It has been two decades after the legendary game first launched in North America, offering everyday gamers the means to feel like a rock star. Not literally, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing anyone who's nailed the epic lengthy guitar solo before a packed crowd of friends.
Created by Harmonix, Guitar Hero gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to match on-screen cues moving along the display in time with the music. Every sequence corresponded to particular chords, producing the sensation of an authentic performance.
The studio had already experimented with rhythm games before partnering with RedOctane, later purchased by Activision in 2006. Together, they established the groundwork for an unlikely billion-dollar series which made a significant impact on numerous musicians featured, introducing decades-old groups to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO of Harmonix, recalls the initial financial challenges of licensing the songs – despite the fact initial releases primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced all the music because the dollar figure prohibitive,” he says. “Even with the publishing rights by themselves, it was nearly impossible. We failed to secure acts such as the Who – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were pretty convinced it would fail. However, when Guitar Hero took off, album purchases airtime were going up, everyone wanted to participate.”
He continues: “One of the remarkable aspects was how many mothers and fathers got in touch and thanked us for exposing their children to the songs they adored. It became a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Gains Younger Fans
Irish group one featured act had Never Too Late in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist Paul Mahon remembers the way the game revived older hits to the forefront: “The game offered a bigger, younger audience. Generally this had been seen as music that was past it, however once it got featured on the title and teenagers discovered it, suddenly it was cool. That legitimised it, eliminating the outdated tag. It provided our catalog a new life.”
In 2008, the band's first record was still unreleased in the US, meaning the game was a key medium for exposure for the group during their US tour supporting AC/DC. “Their crew were playing the song on the tour bus, and some of them recognized us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs and Lasting Impact
Rock’s heavyweight names soon capitalised on the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in specialized spin-off titles that focused on their music collections and related lore, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly earned the band greater revenue than any of their records. It moved more than 500,000 copies upon release, and demand for their songs saw an increase of up to 40% during an era as the industry faced decline.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire nimble-fingered fanaticism among its fans. Recently, a streamer achieved a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s the challenging track – an infamously tough anthem made popular by Guitar Hero – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with similar gameplay and extensive personalization features. This track is challenging enough on the hardest setting, let alone performed at double speed while hitting every one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer claimed it took months of practice to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you should use a real gun and go to war,” notes musician Herman Li.
DragonForce had already completed a successful tour before their hit appeared in the third game, but Li says it turned them into a household name. “I recall our distributors calling to tell me that our records were moving rapidly,” he shares. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we performed right ahead of top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure via the game proved so vast that it has threatened to eclipsing all other accomplishments. Recently, the track featured in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I felt otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “If you only listen to a single track, that's fine – everyone’s got their own musical journey and I'm pleased we played a role in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Impact from the Plastic Guitar
Top-tier promotion, be it for automobiles, clothes or games, extends beyond mere transactions – it evokes a longing. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “Precisely what we were trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a rock star on the stage. From day one, the co-founders believed there’s an instinctive human desire to create songs, and they wanted to use technology to enable everyone to do it”.
Most installments came out over a mere five-year period between 2005 and 2010, including derivative titles such as the DJ version, including a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, corporate focus in plastic instruments waned, aside from a short-lived revival several years later.
Games like Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have maintained the community alive, and there’s expectations of something from the original publisher in development. Recently formed developers has begun production on their first rhythm-based title. The initial creators are participating in advisory roles. Is the world ready to embrace a new entry following Guitar Hero?
“We thought such titles might become similar to sports games allowing annual releases,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much fresh tracks that it could be perennially popular, thus I remain optimistic. It's entirely possible for it to persist for future fans.”
