Marking two decades after the legendary game first launched across the Atlantic, giving everyday gamers the means to feel like a rock star. Not in reality, but try convincing someone who has nailed Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo in front of an enthusiastic crowd of friends.
Created by Harmonix, the game provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to match on-screen cues moving along the display in time with a song. Each riff mimicked specific notes, producing the feel of an authentic live show.
The studio previously tried its hand with rhythm games before partnering with the publisher, later purchased by Activision in 2006. Collaboratively, they established the foundations for a surprising massively profitable franchise which made a significant impact on numerous of the artists included, introducing classic groups to a new generation of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO from the developer, recalls the early budgetary hurdles in securing the recordings – despite the fact the first two games primarily featured cover versions.
“We reproduced every song since the cost prohibitive,” he explains. “Even with the necessary permissions by themselves, it was extremely difficult. We failed to secure acts such as the Who – the publisher had virtually no money, and our team was pretty convinced the project would flop. But once Guitar Hero became a hit, and record sales and radio play were going up, everyone wanted to participate.”
He continues: “Among the remarkable aspects was how many mothers and fathers got in touch and thanked us for exposing their children to the songs they loved. It evolved into an intergenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Gains a New Audience
Northern Irish blues-rock band one featured act had their track in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist Paul Mahon remembers how the series revived classic rock back into vogue: “Guitar Hero provided a larger, younger audience. Generally such music was seen as music that was past it, however once it got featured on the title young people were finding it, abruptly it became trendy. This validated it, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ tag. It gave all our music renewed popularity.”
At that time, the Answer’s debut album was still not available stateside, so the game served as a primary platform of discovery for the band as they went on US tour opening for AC/DC. “Their crew were playing Never Too Late on the tour bus, and several knew us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles and Lasting Influence
Rock’s biggest acts soon capitalised on the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in dedicated game editions that focused on each band’s catalogue and associated lore, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly to have made the band more money than any of their records. It moved more than half a million copies upon release, and sales of Aerosmith’s music rose of up to 40% at a time as the industry was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero still motivates nimble-fingered dedication within the community. Earlier this year, an online personality completed a remarkable feat featuring Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult power-metal song popularized through the game – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical gameplay and extensive personalization features. The song is challenging even in the hardest setting, not to mention performed at double speed and without missing every one of the thousands of cues. The streamer stated it took months of practice of practice.
“Guitar Hero offers a, imaginary experience. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to pick up actual weapons and enlist,” says musician the artist.
DragonForce previously completed a successful tour before their hit appeared in the third game, but Li says it turned them into a household name. “I remember the record label calling to tell me that our records were moving like crazy,” he says. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we performed right ahead of the headliners at the event.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure via the game proved so vast that it threatened to overshadow all other the band has done. Recently, the song featured in a trailer for a major film. “Previously I thought otherwise, but now I accept it,” he admits. “Should you just hear 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”.
Enduring Impact of a Iconic Controller
Top-tier marketing, be it for cars, apparel or games, goes further than selling something – it inspires a desire. Was the game able to tap into that? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of being a music icon on the stage. From day one, the co-founders felt that there’s an instinctive urge to create songs, and their goal was to use technology to enable everyone to do it”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games were released in just a five-year period between 2005 and 2010, including derivative titles like DJ Hero, complete with a spinning deck, and Band Hero. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments waned, aside from a short-lived revival several years later.
Titles like Clone Hero and newer releases have maintained the community active, and there’s set to be something from the founders on the way. A new studio has begun production on its debut music game. Original co-founders are both involved in advisory roles. Are gamers ready to embrace a new entry following Guitar Hero?
“We thought such titles might become like Madden where you can releases,” he remarks. “There’s so much fresh tracks that it could be perennially popular, so I’ve always been optimistic. There’s no reason why it can’t persist for future fans.”
