Marking 20 years after the legendary game hit the market in North America, giving everyday gamers the tools to become rock legends. Not in reality, but try convincing someone who's nailed Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo before a packed living-room audience.
Created by the developers, Guitar Hero provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to match on-screen cues moving along the display in time with the music. Each riff corresponded to specific notes, producing the feel of a genuine live show.
Harmonix previously experimented in the music genre prior to teaming up with RedOctane, which was acquired by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they established the foundations for a surprising massively profitable franchise that had a significant influence on numerous musicians featured, showcasing decades-old groups to a new generation of younger players.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, recalls the early financial challenges of licensing the songs – even though initial releases primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced all the music since the dollar figure was so high,” he explains. “Despite having the necessary permissions by themselves, it proved extremely difficult. We couldn’t get acts such as the Who – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was fairly certain the project would flop. But once Guitar Hero took off, album purchases and radio play were going up, everyone wanted to participate.”
He adds: “One of the remarkable aspects was the number of parents reached out and thanked us for introducing their kids to the music they adored. It became a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Finds Younger Fans
Irish blues-rock band the Answer included Never Too Late in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician the artist recalls the way the game revived classic rock back into vogue: “Guitar Hero offered a larger, younger audience. Generally such music was considered music that was past it, but then when it was featured on the game and teenagers discovered it, suddenly it became trendy. That legitimised it, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It gave our catalog renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the band's debut album remained not available stateside, so Guitar Hero was a key medium for exposure for the band during their a North American tour supporting AC/DC. “The roadies had on the song during travel, and some of them recognized us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Major Band Spin-offs Enduring Influence
Rock’s heavyweight names soon took advantage of the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in specialized game editions centered around their music collections and related lore, imagery and legendary status. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said to have made the group more money compared to their studio albums. It sold more than half a million units in its first week, and demand for Aerosmith’s music saw an increase significantly during an era as the industry was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire nimble-fingered fanaticism within the community. Recently, a streamer achieved an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s the challenging track – an infamously tough anthem made popular by Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical gameplay but an array of customisation options. This track is challenging enough on the hardest setting, let alone played at double speed while hitting every one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer stated requiring months of practice of practice.
“The game offers a, imaginary experience. If you play Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you should pick up a real gun and enlist,” says musician the artist.
The band 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 remember the record label informing us that our records were moving like crazy,” he says. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we were playing right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it has threatened to eclipsing everything else the band has done. Recently, the song was used in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I felt otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “If you only hear one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got their own path in music and I'm pleased we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Impact from the Plastic Guitar
The best marketing, be it for automobiles, clothes or video games, goes further than selling something – it inspires a longing. Was the game able to tap into that? “That’s exactly what our team trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of being a music icon on the stage. Since the beginning, the co-founders felt that there’s an instinctive human desire to make music, and their goal was to use technology to allow people to do it”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games came out in just a five-year period between 2005 and 2010, featuring spin-offs like the DJ version, complete with a spinning deck, and Band Hero. Subsequently, corporate focus on peripherals waned, except for a brief comeback several years later.
Titles like Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have maintained the scene active, and there’s expectations of something from the original publisher in development. A new studio has begun work on their first rhythm-based title. The initial creators are participating in advisory roles. Are gamers prepared to welcome another game following Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed such titles might become like Madden where you can releases,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much new music it could remain perennially popular, thus I remain optimistic. There’s no reason for it to persist with new generations.”
