Marking two decades after the legendary game first launched in North America, offering everyday gamers the opportunity to become a rock star. Not literally, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing anyone who's mastered the epic lengthy guitar solo in front of an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by the developers, Guitar Hero gave players a guitar-shaped controller to follow on-screen cues scrolling down the display in time with a song. Each riff corresponded to particular chords, creating the feel of an authentic performance.
Harmonix had already tried its hand in the music genre prior to teaming up with RedOctane, later acquired by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they laid the groundwork for a surprising massively profitable franchise which made a significant influence for many musicians featured, showcasing decades-old bands to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO from the developer, remembers the early financial challenges in securing the songs – despite the fact initial releases mostly used cover versions.
“We reproduced all the music because the dollar figure was so high,” he explains. “Despite having the publishing rights by themselves, it was extremely difficult. We couldn’t get acts such as the Who – RedOctane had virtually no money, and our team was pretty convinced it would fail. But once Guitar Hero became a hit, and record sales and radio play were going up, all artists desired to be in.”
He adds: “One of the amazing things was the number of mothers and fathers reached out expressing gratitude for exposing their children to the music they loved. It evolved into an intergenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Finds Younger Fans
Irish group one featured act included Never Too Late in the 2008 release the popular installment. Guitarist Paul Mahon recalls the way the game revived classic rock to the forefront: “Guitar Hero provided a bigger, younger audience. Typically this had been considered outdated material, however once it got featured on the title and teenagers discovered it, suddenly it was cool. This validated the genre, and got rid of the outdated label. It gave all our music renewed popularity.”
At that time, the Answer’s first record remained unreleased in the US, meaning Guitar Hero served as a primary platform for exposure for the group during their a North American tour opening for the rock giants. “The roadies had on the song during travel, and some of them recognized us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles and Lasting Impact
Music's heavyweight names soon capitalised on the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in dedicated spin-off titles that focused on each band’s catalogue and associated stories, visuals and legendary status. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said to have made the group more money compared to their records. It sold more than half a million units in its first week, and demand for Aerosmith’s music saw an increase of up to 40% at a time as the industry faced decline.
The series continues to inspire quick-handed dedication within the community. Earlier this year, a streamer achieved a remarkable feat featuring the challenging track – an infamously tough power-metal song popularized through Guitar Hero – using a fan-made version, a no-cost alternative with similar mechanics but an array of personalization features. The song is difficult enough on the hardest setting, not to mention performed at increased tempo and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. They claimed it took months of practice to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero offers a, fantasy thing. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you should pick up a real gun and enlist,” notes DragonForce guitarist the artist.
The band had already wrapped up a successful tour when Through the Fire and Flames was featured in the third game, yet he explains it turned them into a household name. “I recall our distributors informing us that our selling albums like crazy,” he says. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we were playing just before top acts at the event.”
In fact, the band's visibility via the game was so immense that it risked overshadow everything else the band has done. Recently, the track featured in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I thought differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “If you only hear a single track, that's fine – everyone’s got their own musical journey and I'm pleased we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
Enduring Legacy from the Plastic Guitar
The best marketing, whether it’s for cars, apparel or games, goes further mere transactions – it inspires a desire. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “Precisely what we were trying to create,” he confirms. “That thrill of being a music icon in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the creators felt that there’s an instinctive human desire to create songs, and their goal was to leverage innovation to enable everyone to participate”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games came out over a mere five-year period between 2005 and 2010, including derivative titles like the DJ version, including a spinning deck, and Band Hero. After that, corporate focus in plastic instruments died down, aside from a brief comeback in 2015.
Titles like Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have maintained 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 music game. Original co-founders are both involved in advisory roles. Are gamers prepared to welcome a new entry in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed such titles could be like Madden allowing annual releases,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much new music it could remain evergreen, thus I remain optimistic. There’s no reason why it can’t persist for future fans.”
