Marking 20 years since the legendary game debuted in North America, giving everyday gamers the means to feel like rock legends. Not literally, but try telling that anyone who's nailed the epic lengthy instrumental break before a packed crowd of friends.
Created by Harmonix, Guitar Hero provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to follow coloured notes moving along the display in time with a song. Every sequence mimicked particular chords, creating the sensation of an authentic performance.
Harmonix previously tried its hand in the music genre prior to teaming up with the publisher, which was purchased by the gaming giant in 2006. Collaboratively, they established the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar franchise that had a remarkable impact for many of the artists featured, showcasing classic bands to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, remembers the early financial challenges in securing the recordings – despite the fact the first two games mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded all the music because the cost was so high,” he explains. “Even with the necessary permissions by themselves, it proved nearly impossible. We couldn’t get bands like legendary groups – RedOctane had virtually no money, and our team was fairly certain it would fail. But once the game took off, album purchases airtime increased, everyone wanted to participate.”
He adds: “Among the amazing things was the number of mothers and fathers reached out expressing gratitude for exposing their children to the music they adored. It evolved into an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Gains a New Audience
Northern Irish blues-rock band the Answer included their track on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician the artist remembers how the series brought older hits back into vogue: “The game provided a bigger, new demographic. Typically such music was considered outdated material, however once it got featured on the title and teenagers discovered it, abruptly it was cool. That legitimised it, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ label. It gave our catalog a new life.”
In 2008, the band's debut album remained not available stateside, so Guitar Hero served as a primary platform for exposure for the band during their a North American tour opening for AC/DC. “The roadies had on Never Too Late during travel, and several knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Major Band Titles and Lasting Influence
Rock’s heavyweight names soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in specialized spin-off titles that focused on each band’s catalogue and related lore, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly to have made the group more money than any of their records. It moved more than half a million units upon release, while sales of their songs saw an increase of up to 40% at a time as the industry faced decline.
The series still motivates quick-handed dedication among its fans. Earlier this year, an online personality achieved a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s the challenging track – an infamously tough power-metal song popularized through the game – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with similar mechanics and extensive customisation options. The song is challenging enough on expert mode, let alone performed at double speed while hitting every one of its near 4,000 notes. They claimed it took nine months of practice.
“Guitar Hero offers a, fantasy thing. Just as with other games, that doesn’t mean you should pick up actual weapons and enlist,” notes DragonForce guitarist the artist.
DragonForce previously wrapped up a profitable run when their hit was featured in the third game, but Li says it turned them into a household name. “I remember our distributors informing us that we were selling albums rapidly,” he says. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we performed right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero was so immense that it has threatened to eclipsing all other accomplishments. Last year, the track featured in promotional material for a major film. “Previously I felt otherwise, but now I accept it,” Li says. “Should you just listen to one DragonForce song, that's fine – each person has a unique path in music and I’m glad we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Impact from the Plastic Guitar
The best marketing, whether it’s for cars, apparel or games, goes further than selling something – it inspires a desire. Was the game able to harness this? “Precisely what we were trying to create,” he confirms. “That thrill of performing as a rock star on the stage. Since the beginning, the creators felt that humans have a natural urge to create songs, and their goal was to leverage innovation to allow people to do it”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games came out over a mere half-decade between 2005 and 2010, including derivative titles such as the DJ version, complete with a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. After that, the publisher’s interest on peripherals waned, except for a short-lived revival several years later.
Games like Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have kept the community active, and there’s expectations of something from the founders in development. A new studio has entered work on their first rhythm-based title. The initial creators are participating in advisory roles. Are gamers ready to embrace another game following Guitar Hero?
“We thought such titles might become similar to sports games allowing annual releases,” he remarks. “There’s so much fresh tracks it could remain perennially popular, thus I remain hopeful. There’s no reason why it can’t persist for future fans.”
