It has been 20 years since the legendary game hit the market across the Atlantic, offering players everywhere the means to feel like a rock star. Not literally, but try telling that anyone who's nailed Free Bird’s lengthy instrumental break in front of a packed living-room audience.
Created by the developers, the game provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to match on-screen cues moving along the screen in time with the music. Every sequence corresponded to particular chords, creating the sensation of a genuine performance.
The studio had already experimented with rhythm games before partnering with the publisher, which was acquired by the gaming giant in 2006. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for a surprising massively profitable franchise that had a significant impact on numerous of the artists featured, introducing decades-old bands to millions of younger players.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, remembers the initial budgetary hurdles in securing the songs – even though the first two games mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced every song because the cost prohibitive,” he says. “Despite having the publishing rights alone, it was extremely difficult. We couldn’t get bands like legendary groups – the publisher had virtually no money, and our team was fairly certain the project would flop. However, when the game became a hit, album purchases and radio play increased, everyone wanted to be in.”
He adds: “Among the remarkable aspects was the number of parents reached out and thanked us for exposing their children to the music they adored. It evolved into a multigenerational thing.”
Timeless Music Gains a New Audience
Irish blues-rock band the Answer had Never Too Late in the 2008 release the popular installment. Lead musician the artist remembers how the series brought classic rock to the forefront: “Guitar Hero provided a larger, new demographic. Generally such music was considered outdated material, however when it was included in the game and teenagers were finding it, suddenly it became trendy. That legitimised it, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It gave our catalog a new life.”
At that time, the band's first record was still not available in the US, meaning the game served as a primary platform of discovery for the group during their a North American tour supporting AC/DC. “Their crew were playing the song on the tour bus, and several recognized us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.
Major Band Titles and Lasting Impact
Rock’s heavyweight names quickly capitalised on the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in dedicated game editions centered around their music collections and related stories, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, it was said earned the group greater revenue compared to their studio albums. It moved well over 500,000 copies upon release, and sales of their songs saw an increase significantly during an era as the industry faced decline.
Guitar Hero still motivates nimble-fingered fanaticism among its fans. Recently, an online personality completed an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough anthem made popular by Guitar Hero – using a fan-made version, a no-cost alternative with almost identical gameplay but an array of customisation options. The song is difficult enough on expert mode, 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 is a fun, fantasy thing. If you play other games, it doesn't imply you ought to use actual weapons and enlist,” says musician the artist.
DragonForce had already wrapped up a successful tour when their hit appeared in the third game, but Li says it made them widely recognized. “I recall our distributors calling to tell me that we were selling albums like crazy,” he shares. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we were playing right ahead of top acts at the event.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure via the game proved so vast that it threatened to overshadow everything else the band has done. Recently, the song was used in promotional material for a major film. “Previously I felt otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “If you only listen to one DragonForce song, that's fine – each person has a unique musical journey and I’m glad we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Impact of a Plastic Guitar
Top-tier marketing, be it for cars, clothes or games, goes further than selling something – it evokes a desire. Was the game able to tap into that? “That’s exactly what our team trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a music icon in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the creators believed there’s an instinctive urge to create songs, and their goal was to use technology to enable everyone to do it”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games were released in just a half-decade between 2005 and 2010, featuring spin-offs such as the DJ version, including a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. After that, corporate focus on peripherals died down, aside from a short-lived revival several years later.
Titles like the fan project and Fortnite Festival have kept the scene alive, with expectations of a new product from the original publisher in development. Recently formed developers has begun work on its debut rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are both involved in advisory roles. Are gamers prepared to welcome a new entry following Guitar Hero?
“We thought those games might become similar to sports games allowing annual update every year,” he remarks. “With abundant fresh tracks that it could be evergreen, thus I remain optimistic. There’s no reason for it to continue for future fans.”
