Marking 20 years since Guitar Hero debuted across the Atlantic, offering everyday gamers the opportunity to become a rock star. Not in reality, but try telling that anyone who's mastered Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo before a packed crowd of friends.
Developed by Harmonix, Guitar Hero provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to follow coloured notes scrolling down the screen in time with the music. Every sequence mimicked specific notes, producing the sensation of an authentic live show.
The studio had already experimented with rhythm games before partnering with RedOctane, which was acquired by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Together, they laid the groundwork for an unlikely massively profitable franchise that had a significant impact for many of the artists included, introducing classic bands to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, former COO of Harmonix, recalls the initial budgetary hurdles in securing the recordings – even though initial releases mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded every song because the dollar figure was so high,” he explains. “Despite having the publishing rights alone, it proved extremely difficult. We failed to secure acts such as the Who – RedOctane had virtually no money, and we were pretty convinced it would fail. But once the game took off, and record sales airtime were going up, everyone wanted to participate.”
He adds: “One of the remarkable aspects was how many mothers and fathers reached out expressing gratitude for introducing their children to the songs they adored. It became a multigenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Finds a New Audience
Irish group one featured act had their track in the 2008 release the popular installment. Guitarist the artist recalls the way the game brought older hits to the forefront: “Guitar Hero provided a larger, younger audience. Typically such music was considered outdated material, but then once it got included in the title and teenagers were finding it, suddenly it was cool. This validated it, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It provided our catalog renewed popularity.”
At that time, the band's first record remained unreleased in the US, so the game served as a primary platform for exposure for the band during their US tour opening for AC/DC. “Their crew had on the song during travel, and several knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles Enduring Influence
Rock’s biggest acts soon capitalised on the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in dedicated spin-off titles centered around their music collections and associated lore, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said to have made the band greater revenue than any of their records. It sold more than half a million copies upon release, while sales of their songs rose significantly during an era as the industry was already collapsing.
The series still motivates quick-handed dedication within the community. Earlier this year, a streamer achieved an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough anthem popularized through Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical mechanics but an array of personalization features. The song is challenging enough on the hardest setting, not to mention played at double speed and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. The streamer stated requiring nine months to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero offers a, fantasy thing. Just as with other games, that doesn’t mean you should pick up actual weapons and go to war,” notes musician the artist.
DragonForce had already wrapped up a profitable run before Through the Fire and Flames was featured in the third game, but Li says it turned them into widely recognized. “I recall the record label calling to tell me that our records were moving rapidly,” he says. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we were playing right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero was so immense that it threatened to eclipsing everything else accomplishments. Last year, the song featured in promotional material for a major film. “In the past I felt differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “Should you just listen to a single track, that's fine – each person has their own musical journey and I’m glad we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Legacy from the Plastic Guitar
The best marketing, be it for automobiles, apparel or video 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,” he confirms. “The excitement of being a music icon in the spotlight. From day one, the creators believed humans have a natural urge to make music, and they wanted to use technology to enable everyone to participate”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games were released in just a five-year period from 2005 to 2010, including spin-offs like DJ Hero, including a turntable controller, and Band Hero. After that, the publisher’s interest on peripherals waned, except for a short-lived revival in 2015.
Titles such as Clone Hero and newer releases have kept the scene active, and there’s expectations of something from the founders in development. Recently formed developers has begun work on their first music game. The initial creators are participating as special advisers. Are gamers ready to embrace a new entry following Guitar Hero?
“We thought such titles might become like Madden where you can update every year,” he remarks. “With abundant fresh tracks it could remain evergreen, so I’ve always been hopeful. There’s no reason for it to continue for future fans.”
