Marking 20 years since Guitar Hero debuted in North America, giving players everywhere the tools to become a rock star. Figuratively speaking, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing someone who has nailed the epic four-minute guitar solo before an enthusiastic crowd of friends.
Developed by Harmonix, the game provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to follow on-screen cues moving along the screen in time with the music. Every sequence corresponded to particular chords, producing the sensation of an authentic live show.
The studio previously tried its hand with rhythm games prior to teaming up with the publisher, which was acquired by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they established the groundwork for a surprising billion-dollar franchise which made a significant impact on numerous of the artists featured, introducing classic bands to millions of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO from the developer, remembers the early financial challenges of licensing the songs – even though initial releases primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded every song since the cost prohibitive,” he says. “Even with the necessary permissions alone, it was extremely difficult. We couldn’t get acts such as the Who – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were pretty convinced it would fail. However, when Guitar Hero took off, album purchases airtime increased, all artists desired to be in.”
He adds: “Among the remarkable aspects was how many mothers and fathers got in touch and thanked us for exposing their kids to the songs they loved. It became a multigenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Finds Younger Fans
Irish group one featured act had Never Too Late on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician the artist recalls the way the game brought older hits to the forefront: “Guitar Hero offered a bigger, new demographic. Typically such music was considered music that was past it, but then once it got featured on the title and teenagers discovered it, abruptly it became trendy. This validated it, eliminating the outdated tag. It provided our catalog renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the Answer’s debut album was still unreleased stateside, meaning the game served as a primary platform for exposure for the group as they went on US tour opening for the rock giants. “Their crew had on Never Too Late on the tour bus, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Major Band Spin-offs Enduring Influence
Rock’s heavyweight names soon took advantage of the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in dedicated game editions that focused on their music collections and associated lore, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly earned the band greater revenue than any of their studio albums. It moved more than 500,000 copies upon release, while demand for Aerosmith’s music rose of up to 40% at a time as the industry was already collapsing.
The series continues to inspire quick-handed dedication among its fans. Earlier this year, an online personality achieved a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s the challenging track – a notoriously difficult power-metal song popularized through Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical gameplay and extensive customisation options. The song is challenging even in the hardest setting, not to mention performed at increased tempo and without missing every 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 Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you should pick up a real gun and enlist,” notes DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
DragonForce previously completed a successful tour before their hit was featured in the third game, but Li says it turned them into widely recognized. “I recall the record label informing us that we were selling albums like crazy,” he shares. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we performed just before the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, the band's visibility via the game proved so vast that it risked eclipsing everything else the band has done. Recently, the track featured in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I thought otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “If you only listen to one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – each person has their own musical journey and I'm pleased we played a role of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Impact from the Plastic Guitar
Top-tier promotion, whether it’s for cars, clothes or games, extends beyond than selling something – it evokes a desire. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “That’s exactly what we were trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a rock star on the stage. Since the beginning, the creators believed humans have a natural human desire to make music, and they wanted to leverage innovation to enable everyone to do it”.
Most of Guitar Hero games were released over a mere five-year period from 2005 to 2010, featuring derivative titles such as the DJ version, complete with a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. After that, corporate focus on peripherals died down, aside from a brief comeback in 2015.
Games such as the fan project and Fortnite Festival have kept the community active, with expectations of something from the founders in development. A new studio has begun production on its debut rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are both involved as special advisers. Are gamers prepared to welcome another game in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed those games might become like Madden allowing annual releases,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant fresh tracks that it could be perennially popular, thus I remain hopeful. It's entirely possible for it to persist for future fans.”
