It has been 20 years since the legendary game first launched in North America, offering players everywhere the opportunity to become rock legends. Not literally, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing someone who has nailed the epic four-minute guitar solo in front of an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by Harmonix, the game provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to match on-screen cues moving along the display synchronized to a song. Each riff mimicked particular chords, producing the sensation of an authentic performance.
Harmonix had already experimented in the music genre before partnering with RedOctane, which was acquired by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar series that had a significant influence on numerous of the artists featured, showcasing decades-old groups to millions of gaming enthusiasts.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO of Harmonix, remembers the early budgetary hurdles of licensing the songs – despite the fact the first two games primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced every song because the dollar figure prohibitive,” he explains. “Even with the necessary permissions by themselves, it proved nearly impossible. We failed to secure bands like the Who – RedOctane had virtually no money, and we were fairly certain it would fail. But once Guitar Hero became a hit, album purchases airtime were going up, everyone wanted to participate.”
He continues: “Among the remarkable aspects was the number of mothers and fathers got in touch expressing gratitude for exposing their children to the music they adored. It became an intergenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Finds Younger Fans
Irish blues-rock band one featured act had their track in the 2008 release the popular installment. Guitarist Paul Mahon remembers the way the game brought classic rock to the forefront: “Guitar Hero provided a bigger, younger audience. Generally this had been considered music that was past it, but then once it got included in the game and teenagers discovered it, abruptly it became trendy. This validated the genre, eliminating the outdated label. It provided all our music a new life.”
At that time, the band's debut album remained unreleased stateside, so the game served as a primary platform for exposure for the band as they went on US tour supporting the rock giants. “Their crew were playing the song during travel, and some of them recognized us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles Enduring Influence
Rock’s heavyweight names quickly capitalised on the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in dedicated spin-off titles centered around each band’s catalogue and associated lore, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly to have made the band more money compared to their records. It moved well over 500,000 copies upon release, while demand for their songs saw an increase of up to 40% during an era when the music business was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire nimble-fingered fanaticism among its fans. Earlier this year, a streamer achieved an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s the challenging track – an infamously tough anthem popularized through Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical mechanics but an array of personalization features. The song is difficult even in expert mode, let alone performed at double speed and without missing every one of the thousands of cues. They stated requiring nine months to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero offers a, imaginary experience. If you play Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you should use actual weapons and go to war,” says musician Herman Li.
The band had already wrapped up a successful tour when their hit appeared on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it made them widely recognized. “I remember the record label calling to tell me that we were selling albums rapidly,” he shares. “It exploded when we next toured, and we performed just before top acts at the event.”
In fact, the band's visibility via the game was so immense that it has threatened to overshadow everything else the band has done. Recently, the track featured in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I thought otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “Should you just listen to one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got a unique path in music and I'm pleased we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Impact of a Iconic Controller
The best marketing, be it for automobiles, clothes or games, goes further mere transactions – it evokes a longing. Was the game able to tap into that? “That’s exactly what our team aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “The excitement of being a rock star in the spotlight. From day one, the creators believed humans have a natural urge to make music, and their goal was to leverage innovation to allow people to participate”.
Most installments were released over a mere half-decade between 2005 and 2010, including spin-offs like DJ Hero, complete with a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. After that, the publisher’s interest on peripherals died down, aside from a short-lived revival in 2015.
Games like Clone Hero and newer releases have maintained the scene active, and there’s set to be a new product from the founders on the way. A new studio has entered production on its debut music game. The initial creators are participating as special advisers. Is the world ready to embrace another game following Guitar Hero?
“We thought those games could be similar to sports games where you can releases,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much fresh tracks it could remain perennially popular, so I’ve always been optimistic. There’s no reason why it can’t continue for future fans.”
