Marking 20 years after Guitar Hero first launched in North America, giving players everywhere the opportunity to become a rock star. Figuratively speaking, but try convincing someone who has mastered Free Bird’s lengthy guitar solo in front of an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Developed by Harmonix, the game gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to follow coloured notes moving along the screen in time with a song. Each riff corresponded to particular chords, producing the feel of a genuine performance.
Harmonix had already tried its hand in the music genre before partnering with RedOctane, later acquired by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Together, they laid the foundations for a surprising massively profitable series which made a significant impact on numerous musicians included, introducing decades-old bands to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO of Harmonix, recalls the initial budgetary hurdles in securing the recordings – despite the fact the first two games primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced every song because the cost prohibitive,” he says. “Even with the publishing rights by themselves, it proved extremely difficult. We couldn’t get acts such as the Who – RedOctane had virtually no money, and we were fairly certain it would fail. However, when Guitar Hero became a hit, album purchases and radio play increased, all artists desired to be in.”
He adds: “One of the remarkable aspects was how many mothers and fathers reached out expressing gratitude for exposing their kids to the songs they loved. It became a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Finds a New Audience
Northern Irish group the Answer had their track in the 2008 release the popular installment. Guitarist the artist recalls how the series revived older hits to the forefront: “The game provided a larger, new demographic. Generally this had been considered music that was past it, but then when it was featured on the title and teenagers were finding it, abruptly it was cool. This validated the genre, and got rid of the outdated tag. It gave all our music renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the band's first record was still unreleased stateside, meaning the game served as a primary platform for exposure for the group during their a North American tour opening for AC/DC. “The roadies had on the song on the tour bus, and several knew us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Major Band Spin-offs Enduring Influence
Rock’s biggest acts quickly took advantage of the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in dedicated spin-off titles centered around each band’s catalogue and related lore, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, it was said to have made the band greater revenue than any of their studio albums. It moved more than half a million copies upon release, while demand for their songs rose of up to 40% at a time when the music business was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire nimble-fingered fanaticism among its fans. Earlier this year, a streamer completed an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s the challenging track – an infamously tough power-metal song made popular by the game – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical mechanics but an array of 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. The streamer claimed requiring months of practice of practice.
“Guitar Hero offers a, fantasy thing. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to pick up actual weapons and enlist,” notes musician the artist.
DragonForce had already wrapped up a profitable run when their hit appeared on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it turned them into widely recognized. “I remember our distributors informing us that we were records were moving like crazy,” he says. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we performed right ahead of top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, the band's visibility via the game was so immense that it has threatened to overshadow all other accomplishments. Last year, the track featured in a trailer for a major film. “Previously I thought differently, but now I accept it,” he admits. “Should you just hear one DragonForce song, that's fine – each person has a unique musical journey and I'm pleased we played a role in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Legacy from the Plastic Guitar
Top-tier marketing, be it for automobiles, clothes or games, goes further than selling something – it evokes a desire. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “That’s exactly what we were trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of being a rock star on the stage. Since the beginning, the co-founders felt that there’s an instinctive human desire to make music, and they wanted to leverage innovation to enable everyone to do it”.
Most installments were released in just a five-year period between 2005 and 2010, featuring spin-offs such as DJ Hero, including a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments waned, aside from a short-lived revival in 2015.
Titles such as the fan project and newer releases have kept the scene active, and there’s expectations of something from the original publisher on the way. Recently formed developers has entered production on their first music game. The initial creators are both involved in advisory roles. Is the world prepared to welcome another game in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed those games could be similar to sports games allowing annual update every year,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much new music it could remain perennially popular, thus I remain hopeful. There’s no reason for it to persist for future fans.”
