It has been 20 years after the legendary game hit the market in North America, offering everyday gamers the tools to become a rock star. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that anyone who has nailed Free Bird’s lengthy guitar solo in front of an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by the developers, Guitar Hero provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to follow coloured notes moving along the display in time with a song. Each riff corresponded to specific notes, creating the sensation of an authentic live show.
The studio had already tried its hand in the music genre before partnering with the publisher, which was purchased by Activision during the mid-2000s. Together, they laid the foundations for an unlikely massively profitable series that had a significant impact on numerous musicians included, introducing classic groups to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, recalls the early financial challenges in securing the songs – even though the first two games mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced all the music because the cost prohibitive,” he explains. “Even with the necessary permissions alone, it was nearly impossible. We couldn’t get acts such as legendary groups – the publisher had virtually no money, and we were fairly certain the project would flop. However, when the game took off, and record sales airtime increased, everyone wanted to be in.”
He continues: “Among the remarkable aspects was how many parents reached out expressing gratitude for exposing their children to the music they loved. It became an intergenerational thing.”
Timeless Music Gains a New Audience
Irish group one featured act had Never Too Late on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist the artist recalls how the series revived older hits to the forefront: “Guitar Hero offered a larger, new demographic. Typically this had been considered outdated material, but then once it got included in the game and teenagers discovered it, suddenly it became trendy. This validated the genre, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ label. It provided all our music renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the band's debut album remained not available stateside, so Guitar Hero served as a primary platform for exposure for the band as they went on US tour opening for AC/DC. “Their crew were playing Never Too Late on the tour bus, and some of them recognized us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles and Lasting Influence
Music's biggest acts quickly capitalised on the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in specialized spin-off titles centered around each band’s catalogue and associated lore, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said to have made the band more money than any of their records. It moved more than 500,000 copies in its first week, and demand for their songs rose significantly at a time when the music business was already collapsing.
The series still motivates nimble-fingered fanaticism among its fans. Earlier this year, a streamer achieved an impressive attempt featuring Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult power-metal song made popular by the game – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with similar mechanics but an array of customisation options. The song is difficult enough on the hardest setting, let alone performed at double speed and without missing every one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer claimed it took nine months to accomplish.
“The game is a fun, imaginary experience. If you play Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you ought to use a real gun and go to war,” notes musician the artist.
DragonForce had already completed a successful tour when Through the Fire and Flames was featured in the third game, but Li says it turned them into a household name. “I recall our distributors informing us that we were records were moving rapidly,” he says. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we performed just before top acts at the event.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure via the game proved so vast that it risked eclipsing everything else accomplishments. Recently, the track was used in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I thought differently, but now I accept it,” Li says. “If you only hear a single track, it’s totally cool – each person has their own path in music and I’m glad we played a role of people’s lives”.
Enduring Legacy of a Iconic Controller
The best promotion, be it for cars, apparel or games, extends beyond mere transactions – it evokes a longing. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “Precisely what our team trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of being a music icon on the stage. Since the beginning, the co-founders believed humans have a natural human desire to make music, and their goal was to leverage innovation to allow people to do it”.
Most of Guitar Hero games came out in just a half-decade from 2005 to 2010, including derivative titles such as the DJ version, including a turntable controller, and Band Hero. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments waned, aside from a short-lived revival several years later.
Games such as the fan project and Fortnite Festival have maintained the community alive, and there’s expectations of a new product from the original publisher on the way. A new studio has entered production on their first music game. Original co-founders are both involved as special advisers. Are gamers ready to embrace another game following Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed such titles could be like Madden allowing annual releases,” he remarks. “There’s so much fresh tracks that it could be evergreen, thus I remain hopeful. There’s no reason why it can’t continue with new generations.”
