Marking two decades after the legendary game first launched across the Atlantic, giving players everywhere the means to become rock legends. Not literally, but try telling that anyone who has nailed Free Bird’s four-minute instrumental break in front of an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Developed by the developers, the game provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to follow coloured notes moving along the screen synchronized to a song. Every sequence corresponded to specific notes, producing the feel of an authentic performance.
Harmonix previously tried its hand with rhythm games before partnering with the publisher, later purchased by the gaming giant in 2006. Collaboratively, they established the foundations for a surprising massively profitable series which made a significant impact on numerous musicians featured, showcasing decades-old bands to millions of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, former COO of Harmonix, remembers the early budgetary hurdles of licensing the songs – despite the fact initial releases mostly used cover versions.
“We reproduced every song since the cost was so high,” he says. “Despite having the publishing rights by themselves, it proved nearly impossible. We couldn’t get bands like the Who – the publisher had virtually no money, and we were pretty convinced the project would flop. However, when Guitar Hero took off, album purchases and radio play were going up, all artists desired to be in.”
He continues: “One of the amazing things was how many parents got in touch and thanked us for introducing their kids to the songs they loved. It became a multigenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Gains Younger Fans
Irish group one featured act included their track in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician Paul Mahon recalls how the series brought older hits back into vogue: “Guitar Hero offered a larger, new demographic. Generally this had been considered music that was past it, but then once it got included in the title young people discovered it, abruptly it became trendy. That legitimised the genre, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It gave all our music a new life.”
At that time, the Answer’s debut album remained unreleased stateside, meaning the game was a key medium of discovery for the band as they went on a North American tour opening for the rock giants. “Their crew had on Never Too Late during travel, and several knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Major Band Spin-offs Enduring Influence
Music's heavyweight names quickly capitalised on the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in specialized spin-off titles centered around each band’s catalogue and related stories, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly to have made the band greater revenue compared to their studio albums. It moved well over half a million units upon release, while sales of Aerosmith’s music rose of up to 40% during an era when the music business was already collapsing.
The series still motivates nimble-fingered dedication within the community. Recently, an online personality achieved an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough power-metal song made popular by Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical gameplay and extensive personalization features. The song is difficult enough on expert mode, let alone played at double speed and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. The streamer stated it took nine months of practice.
“Guitar Hero offers a, fantasy thing. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you should use a real gun and go to war,” notes DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
The band previously wrapped up a profitable run when Through the Fire and Flames was featured in the third game, but Li says it turned them into a household name. “I remember the record label informing us that our selling albums rapidly,” he says. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we were playing right ahead of top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero was so immense that it risked overshadow everything else the band has done. Last year, the track featured in a trailer for a major film. “Previously I thought otherwise, but now I accept it,” he admits. “If you only listen to one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – each person has a unique path in music and I’m glad we played a role of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Impact from the Plastic Guitar
Top-tier marketing, be it for cars, apparel or games, extends beyond than selling something – it evokes a longing. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of being a rock star in the spotlight. From day one, the creators believed humans have a natural human desire to make music, and they wanted to use technology to enable everyone to participate”.
Most of Guitar Hero games were released over a mere half-decade from 2005 to 2010, featuring spin-offs such as DJ Hero, including a spinning deck, and Band Hero. After that, corporate focus in plastic instruments died down, aside from a brief comeback several years later.
Games such as the fan project and newer releases have kept the scene active, and there’s expectations of a new product from the founders in development. A new studio has begun production on its debut rhythm-based title. The initial creators are both involved in advisory roles. Are gamers ready to embrace another game in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“We thought such titles might become like Madden where you can releases,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant new music that it could be evergreen, thus I remain hopeful. There’s no reason for it to persist for future fans.”
