It has been 20 years since Guitar Hero debuted in North America, giving players everywhere the means to feel like a rock star. Not literally, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing anyone who has mastered Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo before a packed living-room audience.
Developed by the developers, the game gave players a guitar-shaped controller to match coloured notes moving along the display synchronized to a song. Each riff corresponded to specific notes, creating the feel of an authentic live show.
The studio had already experimented in the music genre before partnering with the publisher, later acquired by Activision in 2006. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar series which made a remarkable influence on numerous of the artists featured, introducing decades-old groups to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, remembers the early budgetary hurdles of licensing the songs – despite the fact the first two games mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced all the music because the cost prohibitive,” he explains. “Even with the publishing rights alone, it proved nearly impossible. We failed to secure acts such as the Who – the publisher had virtually no money, and our team was fairly certain it would fail. But once Guitar Hero took off, album purchases and radio play were going up, everyone wanted to participate.”
He adds: “One of the amazing things was the number of parents reached out expressing gratitude for exposing their kids to the music they loved. It evolved into a multigenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Finds Younger Fans
Northern Irish group the Answer had Never Too Late in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist Paul Mahon recalls how the series revived older hits back into vogue: “The game provided a bigger, younger audience. Generally this had been seen as music that was past it, however when it was included in the game young people were finding it, abruptly it became trendy. This validated the genre, eliminating the outdated label. It provided all our music a new life.”
At that time, the band's debut album remained unreleased stateside, meaning Guitar Hero was a key medium for exposure for the group as they went on US tour opening for the rock giants. “Their crew were playing the song on the tour bus, and some of them knew us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.
Major Band Titles and Lasting Influence
Rock’s heavyweight names quickly capitalised on the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in specialized game editions centered around each band’s catalogue and related lore, visuals and legendary status. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, it was said to have made the group greater revenue compared to their records. It moved well over 500,000 copies in its first week, and demand for Aerosmith’s music rose significantly during an era as the industry faced decline.
Guitar Hero still motivates quick-handed dedication within the community. Earlier this year, an online personality completed an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult anthem popularized through the game – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical gameplay and extensive personalization features. This track is difficult enough on expert mode, let alone played at double speed and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. They claimed requiring nine months of practice.
“Guitar Hero offers a, imaginary experience. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to use actual weapons and go to war,” notes DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
DragonForce previously completed a profitable run when their hit appeared on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it turned them into widely recognized. “I recall the record label calling to tell me that we were selling albums like crazy,” he says. “It exploded when we next toured, and we performed just before top acts at the event.”
In fact, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it threatened to overshadow all other accomplishments. Recently, the song was used in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I felt otherwise, but now I accept it,” he admits. “If you only listen to one DragonForce song, that's fine – each person has their own musical journey and I'm pleased we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
Enduring Impact from the Iconic Controller
The best marketing, whether it’s for cars, clothes or video games, extends beyond than selling something – it inspires a desire. Was the game able to tap into that? “Precisely what our team aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of being a music icon in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the creators believed humans have a natural urge to make music, and they wanted to leverage innovation to allow people to do it”.
The majority installments came out in just a five-year period from 2005 to 2010, featuring spin-offs such as the DJ version, complete with a turntable controller, and Band Hero. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest on peripherals died down, except for a brief comeback in 2015.
Games such as Clone Hero and newer releases have kept the scene alive, and there’s expectations of a new product from the original publisher in development. Recently formed developers has begun production on its debut rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are both involved as special advisers. Are gamers ready to embrace another game in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed those games might become similar to sports games allowing annual update every year,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much new music it could remain perennially popular, so I’ve always been optimistic. There’s no reason for it to persist for future fans.”
