Marking 20 years since the legendary game hit the market across the Atlantic, offering everyday gamers the tools to become a rock star. Figuratively speaking, but try convincing anyone who's mastered Free Bird’s four-minute instrumental break in front of a packed living-room audience.
Developed by the developers, the game gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to follow coloured notes moving along the screen in time with the music. Each riff corresponded to specific notes, creating the feel of an authentic performance.
Harmonix previously tried its hand with rhythm games before partnering with the publisher, which was acquired by Activision in 2006. Collaboratively, they established the foundations for an unlikely massively profitable franchise which made a significant influence for many of the artists included, introducing classic bands to millions of gaming enthusiasts.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO of Harmonix, recalls the early financial challenges in securing the songs – despite the fact initial releases primarily featured cover versions.
“We rerecorded all the music because the cost was so high,” he says. “Even with the necessary permissions by themselves, it proved nearly impossible. We couldn’t get bands like legendary groups – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was fairly certain it would fail. However, when Guitar Hero took off, and record sales and radio play increased, everyone wanted to participate.”
He adds: “One of the amazing things was how many parents reached out expressing gratitude for exposing their kids to the music they loved. It evolved into an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Finds a New Audience
Irish group the Answer included Never Too Late on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist the artist recalls the way the game revived classic rock to the forefront: “The game offered a larger, younger audience. Generally this had been seen as music that was past it, but then when it was featured on the game young people were finding it, suddenly it was cool. This validated it, and got rid of the outdated label. It provided all our music a new life.”
At that time, the band's debut album remained unreleased stateside, meaning Guitar Hero was a key medium for exposure for the band during their US tour opening for AC/DC. “The roadies had on the song during travel, and several knew us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Major Band Spin-offs and Lasting Impact
Rock’s heavyweight names quickly capitalised on the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in specialized game editions that focused on each band’s catalogue and associated lore, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly to have made the group more money compared to their studio albums. It sold well over 500,000 units upon release, and sales of their songs saw an increase of up to 40% at a time as the industry faced decline.
Guitar Hero still motivates nimble-fingered fanaticism within the community. Earlier this year, an online personality achieved a remarkable feat featuring Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult anthem made popular by Guitar Hero – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with almost identical mechanics and extensive customisation options. This track is difficult even in expert mode, not to mention played at increased tempo and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. The streamer claimed requiring nine months to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero offers a, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you ought to use actual weapons and go to war,” says DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
The band previously wrapped up a profitable run when their hit was featured in the third game, but Li says it made them widely recognized. “I recall the record label informing us that our selling albums rapidly,” he says. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we performed right ahead of top acts at the event.”
Indeed, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero was so immense that it has threatened to eclipsing everything else the band has done. Last year, the song was used in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I thought differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “Should you just hear one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got their own path in music and I’m glad we played a role of people’s lives”.
Enduring Legacy of a Plastic Guitar
The best promotion, whether it’s for cars, apparel or video games, goes further than selling something – it inspires a longing. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “Precisely what we were trying to create,” he confirms. “The excitement of performing as a rock star on the stage. Since the beginning, the creators believed there’s an instinctive urge to make music, and they wanted to use technology to enable everyone to do it”.
Most installments were released in just a half-decade from 2005 to 2010, featuring derivative titles like DJ Hero, complete with a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. After that, corporate focus on peripherals died down, aside from a short-lived revival in 2015.
Titles such as the fan project and newer releases have maintained the community alive, and there’s set to be a new product from the founders on the way. Recently formed developers has begun work on its debut music game. Original co-founders are participating as special advisers. Are gamers ready to embrace a new entry following Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed such titles could be similar to sports games where you can releases,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much fresh tracks that it could be evergreen, thus I remain optimistic. There’s no reason for it to persist for future fans.”