Marking two decades after the legendary game hit the market in North America, offering players everywhere the opportunity to feel like rock legends. Not in reality, but try convincing someone who's nailed Free Bird’s four-minute instrumental break before an enthusiastic crowd of friends.
Developed by Harmonix, Guitar Hero gave players a guitar-shaped controller to match on-screen cues scrolling down the screen in time with a song. Every sequence mimicked particular chords, producing the feel of a genuine performance.
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 foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar series that had a significant influence on numerous musicians featured, introducing classic groups to millions of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, former COO from the developer, remembers the early financial challenges of licensing the songs – despite the fact initial releases mostly used cover versions.
“We rerecorded every song because the dollar figure was so high,” he says. “Despite having the publishing rights alone, it proved extremely difficult. We couldn’t get bands like legendary groups – the publisher had virtually no money, and our team was fairly certain the project would flop. However, when the game took off, and record sales and radio play increased, everyone wanted to be in.”
He continues: “Among the remarkable aspects was the number of parents got in touch and thanked us for exposing their children to the music they adored. It evolved into an intergenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Finds a New Audience
Northern Irish group the Answer included Never Too Late on the 2008 game the popular installment. Guitarist Paul Mahon recalls how the series brought classic rock to the forefront: “Guitar Hero offered a bigger, new demographic. Typically such music was seen as outdated material, but then once it got featured on the title and teenagers discovered it, suddenly it became trendy. That legitimised the genre, and got rid of the outdated label. It provided our catalog renewed popularity.”
At that time, the band's debut album was still not available stateside, so Guitar Hero served as a primary platform for exposure for the group during their a North American tour opening for AC/DC. “The roadies had on Never Too Late during travel, and several recognized us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs and Lasting Influence
Rock’s heavyweight names quickly capitalised on the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in dedicated game editions centered around each band’s catalogue and associated lore, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly earned the group more money compared to their records. It sold well over half a million copies upon release, and sales of their songs rose significantly at a time when the music business faced decline.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire nimble-fingered fanaticism within the community. Earlier this year, an online personality achieved a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s the challenging track – an infamously tough anthem made popular by the game – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with almost identical mechanics but an array of customisation options. This track is difficult enough on the hardest setting, let alone played at double speed and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. They claimed it took nine months to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, fantasy thing. Just as with Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you should use a real gun and go to war,” notes musician Herman Li.
DragonForce previously completed a profitable run when Through the Fire and Flames was featured on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it turned them into a household name. “I remember our distributors informing us that our selling albums like crazy,” he shares. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we were playing right ahead of top acts at the event.”
In fact, the band's visibility via the game was so immense that it risked eclipsing all other accomplishments. Recently, the song was used in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I felt differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “If you only hear one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – each person has their own musical journey and I’m glad we played a role of people’s lives”.
Enduring Legacy from the Iconic Controller
Top-tier marketing, be it for automobiles, apparel or video games, goes further mere transactions – it inspires a longing. Was the game able to tap into that? “That’s exactly 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 create songs, and they wanted to use technology to allow people to do it”.
The majority installments were released in just a half-decade between 2005 and 2010, including derivative titles like DJ Hero, complete with a turntable controller, and Band Hero. After that, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments waned, aside from a brief comeback several years later.
Games like Clone Hero and newer releases have maintained the scene alive, with set to be something from the founders in development. A new studio has begun production on their first music game. Original co-founders are both involved as special advisers. Are gamers ready to embrace a new entry following Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed those games might become similar to sports games where you can releases,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much fresh tracks that it could be perennially popular, thus I remain optimistic. There’s no reason for it to continue with new generations.”
