Marking 20 years since the legendary game hit the market across the Atlantic, giving players everywhere the opportunity to become a rock star. Not in reality, but try telling that anyone who has mastered the epic lengthy guitar solo before a packed living-room audience.
Created by Harmonix, Guitar Hero gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to match coloured notes moving along the display in time with a song. Each riff corresponded to specific notes, producing the sensation of an authentic live show.
Harmonix had already tried its hand with rhythm games prior to teaming up with the publisher, later purchased by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they established the groundwork for an unlikely massively profitable franchise which made a remarkable impact on numerous of the artists featured, showcasing classic bands to millions of younger players.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, recalls the initial financial challenges of licensing the recordings – despite the fact initial releases mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced all the music since the cost was so high,” he says. “Despite having the publishing rights by themselves, it was nearly impossible. We failed to secure acts such as the Who – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was fairly certain the project would flop. However, when the game took off, and record sales and radio play increased, all artists desired to participate.”
He continues: “Among the amazing things was how many parents got in touch expressing gratitude for exposing their kids to the songs they adored. It became a multigenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Finds Younger Fans
Northern Irish blues-rock band one featured act had their track on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician Paul Mahon remembers the way the game revived classic rock back into vogue: “The game provided a bigger, new demographic. Generally this had been seen as outdated material, but then once it got featured on the game and teenagers discovered it, suddenly it became trendy. That legitimised the genre, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It provided our catalog renewed popularity.”
At that time, the Answer’s first record remained unreleased stateside, meaning Guitar Hero was a key medium for exposure for the group as they went on US tour supporting AC/DC. “Their crew had on the song during travel, and several knew us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.
Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs Enduring Impact
Music's biggest acts quickly capitalised on the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in specialized spin-off titles that focused on their music collections and associated lore, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, the Aerosmith edition, it was said earned the group greater revenue than any of their records. It sold well over half a million copies upon release, and sales of Aerosmith’s music saw an increase significantly during an era as the industry was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire quick-handed dedication within the community. Recently, an online personality achieved a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult anthem popularized through the game – using a fan-made version, a no-cost alternative with similar mechanics but an array of personalization features. The song is challenging even in expert mode, let alone performed at double speed while hitting a single one of the thousands of cues. The streamer stated it took nine months of practice.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, imaginary experience. Just as with Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you should pick up a real gun and enlist,” says musician Herman Li.
The band had already wrapped up a successful tour before Through the Fire and Flames was featured in the third game, but Li says it turned them into widely recognized. “I remember our distributors calling to tell me that we were records were moving like crazy,” he shares. “It exploded when we next toured, and we performed right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, the band's visibility via the game was so immense that it threatened to overshadow everything else accomplishments. Recently, the track featured in promotional material for a major film. “Previously I thought differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “Should you just listen to a single track, it’s totally cool – each person has a unique musical journey and I’m glad we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
Enduring Impact from the Plastic Guitar
Top-tier promotion, be it for cars, clothes or video games, goes further mere transactions – it inspires a desire. Was the game able to harness this? “That’s exactly what our team trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of being a rock star on the stage. From day one, the co-founders felt that there’s an instinctive urge to create songs, and they wanted to use technology to enable everyone to do it”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games came out in just a five-year period from 2005 to 2010, including spin-offs such as DJ Hero, including a spinning deck, and Band Hero. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments waned, aside from a short-lived revival in 2015.
Titles like the fan project and Fortnite Festival have maintained the scene active, and there’s set to be a new product from the original publisher on the way. Recently formed developers has begun production on their first rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are participating in advisory roles. Are gamers ready to embrace a new entry following the classic?
“Our team believed those games might become similar to sports games where you can update every year,” he remarks. “With abundant fresh tracks it could remain evergreen, thus I remain hopeful. There’s no reason for it to continue with new generations.”
