Marking 20 years after Guitar Hero debuted in North America, giving everyday gamers the means to feel like a rock star. Figuratively speaking, but try telling that anyone who's mastered the epic lengthy guitar solo in front of a packed crowd of friends.
Created by Harmonix, Guitar Hero provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to match on-screen cues moving along the screen in time with a song. Every sequence corresponded to specific notes, producing the feel of an authentic live show.
Harmonix had already tried its hand in the music genre before partnering with the publisher, which was acquired by the gaming giant in 2006. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for an unlikely massively profitable franchise which made a significant impact for many of the artists included, introducing decades-old bands to millions of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO from the developer, remembers the initial budgetary hurdles of licensing the songs – despite the fact initial releases primarily featured cover versions.
“We reproduced every song because the dollar figure prohibitive,” he says. “Despite having the publishing rights alone, it proved nearly impossible. We failed to secure acts such as legendary groups – RedOctane had virtually no money, and our team was fairly certain the project would flop. However, when the game became a hit, and record sales and radio play were going up, all artists desired to be in.”
He continues: “Among the amazing things was the number of mothers and fathers reached out expressing gratitude for introducing their kids to the songs they loved. It evolved into a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Finds a New Audience
Northern Irish blues-rock band one featured act had Never Too Late on the 2008 game the popular installment. Guitarist the artist remembers the way the game brought classic rock back into vogue: “The game offered a larger, younger audience. Generally this had been seen as outdated material, but then when it was featured on the title young people discovered it, abruptly it became trendy. This validated the genre, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ tag. It gave all our music renewed popularity.”
At that time, the band's first record remained unreleased in the US, meaning Guitar Hero served as a primary platform for exposure for the group as they went on a North American tour opening for AC/DC. “Their crew had on the song during travel, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles Enduring Influence
Music's biggest acts quickly capitalised on the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in specialized game editions that focused on each band’s catalogue and associated lore, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly earned the group greater revenue than any of their records. It moved more than half a million units in its first week, and sales of their songs saw an increase of up to 40% during an era when the music business faced decline.
The series continues to inspire quick-handed dedication among its fans. Earlier this year, a streamer completed a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult anthem made popular by Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with similar mechanics and extensive personalization features. This track is difficult enough on expert mode, not to mention played at double speed and without missing every one of its near 4,000 notes. They stated it took months of practice of practice.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, fantasy thing. If you play other games, it doesn't imply you should pick up actual weapons and go to war,” says DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
The band had already completed a profitable run before their hit appeared on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it made them a household name. “I remember our distributors calling to tell me that our records were moving like crazy,” he shares. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we were playing right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero was so immense that it has threatened to overshadow everything else the band has done. Recently, the song was used in promotional material for a major film. “In the past I felt differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “If you only hear a single track, that's fine – everyone’s got a unique path in music and I'm pleased we played a role in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Legacy of a Plastic Guitar
Top-tier promotion, be it for cars, apparel or video games, goes further than selling something – it evokes a desire. Was the game able to harness this? “That’s exactly what we were trying to create,” he confirms. “The excitement of performing as a music icon in the spotlight. From day one, the creators felt that there’s an instinctive human desire to create songs, and their goal was to leverage innovation to enable everyone to do it”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games were released in just a five-year period between 2005 and 2010, featuring spin-offs like DJ Hero, complete with a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest on peripherals died down, aside from a short-lived revival in 2015.
Games like Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have kept the community alive, and there’s expectations of something from the original publisher in development. A new studio has begun work on their first music game. Original co-founders are both involved as special advisers. Are gamers prepared to welcome a new entry following Guitar Hero?
“We thought such titles could be like Madden allowing annual update every year,” he remarks. “With abundant fresh tracks that it could be evergreen, thus I remain hopeful. There’s no reason why it can’t persist for future fans.”
