Marking 20 years since Guitar Hero debuted in North America, providing players everywhere the means to feel like rock legends. Figuratively speaking, but try convincing anyone who's nailed the epic four-minute instrumental break before an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Developed by Harmonix, the game provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to match on-screen cues scrolling down the display in time with a song. Every sequence corresponded to specific notes, producing the sensation of an authentic performance.
Harmonix had already experimented with rhythm games before partnering with RedOctane, later purchased by Activision in 2006. Collaboratively, they established the groundwork for a surprising massively profitable series which made a remarkable impact for many of the artists featured, showcasing decades-old groups to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, remembers the initial financial challenges in securing the recordings – despite the fact initial releases primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced all the music because the cost was so high,” he explains. “Despite having the necessary permissions by themselves, it proved nearly impossible. We couldn’t get bands like the Who – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were fairly certain the project would flop. However, when the game took off, and record sales airtime increased, all artists desired to participate.”
He continues: “One of the remarkable aspects was the number of parents reached out and thanked us for introducing their kids to the songs they adored. It became an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Gains a New Audience
Northern Irish group the Answer included Never Too Late on the 2008 game the popular installment. Lead musician the artist remembers the way the game revived older hits back into vogue: “Guitar Hero provided a larger, younger audience. Typically this had been considered outdated material, but then once it got included in the game and teenagers discovered it, suddenly it was cool. That legitimised it, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ label. It gave all our music a new life.”
At that time, the Answer’s debut album was still unreleased stateside, meaning the game was a key medium of discovery for the group as they went on a North American tour opening for AC/DC. “The roadies had on Never Too Late during travel, and several knew us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Major Band Titles and Lasting Impact
Music's heavyweight names soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in dedicated game editions centered around each band’s catalogue and related lore, imagery and legendary status. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly earned the group greater revenue compared to their studio albums. It moved well over 500,000 units in its first week, and sales of their songs rose significantly at a time when the music business was already collapsing.
The series continues to inspire nimble-fingered fanaticism among its fans. Earlier this year, an online personality achieved a remarkable feat featuring Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough power-metal song made popular by the game – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with similar mechanics and extensive customisation options. This track is difficult enough on the hardest setting, not to mention performed at double speed and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. They stated it took months of practice of practice.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, fantasy thing. Just as with Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you should pick up actual weapons and enlist,” notes musician the artist.
DragonForce previously wrapped up a profitable run before their hit was featured in the third game, but Li says it made them widely recognized. “I recall the record label informing us that we were selling albums like crazy,” he shares. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we performed just before top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero was so immense that it threatened to overshadow everything else the band has done. Last year, the song featured in a trailer for a major film. “In the past I felt differently, but now I accept it,” Li says. “If you only listen to a single track, it’s totally cool – each person has their own musical journey and I’m glad we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Impact of a Plastic Guitar
Top-tier promotion, be it for automobiles, apparel or video games, goes further mere transactions – it evokes a longing. Was the game able to harness this? “That’s exactly what our team trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of being a rock star on the stage. Since the beginning, the creators felt that there’s an instinctive human desire to make music, and their goal was to use technology to enable everyone to do it”.
Most of Guitar Hero games were released over a mere half-decade from 2005 to 2010, including spin-offs such as the DJ version, including a turntable controller, and Band Hero. After that, corporate focus on peripherals died down, except for a brief comeback in 2015.
Titles such as the fan project and newer releases have maintained the community active, and there’s expectations of a new product from the original publisher in development. Recently formed developers has entered production on their first music game. Original co-founders are both involved as special advisers. Are gamers ready to embrace another game in the spirit of the classic?
“We thought those games might become similar to sports games where you can update every year,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much new music that it could be perennially popular, thus I remain optimistic. It's entirely possible why it can’t persist with new generations.”
