Marking two decades since the legendary game debuted in North America, giving everyday gamers the means to feel like a rock star. Figuratively speaking, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing someone who's mastered the epic four-minute guitar solo in front of a packed crowd of friends.
Created by Harmonix, Guitar Hero provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to follow coloured notes moving along the screen in time with a song. Each riff mimicked specific notes, creating the sensation of a genuine performance.
Harmonix previously experimented in the music genre prior to teaming up with the publisher, which was purchased by Activision in 2006. Together, they established the foundations for a surprising massively profitable series which made a significant influence for many musicians featured, showcasing classic groups to a new generation of younger players.
A former executive, former COO of Harmonix, remembers the early financial challenges in securing the recordings – even though the first two games primarily featured cover versions.
“We rerecorded all the music because the cost was so high,” he explains. “Even with the necessary permissions by themselves, it proved extremely difficult. We couldn’t get acts such as the Who – the publisher had virtually no money, and our team was fairly certain the project would flop. But once the game became a hit, album purchases airtime increased, all artists desired to participate.”
He adds: “One of the remarkable aspects was how many parents reached out and thanked us for exposing their children to the music they adored. It became an intergenerational thing.”
Timeless Music Gains Younger Fans
Northern Irish blues-rock band the Answer had their track on the 2008 game the popular installment. Guitarist the artist remembers how the series brought classic rock to the forefront: “The game provided a bigger, younger audience. Generally such music was considered outdated material, but then once it got featured on the title and teenagers discovered it, suddenly it became trendy. That legitimised it, eliminating the outdated label. It provided our catalog a new life.”
In 2008, the Answer’s debut album remained not available in the US, meaning the game was a key medium for exposure for the band during their US tour opening for AC/DC. “The roadies were playing the song on the tour bus, and some of them knew us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles and Lasting Influence
Music's heavyweight names soon capitalised on the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in dedicated game editions centered around their music collections and associated stories, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, it was said earned the band more money than any of their records. It moved well over half a million units upon release, while 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. Recently, an online personality achieved an impressive attempt featuring the challenging track – an infamously tough power-metal song popularized through Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical gameplay but an array of personalization features. The song is challenging even in the hardest setting, not to mention performed at increased tempo and without missing a single one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer claimed requiring months of practice to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, fantasy thing. If you play other games, it doesn't imply you should pick up a real gun and go to war,” says musician Herman Li.
DragonForce previously completed a profitable run when Through the Fire and Flames was featured in the third game, but Li says it turned them into a household name. “I remember the record label informing us that our selling albums rapidly,” he says. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we were playing right ahead of top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure via the game proved so vast that it has threatened to overshadow all other accomplishments. Recently, the song featured in promotional material for a major film. “In the past I felt differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “If you only hear one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got their own path in music and I’m glad we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Legacy of a Plastic Guitar
The best marketing, whether it’s for cars, apparel or games, goes further mere transactions – it inspires a desire. Was the game able to tap into that? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a music icon on the stage. From day one, the creators felt that humans have a natural human desire to make music, and they wanted to leverage innovation to enable everyone to do it”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games came out in just a half-decade between 2005 and 2010, including derivative titles such as the DJ version, including a turntable controller, and Band Hero. Subsequently, corporate focus on peripherals died down, except for a brief comeback in 2015.
Titles like Clone Hero and newer releases have maintained the community alive, and there’s set to be something from the founders in development. A new studio has begun work on its debut rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are participating in advisory roles. Are gamers ready to embrace another game following Guitar Hero?
“We thought those games might become like Madden where you can releases,” he remarks. “With abundant fresh tracks it could remain evergreen, thus I remain hopeful. There’s no reason for it to persist with new generations.”
