It has been 20 years after Guitar Hero debuted across the Atlantic, giving everyday gamers the tools to become rock legends. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that anyone who's nailed Free Bird’s lengthy guitar solo in front of a packed crowd of friends.
Created by the developers, Guitar Hero provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to match coloured notes moving along the display synchronized to the music. Each riff corresponded to specific notes, creating the feel of a genuine performance.
The studio had already tried its hand with rhythm games prior to teaming up with the publisher, later acquired by Activision in 2006. Together, they established the groundwork for an unlikely massively profitable series which made a remarkable influence on numerous musicians included, showcasing classic bands to millions of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO of Harmonix, recalls the initial budgetary hurdles of licensing the recordings – even though the first two games primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced all the music because the cost prohibitive,” he says. “Even with the necessary permissions alone, it was nearly impossible. We couldn’t get acts such as the Who – the publisher had virtually no money, and our team was fairly certain the project would flop. But once the game took off, album purchases airtime were going up, all artists desired to be in.”
He continues: “Among the amazing things was the number of mothers and fathers got in touch and thanked us for exposing their kids to the music they loved. It evolved into a multigenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Gains Younger Fans
Northern Irish blues-rock band the Answer included Never Too Late on the 2008 game the popular installment. Guitarist the artist recalls the way the game brought older hits back into vogue: “Guitar Hero provided a bigger, new demographic. Generally this had been seen as outdated material, but then once it got featured on the game and teenagers were finding it, suddenly it became trendy. That legitimised the genre, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ label. It gave our catalog a new life.”
At that time, the Answer’s first record remained not available in the US, so Guitar Hero served as a primary platform of discovery for the band as they went on US tour supporting AC/DC. “Their crew had on Never Too Late during travel, and several knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles Enduring Influence
Music's heavyweight names quickly took advantage of the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in specialized spin-off titles that focused on their music collections and associated lore, visuals and legendary status. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly to have made the group greater revenue than any of their studio albums. It moved well over 500,000 units upon release, while demand for Aerosmith’s music saw an increase of up to 40% at a time as the industry faced decline.
Guitar Hero still motivates nimble-fingered dedication among its fans. Earlier this year, a streamer achieved an impressive attempt featuring the challenging track – a notoriously difficult power-metal song popularized through the game – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with similar mechanics but an array of personalization features. The song is difficult even in the hardest setting, not to mention played at increased tempo while hitting a single one of its near 4,000 notes. They stated requiring months of practice to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, imaginary experience. If you play Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you should pick up actual weapons and go to war,” says DragonForce guitarist the artist.
DragonForce previously wrapped up a profitable run when Through the Fire and Flames appeared on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it made them a household name. “I remember our distributors informing us that our selling albums like crazy,” he shares. “It exploded when we next toured, and we were playing just before the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero was so immense that it threatened to overshadow all other the band has done. Last year, the track was used in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I thought otherwise, but now I accept it,” he admits. “Should you just listen to one DragonForce song, that's fine – each person has their own musical journey and I'm pleased we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Impact of a Iconic Controller
Top-tier marketing, be it for cars, clothes or games, goes further than selling something – it inspires a longing. Was the game able to harness this? “That’s exactly what we were trying to create,” he confirms. “The excitement of being a music icon on the stage. From day one, the co-founders felt that humans have a natural urge to make music, and they wanted to use technology to allow people to participate”.
Most installments came out in just a half-decade from 2005 to 2010, featuring spin-offs like the DJ version, complete with a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. After that, corporate focus on peripherals died down, except for a brief comeback several years later.
Games like the fan project and Fortnite Festival have maintained the scene alive, and there’s expectations of a new product from the original publisher in development. A new studio has entered production on its debut music game. The initial creators are participating as special advisers. Is the world ready to embrace a new entry following the classic?
“We thought those games could be like Madden where you can update every year,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much fresh tracks it could remain perennially popular, thus I remain hopeful. It's entirely possible why it can’t persist for future fans.”
