It has been 20 years since Guitar Hero debuted across the Atlantic, offering players everywhere the opportunity to become a rock star. Figuratively speaking, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that anyone who's mastered the epic lengthy instrumental break before an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Developed by the developers, the game gave players a guitar-shaped controller to follow on-screen cues moving along the display synchronized to the music. Each riff corresponded to specific notes, producing the sensation of a genuine live show.
Harmonix had already experimented with rhythm games prior to teaming up with RedOctane, later purchased by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Together, they established the foundations for a surprising massively profitable franchise which made a remarkable influence on numerous of the artists included, showcasing classic bands to a new generation of younger players.
A former executive, former COO of Harmonix, remembers the initial financial challenges of licensing the songs – despite the fact the first two games primarily featured cover versions.
“We rerecorded all the music since the cost was so high,” he explains. “Even with the necessary permissions by themselves, it proved extremely difficult. We failed to secure acts such as the Who – the publisher had virtually no money, and our team was pretty convinced the project would flop. However, when Guitar Hero took off, album purchases airtime were going up, all artists desired to be in.”
He continues: “Among the remarkable aspects was how many parents reached out and thanked us for exposing their children to the music they adored. It evolved into an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Finds a New Audience
Irish group the Answer included Never Too Late in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician Paul Mahon recalls the way the game revived classic rock back into vogue: “Guitar Hero offered a larger, younger audience. Generally such music was considered outdated material, however once it got included in the game young people discovered it, abruptly it was cool. That legitimised the genre, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ label. It provided all our music renewed popularity.”
At that time, the Answer’s first record remained unreleased stateside, meaning the game was a key medium for exposure for the band as they went on a North American tour supporting AC/DC. “Their crew had on the song during travel, and several recognized us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Major Band Spin-offs and Lasting Influence
Rock’s biggest acts soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in dedicated spin-off titles that focused on their music collections and related lore, visuals and legendary status. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly earned the group more money than any of their records. It sold more than half a million units upon release, and sales of their songs rose significantly during an era as the industry was already collapsing.
The series continues to inspire nimble-fingered fanaticism among its fans. Recently, a streamer achieved an impressive attempt featuring the challenging track – a notoriously difficult power-metal song made popular by Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with similar gameplay and extensive customisation options. The song is challenging enough on the hardest setting, not to mention performed at double speed while hitting every one of the thousands of cues. They stated requiring months of practice of practice.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, imaginary experience. If you play Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you should use a real gun and enlist,” says musician the artist.
DragonForce previously wrapped up a successful tour when Through the Fire and Flames was featured in the third game, yet he explains it made them a household name. “I remember our distributors calling to tell me that we were records were moving rapidly,” he says. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we performed right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure via the game proved so vast that it risked overshadow all other the band has done. Last year, the track featured in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I felt differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “Should you just listen to one DragonForce song, that's fine – each person has their own musical journey and I’m glad we played a role in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Legacy from the Iconic Controller
Top-tier promotion, whether it’s for cars, apparel or video games, goes further than selling something – it inspires a longing. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “Precisely what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of being a rock star in the spotlight. From day one, the co-founders felt that there’s an instinctive urge to make music, and they wanted to leverage innovation to allow people to do it”.
The majority installments came out in just a half-decade between 2005 and 2010, featuring spin-offs like the DJ version, including a spinning deck, and Band Hero. After that, the publisher’s interest on peripherals died down, aside from a short-lived revival in 2015.
Titles such as the fan project and Fortnite Festival have kept the community alive, with set to be a new product from the original publisher 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 like Madden where you can releases,” he remarks. “There’s so much fresh tracks that it could be evergreen, so I’ve always been hopeful. There’s no reason for it to continue for future fans.”
