Marking 20 years after the legendary game first launched across the Atlantic, giving players everywhere the tools to become rock legends. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that anyone who has mastered Free Bird’s lengthy guitar solo in front of an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Developed by Harmonix, the game provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to match coloured notes scrolling down the screen in time with the music. Every sequence mimicked specific notes, producing the sensation of a genuine performance.
Harmonix previously tried its hand in the music genre prior to teaming up with the publisher, later acquired by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar series which made a remarkable impact on numerous of the artists featured, showcasing decades-old groups to millions of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO from the developer, recalls the initial financial challenges of licensing the songs – despite the fact initial releases primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced every song because the dollar figure prohibitive,” he says. “Despite having the publishing rights by themselves, it proved extremely difficult. We failed to secure bands like legendary groups – RedOctane had virtually no money, and we were fairly certain it would fail. However, when Guitar Hero took off, and record sales airtime increased, all artists desired to be in.”
He adds: “Among the amazing things was the number of mothers and fathers got in touch expressing gratitude for introducing their children to the songs they adored. It evolved into a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Gains a New Audience
Northern Irish blues-rock band the Answer included Never Too Late in the 2008 release the popular installment. Guitarist Paul Mahon remembers how the series revived older hits to the forefront: “Guitar Hero offered a bigger, younger audience. Generally such music was considered music that was past it, but then when it was featured on the game and teenagers discovered it, suddenly it became trendy. This validated it, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ label. It provided all our music renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the band's debut album was still unreleased stateside, so the game was a key medium of discovery for the group during their a North American tour supporting AC/DC. “The roadies were playing the song on the tour bus, and some of them recognized us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Major Band Spin-offs Enduring Influence
Music's biggest acts soon took advantage of the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in specialized game editions that focused on each band’s catalogue and related lore, visuals and legendary status. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly earned the band more money than any of their records. It sold well over 500,000 copies in its first week, and sales of their songs rose of up to 40% during an era when the music business was already collapsing.
The series still motivates quick-handed dedication among its fans. Earlier this year, a streamer achieved an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s the challenging track – an infamously tough anthem made popular by Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with similar gameplay and extensive personalization features. This track is difficult enough on the hardest setting, let alone played at double speed and without missing every one of the thousands of cues. They claimed it took nine months to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you should use a real gun and go to war,” says musician the artist.
DragonForce previously wrapped up a profitable run before Through the Fire and Flames was featured on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it turned them into a household name. “I remember the record label calling to tell me that we were records were moving like crazy,” he says. “It exploded when we next toured, and we were playing just before the headliners at the event.”
Indeed, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it threatened to overshadow everything else accomplishments. Recently, the song featured in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I felt differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “Should you just listen to one DragonForce song, that's fine – each person has a unique musical journey and I’m glad we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Legacy from the Plastic Guitar
Top-tier marketing, whether it’s for automobiles, clothes or games, goes further than selling something – it inspires a longing. Was the game able to tap into that? “That’s exactly what our team aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “The excitement of being a music icon in the spotlight. From day one, the co-founders felt that humans have a natural human desire to make music, and they wanted to leverage innovation to enable everyone to participate”.
Most of Guitar Hero games were released in just a half-decade between 2005 and 2010, including derivative titles like the DJ version, including a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. After that, corporate focus on peripherals died down, aside from a short-lived revival several years later.
Games like the fan project and Fortnite Festival have maintained the scene alive, and there’s expectations of something from the founders on the way. Recently formed developers has begun production on their first music game. The initial creators are both involved as special advisers. Are gamers prepared to welcome another game in the spirit of the classic?
“We thought those games could be 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.”
