Marking 20 years since the legendary game hit the market in North America, providing players everywhere the opportunity to become a rock star. Not literally, but try convincing someone who has mastered Free Bird’s four-minute instrumental break in front of an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by the developers, Guitar Hero gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to match on-screen cues scrolling down the display in time with a song. Every sequence mimicked specific notes, creating the feel of a genuine live show.
Harmonix had already tried its hand with rhythm games prior to teaming up with the publisher, which was acquired by the gaming giant in 2006. Together, they laid the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar series that had a significant influence on numerous musicians featured, showcasing classic groups to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO of Harmonix, remembers the initial financial challenges in securing the recordings – despite the fact initial releases primarily featured cover versions.
“We reproduced all the music since the dollar figure was so high,” he explains. “Despite having the publishing rights by themselves, it proved nearly impossible. We couldn’t get bands like legendary groups – the publisher had virtually no money, and we were pretty convinced it would fail. However, when Guitar Hero became a hit, album purchases airtime were going up, everyone wanted to participate.”
He continues: “Among the remarkable aspects was the number of mothers and fathers reached out and thanked us for exposing their kids to the music they loved. It became an intergenerational thing.”
Timeless Music Gains Younger Fans
Northern Irish group the Answer included their track on the 2008 game the popular installment. Lead musician the artist recalls the way the game revived classic rock back into vogue: “The game offered a larger, new demographic. Typically this had been considered outdated material, however when it was included in the game and teenagers discovered it, suddenly it became trendy. This validated it, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ label. It provided our catalog renewed popularity.”
At that time, the band's first record was still unreleased stateside, so the game served as a primary platform of discovery for the group during their a North American tour opening for the rock giants. “The roadies were playing the song during travel, and several knew us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Major Band Titles Enduring Impact
Music's biggest acts soon capitalised on the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in dedicated game editions that focused on their music collections and associated lore, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly to have made the group more money than any of their records. It sold well over half a million units upon release, and demand for Aerosmith’s music saw an increase significantly at a time as the industry was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire quick-handed fanaticism within the community. Earlier this year, a streamer achieved a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult anthem popularized through the game – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with almost identical gameplay and extensive personalization features. This track is challenging enough on the hardest setting, let alone played at double speed and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. They stated it took nine months to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero offers a, fantasy thing. If you play other games, it doesn't imply you ought to use actual weapons and enlist,” notes DragonForce guitarist the artist.
The band previously completed a profitable run before Through the Fire and Flames was featured in the third game, yet he explains it made them widely recognized. “I recall the record label informing us that we were selling albums rapidly,” he shares. “It exploded when we next toured, and we performed right ahead of the headliners at the event.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero was so immense that it has threatened to overshadow all other accomplishments. Recently, the track featured in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I thought otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “If you only listen to one DragonForce song, that's fine – everyone’s got a unique musical journey and I'm pleased we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
Enduring Legacy from the Plastic Guitar
Top-tier promotion, be it for automobiles, apparel or games, extends beyond than selling something – it inspires a longing. Was the game able to harness this? “Precisely what we were trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of being a music icon on the stage. From day one, the creators believed there’s an instinctive urge to create songs, and their goal was to use technology to enable everyone to participate”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games came out in just a five-year period from 2005 to 2010, including derivative titles like the DJ version, complete with a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. After that, corporate focus on peripherals waned, except for a brief comeback several years later.
Titles such as the fan project and Fortnite Festival have maintained the community active, and there’s expectations of a new product from the original publisher in development. A new studio has entered work on their first music game. Original co-founders are both involved in advisory roles. Is the world ready to embrace another game following the classic?
“Our team believed those games might become similar to sports games allowing annual update every year,” he remarks. “There’s so much fresh tracks that it could be evergreen, thus I remain optimistic. It's entirely possible for it to persist with new generations.”
