It has been 20 years since Guitar Hero debuted across the Atlantic, offering everyday gamers the opportunity to become a rock star. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that someone who's nailed the epic lengthy guitar solo before a packed living-room audience.
Created by Harmonix, the game gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to match coloured notes moving along the display synchronized to the music. Every sequence mimicked particular chords, creating the feel of a genuine performance.
Harmonix had already tried its hand in the music genre before partnering with the publisher, which was acquired by Activision in 2006. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar franchise which made a remarkable influence on numerous of the artists included, introducing classic bands to millions of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, recalls the initial budgetary hurdles of licensing the recordings – despite the fact the first two games primarily featured cover versions.
“We rerecorded every song because the cost prohibitive,” he says. “Despite having the publishing rights by themselves, it proved extremely difficult. We couldn’t get bands like the Who – RedOctane had virtually no money, and our team was fairly certain it would fail. But once the game became a hit, and record sales airtime increased, all artists desired to participate.”
He adds: “One of the remarkable aspects was the number of mothers and fathers reached out expressing gratitude for exposing their kids to the music they loved. It evolved into an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Finds Younger Fans
Northern Irish blues-rock band the Answer included their track in the 2008 release the popular installment. Lead musician Paul Mahon remembers the way the game revived classic rock to the forefront: “The game provided a bigger, younger audience. Generally this had been seen as outdated material, but then when it was featured on the title and teenagers discovered it, abruptly it became trendy. This validated it, eliminating the outdated label. It provided all our music renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the Answer’s first record was still unreleased in the US, meaning Guitar Hero served as a primary platform of discovery for the group as they went on US tour opening for AC/DC. “The roadies were playing the song on the tour bus, and several knew us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.
Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs and Lasting Impact
Rock’s biggest acts soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like 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, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly earned the band greater revenue compared to their studio albums. It moved more than 500,000 units upon release, and sales of Aerosmith’s music saw an increase of up to 40% during an era as the industry was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero still motivates nimble-fingered dedication within the community. Earlier this year, an online personality achieved an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s the challenging track – a notoriously difficult power-metal song made popular by the game – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with similar mechanics and extensive customisation options. The song is difficult even in the hardest setting, let alone played at increased tempo and without missing every one of its near 4,000 notes. They stated it took nine months of practice.
“The game is a fun, imaginary experience. Just as with other games, that doesn’t mean you should pick up actual weapons and go to war,” notes musician the artist.
The band had already wrapped up a successful tour when their hit appeared on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it made them widely recognized. “I recall the record label informing us that our records were moving rapidly,” he says. “It exploded when we next toured, and we performed right ahead of top acts at the event.”
Indeed, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero was so immense that it risked overshadow everything else the band has done. Last year, the track was used in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I felt otherwise, but now I accept it,” Li says. “Should you just hear one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – each person has their own path in music and I'm pleased we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
Enduring Impact from the Iconic Controller
Top-tier promotion, whether it’s for cars, clothes or video games, goes further than selling something – it evokes a desire. Was the game able to tap into that? “Precisely what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a music icon on the stage. From day one, the co-founders felt that humans have a natural human desire 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, featuring spin-offs like the DJ version, complete with a turntable controller, and Band Hero. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest on peripherals waned, aside from a short-lived revival in 2015.
Titles like Clone Hero and newer releases have maintained the scene alive, with set to be a new product from the original publisher on the way. Recently formed developers has entered work on its debut music game. The initial creators are both involved in advisory roles. Are gamers ready to embrace a new entry following the classic?
“Our team believed those games could be like Madden allowing annual update every year,” he remarks. “With abundant fresh tracks that it could be evergreen, thus I remain hopeful. It's entirely possible for it to persist with new generations.”
