Marking 20 years since Guitar Hero hit the market across the Atlantic, providing players everywhere the means to become a rock star. Not literally, but try convincing someone who has mastered Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo before a packed living-room audience.
Created by the developers, Guitar Hero gave players a guitar-shaped controller to follow coloured notes moving along the screen in time with the music. Each riff mimicked specific notes, producing the feel of an authentic live show.
The studio had already tried its hand with rhythm games prior to teaming up with RedOctane, which was acquired by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they laid the groundwork for a surprising billion-dollar series which made a remarkable influence on numerous musicians featured, showcasing classic bands to a new generation of younger players.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, recalls the early budgetary hurdles in securing the recordings – even though initial releases primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded every song because the dollar figure was so high,” he explains. “Even with the publishing rights alone, it was extremely difficult. We couldn’t get acts such as the Who – RedOctane had virtually no money, and our team was fairly certain it would fail. But once the game took off, and record sales airtime increased, everyone wanted to be in.”
He continues: “One of the amazing things was the number of mothers and fathers reached out expressing gratitude for exposing their kids to the music they adored. It became an intergenerational thing.”
Timeless Music Gains Younger Fans
Northern Irish group the Answer had their track on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician Paul Mahon remembers how the series brought classic rock back into vogue: “Guitar Hero offered a bigger, younger audience. Typically this had been considered music that was past it, but then once it got included in the game young people were finding it, abruptly it was cool. That legitimised it, and got rid of the outdated label. It gave all our music a new life.”
In 2008, the Answer’s debut album was still unreleased stateside, meaning the game was a key medium of discovery for the band during their a North American tour opening for the rock giants. “Their crew had on Never Too Late during travel, and several recognized us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Major Band Titles Enduring Impact
Music's biggest acts quickly capitalised on the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in specialized spin-off titles that focused on each band’s catalogue and associated lore, imagery and legendary status. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly to have made the group more money compared to their records. It moved more than 500,000 copies in its first week, and demand for Aerosmith’s music saw an increase significantly at a time as the industry faced decline.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire quick-handed dedication within the community. Recently, an online personality achieved 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 similar mechanics but an array of personalization features. This track is difficult enough on expert mode, let alone played at increased tempo and without missing a single one of its near 4,000 notes. They stated requiring months of practice to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero offers a, fantasy thing. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to pick up actual weapons and go to war,” notes DragonForce guitarist the artist.
DragonForce previously completed a successful tour when their hit was featured on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it made them a household name. “I recall the record label informing us that we were selling albums like crazy,” he shares. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we performed right ahead of top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero was so immense that it risked eclipsing all other the band has done. Last year, the track featured in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I felt differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “Should you just hear a single track, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got a unique musical journey and I'm pleased we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Legacy from the Plastic Guitar
Top-tier promotion, whether it’s for cars, apparel or video games, goes further mere transactions – it inspires a longing. Was the game able to tap into that? “Precisely what our team trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of being a music icon on the stage. From day one, the co-founders believed humans have a natural human desire to create songs, and their goal was to leverage innovation to allow people to do it”.
The majority installments were released over a mere half-decade between 2005 and 2010, featuring derivative titles like DJ Hero, including a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. After that, corporate focus on peripherals waned, except for a short-lived revival in 2015.
Titles like the fan project and Fortnite Festival have maintained the scene alive, and there’s set to be a new product from the founders in development. Recently formed developers has begun production on their first music game. Original co-founders are participating in advisory roles. Is the world prepared to welcome a new entry following the classic?
“Our team believed those games could be like Madden allowing annual update every year,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant new music it could remain evergreen, so I’ve always been hopeful. It's entirely possible for it to continue for future fans.”
