Marking 20 years since the legendary game hit the market across the Atlantic, offering players everywhere the means to feel like a rock star. Not in reality, but try convincing someone who's mastered Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo in front of an enthusiastic crowd of friends.
Created by the developers, the game provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to match coloured notes scrolling down the screen in time with the music. Every sequence corresponded to particular chords, producing the sensation of a genuine performance.
Harmonix had already experimented in the music genre prior to teaming up with the publisher, which was acquired by Activision during the mid-2000s. Together, they established the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar franchise that had a remarkable influence for many musicians featured, showcasing classic groups to millions of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, recalls the early budgetary hurdles in securing the songs – even though initial releases mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded every song because the cost was so high,” he says. “Even with the necessary permissions alone, it was extremely difficult. We failed to secure acts such as legendary groups – the publisher had virtually no money, and we were pretty convinced the project would flop. But once Guitar Hero became a hit, and record sales and radio play were going up, all artists desired to be in.”
He continues: “One of the amazing things was how many mothers and fathers reached out expressing gratitude for exposing their kids to the songs they adored. It became a multigenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Gains a New Audience
Northern Irish group the Answer had their track in the 2008 release the popular installment. Lead musician the artist recalls the way the game revived classic rock back into vogue: “Guitar Hero offered a bigger, new demographic. Typically such music was seen as outdated material, however when it was included in the title and teenagers discovered it, suddenly it became trendy. That legitimised it, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It gave all our music renewed popularity.”
At that time, the band's debut album was still not available in the US, so Guitar Hero served as a primary platform of discovery for the group as they went on a North American tour supporting the rock giants. “The roadies were playing Never Too Late on the tour bus, and several knew us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs Enduring Impact
Music's heavyweight names soon took advantage of the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in specialized spin-off titles centered around each band’s catalogue and associated lore, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, the Aerosmith edition, it was said to have made the band greater revenue compared to their studio albums. It moved more than 500,000 copies in its first week, and sales of Aerosmith’s music rose significantly during an era when the music business was already collapsing.
The series continues to inspire nimble-fingered fanaticism within the community. Earlier this year, a streamer completed an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s the challenging track – an infamously tough anthem popularized through Guitar Hero – using a fan-made version, a no-cost alternative with almost identical gameplay but an array of customisation options. This track is difficult even in expert mode, not to mention performed at increased tempo while hitting every one of the thousands of cues. They claimed it took months of practice of practice.
“Guitar Hero offers a, imaginary experience. Just as with other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to use a real gun and go to war,” notes musician the artist.
DragonForce had already completed a successful tour when Through the Fire and Flames was featured on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it turned them into widely recognized. “I recall the record label informing us that our records were moving rapidly,” he says. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we performed just before the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero was so immense that it risked overshadow all other accomplishments. Last year, the song was used in promotional material for a major film. “In the past I thought otherwise, but now I accept it,” Li says. “Should you just hear a single track, that's fine – everyone’s got a unique musical journey and I’m glad we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Impact from the Plastic Guitar
Top-tier marketing, whether it’s for cars, clothes or games, goes further than selling something – it evokes a desire. Was the game able to tap into that? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a rock star in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the creators felt that humans have a natural human desire to create songs, and they wanted to leverage innovation to enable everyone to participate”.
The majority installments came out in just a five-year period between 2005 and 2010, featuring derivative titles such as DJ Hero, including a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. After that, the publisher’s interest on peripherals waned, except for a short-lived revival several years later.
Titles such as the fan project and Fortnite Festival have maintained the scene alive, with set to be a new product from the original publisher in development. Recently formed developers has entered production on their first music game. The initial creators are both involved as special advisers. Are gamers prepared to welcome a new entry in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“We thought those games could be like Madden where you can update every year,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant fresh tracks it could remain perennially popular, thus I remain hopeful. There’s no reason why it can’t continue with new generations.”
