Marking 20 years since the legendary game first launched in North America, giving players everywhere the means to feel like rock legends. Not literally, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that someone who's mastered the epic four-minute guitar solo in front of a packed living-room audience.
Created by Harmonix, Guitar Hero gave players a guitar-shaped controller to match coloured notes moving along the screen in time with a song. Every sequence mimicked specific notes, producing the feel of an authentic performance.
The studio had already experimented in the music genre prior to teaming up with RedOctane, which was acquired by Activision in 2006. Together, they laid the groundwork for a surprising massively profitable series which made a remarkable impact on numerous of the artists included, introducing classic groups to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, former COO from the developer, remembers the initial budgetary hurdles of licensing the songs – despite the fact initial releases primarily featured cover versions.
“We reproduced every song since the cost was so high,” he explains. “Despite having the publishing rights alone, it was nearly impossible. 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 became a hit, and record sales and radio play increased, all artists desired to participate.”
He adds: “Among the amazing things was the number of mothers and fathers got in touch and thanked us for introducing their children to the music they loved. It evolved into an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Gains Younger Fans
Irish group one featured act included Never Too Late in the 2008 release the popular installment. Guitarist Paul Mahon recalls the way the game revived older hits back into vogue: “The game offered a bigger, new demographic. Typically this had been considered music that was past it, but then once it got featured on the game young people were finding it, suddenly it became trendy. That legitimised the genre, eliminating the outdated label. It provided our catalog a new life.”
In 2008, the Answer’s debut album remained not available in the US, so the game was a key medium for exposure for the group during their a North American tour opening for the rock giants. “The roadies had on the song during travel, and some of them recognized us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Major Band Spin-offs Enduring Influence
Music's heavyweight names quickly took advantage of the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in dedicated spin-off titles centered around their music collections and related stories, imagery and legendary status. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly earned the group greater revenue than any of their studio albums. It moved well over half a million copies upon release, and sales of their songs saw an increase significantly at a time as the industry was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero still motivates nimble-fingered dedication among its fans. Recently, an online personality achieved a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s the challenging track – a notoriously difficult power-metal song made popular by 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 enough on the hardest setting, let alone performed at double speed while hitting a single one of its near 4,000 notes. They stated requiring nine months of practice.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, fantasy thing. Just as with Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you ought to use a real gun and go to war,” notes DragonForce guitarist the artist.
DragonForce had already completed a profitable run before their hit appeared on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it turned them into widely recognized. “I recall the record label informing us that we were records were moving rapidly,” he shares. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we performed right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it risked overshadow everything else the band has done. Last year, the track featured in a trailer for a major film. “Previously I felt differently, but now I accept it,” Li says. “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 in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Impact from the Plastic Guitar
The best marketing, whether it’s for automobiles, clothes or video games, goes further than selling something – it inspires a longing. Was the game able to harness this? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a music icon on the stage. Since the beginning, the creators felt that there’s an instinctive urge to create songs, and they wanted to use technology to allow people to participate”.
The majority installments came out over a mere half-decade between 2005 and 2010, including spin-offs like DJ Hero, complete with a spinning deck, and Band Hero. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments died down, aside from a short-lived revival in 2015.
Titles such as Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have maintained the community alive, and there’s expectations of a new product from the original publisher on the way. A new studio has entered production on their first music game. Original co-founders are participating as special advisers. Are gamers prepared to welcome a new entry following the classic?
“Our team believed those games could be like Madden where you can update every year,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much fresh tracks that it could be perennially popular, thus I remain hopeful. It's entirely possible for it to continue for future fans.”
