It has been two decades since the legendary game hit the market in North America, offering players everywhere the means to feel like a rock star. Figuratively speaking, but try telling that anyone who's mastered the epic four-minute instrumental break before an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Developed by Harmonix, Guitar Hero provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to follow on-screen cues scrolling down the screen in time with a song. Each riff corresponded to particular chords, producing the feel of an authentic performance.
Harmonix had already experimented in the music genre prior to teaming up with RedOctane, later purchased by the gaming giant in 2006. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for a surprising massively profitable franchise that had a remarkable influence for many of the artists included, introducing classic bands to a new generation of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO of Harmonix, recalls the initial budgetary hurdles in securing the songs – despite the fact the first two games primarily featured cover versions.
“We reproduced all the music because the dollar figure was so high,” he says. “Even with the necessary permissions by themselves, it proved nearly impossible. We couldn’t get acts such as legendary groups – RedOctane had virtually no money, and our team was fairly certain it would fail. But once Guitar Hero took off, and record sales airtime increased, everyone wanted to participate.”
He continues: “One of the amazing things was the number of mothers and fathers got in touch expressing gratitude for exposing their kids to the songs they adored. It became an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Finds a New Audience
Northern Irish group one featured act included Never Too Late on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist the artist remembers how the series revived classic rock to the forefront: “The game offered a larger, new demographic. Typically this had been seen as music that was past it, but then once it got included in the game and teenagers were finding it, suddenly it was cool. That legitimised it, eliminating the outdated tag. It provided all our music a new life.”
In 2008, the Answer’s debut album remained unreleased in the US, meaning Guitar Hero served as a primary platform for exposure for the group during their US tour supporting AC/DC. “Their crew had on Never Too Late on the tour bus, and some of them knew us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.
Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs Enduring Impact
Rock’s heavyweight names quickly took advantage of the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in specialized game editions that focused on each band’s catalogue and associated stories, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly to have made the band greater revenue than any of their studio albums. It sold more than half a million copies in its first week, while sales of their songs rose of up to 40% during an era when the music business faced decline.
The series still motivates nimble-fingered fanaticism within the community. Recently, a streamer achieved an impressive attempt featuring the challenging track – an infamously tough power-metal song made popular by the game – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with similar gameplay but an array of customisation options. The song is difficult enough on the hardest setting, let alone played at double speed and without missing a single one of its near 4,000 notes. They stated it took nine months of practice.
“Guitar Hero offers a, imaginary experience. Just as with other games, that doesn’t mean you should use actual weapons and enlist,” says musician Herman Li.
The band had already wrapped up a profitable run when Through the Fire and Flames appeared in the third game, yet he explains it made them a household name. “I recall our distributors calling to tell me that we were selling albums rapidly,” he shares. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we performed just before the headliners at the event.”
Indeed, the band's visibility via the game proved so vast that it has risked eclipsing all other accomplishments. Recently, the song featured in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I felt otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “Should you just hear a single track, that's fine – everyone’s got their own path in music and I’m glad we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Impact from the Iconic Controller
The best promotion, be it for cars, clothes or video games, extends beyond than selling something – it inspires a desire. Was the game able to tap into that? “Precisely what our team aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a music icon in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the creators believed humans have a natural human desire to create songs, and their goal was to use technology to allow people to do it”.
Most of Guitar Hero games came out over a mere half-decade from 2005 to 2010, featuring spin-offs like 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.
Games such as Clone Hero and newer releases have maintained the community active, with set to be a new product from the original publisher in development. Recently formed developers has begun work on their first music game. Original co-founders are both involved in advisory roles. Is the world prepared to welcome a new entry in the spirit of the classic?
“We thought such titles could be similar to sports games where you can releases,” he remarks. “There’s so much new music that it could be evergreen, thus I remain hopeful. There’s no reason why it can’t continue with new generations.”