactions – it evokes a desire. Was the game able to tap into that? “That’s exactly what our team aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of being a music icon on the stage. Since the beginning, the creators felt that there’s an instinctive urge to make music, and they wanted to leverage innovation to enable everyone to participate”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games were released in just a half-decade between 2005 and 2010, featuring derivative titles such as the DJ version, including a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments died down, aside from a short-lived revival in 2015.
Games such as Clone Hero and newer releases have kept the scene active, and there’s set to be a new product from the original publisher on the way. A new studio has begun production on its debut music game. The initial creators are participating as special advisers. Is the world prepared to welcome a new entry following the classic?
“We thought such titles might become similar to sports games where you can releases,” he remarks. “There’s so much fresh tracks it could remain evergreen, thus I remain hopeful. It's entirely possible why it can’t continue for future fans.”
