It has been two decades since Guitar Hero debuted in North America, giving players everywhere the means to become a rock star. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing anyone who's mastered Free Bird’s lengthy guitar solo before an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by the developers, Guitar Hero gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to follow coloured notes moving along the screen synchronized to a song. Each riff corresponded to specific notes, producing the feel of an authentic performance.
Harmonix had already experimented with rhythm games prior to teaming up with the publisher, which was acquired by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Together, they laid the foundations for a surprising massively profitable series that had a significant impact for many of the artists included, showcasing decades-old groups to millions of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, recalls the early financial challenges of licensing the recordings – even though the first two games mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced every song because the dollar figure was so high,” he says. “Despite having the necessary permissions by themselves, it proved extremely difficult. We couldn’t get bands like the Who – the publisher had virtually no money, and our team was fairly certain the project would flop. But once Guitar Hero took off, album purchases airtime were going up, everyone wanted to be in.”
He continues: “Among the remarkable aspects was how many mothers and fathers reached out expressing gratitude for introducing their kids to the music they adored. It became an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Finds a New Audience
Northern Irish group the Answer included Never Too Late in the 2008 release the popular installment. Lead musician the artist remembers the way the game revived classic rock to the forefront: “Guitar Hero provided a larger, new demographic. Generally this had been considered music that was past it, but then once it got featured on the game and teenagers discovered it, suddenly it became trendy. This validated the genre, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ label. It gave all our music renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the Answer’s debut album was still unreleased stateside, so the game served as a primary platform for exposure for the group as they went on a North American tour opening for AC/DC. “Their crew were playing the song during travel, and some of them knew us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles and Lasting Impact
Music's heavyweight names quickly capitalised on the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in dedicated game editions centered around their music collections and related lore, imagery and legendary status. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly to have made the group greater revenue compared to their records. It sold well over half a million units in its first week, while sales of their songs rose of up to 40% during an era as the industry was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero still motivates nimble-fingered dedication within the community. Recently, a streamer achieved an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough power-metal song popularized through Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with similar gameplay but an array of personalization features. The song is challenging enough on the hardest setting, let alone performed at double speed while hitting every one of the thousands of cues. The streamer claimed it took months of practice of practice.
“The game is a fun, fantasy thing. Just as with other games, it doesn't imply you ought to pick up a real gun and go to war,” says DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
The band previously wrapped up a profitable run before their hit was featured on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it made them widely recognized. “I recall our distributors informing us that our records were moving like crazy,” he says. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we were playing right ahead of top acts at the event.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it has risked eclipsing everything else accomplishments. Last year, the song was used 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 listen to one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got their own musical journey and I'm pleased we played a role in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Impact from the Plastic Guitar
Top-tier marketing, whether it’s for automobiles, apparel or video games, extends beyond mere transactions – it inspires a longing. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “Precisely what we were trying to create,” he confirms. “The excitement of performing as a rock star on the stage. From day one, the creators felt that humans have a natural urge to create songs, and they wanted to leverage innovation to enable everyone to participate”.
Most installments came out over a mere five-year period from 2005 to 2010, including spin-offs such as the DJ version, complete with a turntable controller, and Band Hero. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments waned, aside from a brief comeback in 2015.
Games such as Clone Hero and newer releases have maintained the community active, with set to be something from the original publisher on the way. A new studio has entered production on its debut rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are participating in advisory roles. Are gamers ready to embrace another game in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“We thought such titles might become similar to sports games where you can update every year,” he remarks. “With abundant new music it could remain perennially popular, thus I remain optimistic. It's entirely possible why it can’t continue for future fans.”
