Marking two decades since Guitar Hero hit the market across the Atlantic, providing everyday gamers the opportunity to feel like a rock star. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that someone who has mastered the epic lengthy guitar solo in front of an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by Harmonix, Guitar Hero provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to follow coloured notes scrolling down the display synchronized to a song. Every sequence corresponded to specific notes, creating the sensation of a genuine live show.
The studio previously tried its hand with rhythm games prior to teaming up with the publisher, which was acquired by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for a surprising massively profitable series that had a significant impact on numerous of the artists included, introducing classic groups to millions of younger players.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, recalls the early financial challenges in securing the songs – despite the fact initial releases mostly used cover versions.
“We reproduced every song since the dollar figure prohibitive,” he says. “Even with the necessary permissions by themselves, it was extremely difficult. We failed to secure bands like the Who – RedOctane had virtually no money, and we were fairly certain the project would flop. But once the game took off, and record sales and radio play were going up, everyone wanted to be in.”
He continues: “Among the remarkable aspects was the number of mothers and fathers got in touch and thanked us for exposing their children to the songs they loved. It became an intergenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Finds Younger Fans
Irish group the Answer included their track on the 2008 game the popular installment. Lead musician the artist remembers how the series revived older hits back into vogue: “The game provided a larger, younger audience. Typically this had been considered outdated material, however when it was included in the title young people discovered it, abruptly it became trendy. This validated the genre, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ label. It provided all our music a new life.”
At that time, the band's first record remained not available stateside, meaning Guitar Hero served as a primary platform of discovery for the group as they went on a North American tour opening for AC/DC. “Their crew were playing the song during travel, and some of them recognized us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Major Band Spin-offs and Lasting Impact
Music's biggest acts soon took advantage of the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in dedicated game editions centered around their music collections and related lore, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly to have made the band greater revenue than any of their studio albums. It sold well over 500,000 copies in its first week, while sales of their songs saw an increase significantly during an era when the music business faced decline.
The series still motivates nimble-fingered fanaticism within the community. Recently, an online personality completed an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s the challenging track – a notoriously difficult power-metal song popularized through Guitar Hero – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with almost identical gameplay but an array of customisation options. This track is difficult enough on the hardest setting, let alone played at increased tempo while hitting every one of its near 4,000 notes. They stated it took months of practice to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero offers a, imaginary experience. If you play Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you should pick up a real gun and go to war,” notes musician Herman Li.
DragonForce previously wrapped up a successful tour before their hit appeared on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it turned them into widely recognized. “I recall our distributors informing us that our selling albums rapidly,” he says. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we performed just before top acts at the event.”
Indeed, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero was so immense that it has threatened to eclipsing all other accomplishments. Recently, the song featured in promotional material for a major film. “In the past I thought otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “If you only listen to one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got a unique musical journey and I'm pleased we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Impact of a Iconic Controller
Top-tier marketing, whether it’s for cars, clothes or video games, extends beyond mere transactions – it inspires a desire. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “That’s exactly what our team aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of being a rock star in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the creators believed humans have a natural urge to create songs, and they wanted to use technology to allow people to participate”.
The majority installments came out in just a half-decade from 2005 to 2010, including derivative titles like DJ Hero, complete with a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. After that, the publisher’s interest on peripherals died down, aside from a brief comeback in 2015.
Titles like the fan project and newer releases have kept the community active, with set to be a new product from the founders in development. A new studio has entered production on their first rhythm-based title. The initial creators are both involved in advisory roles. Is the world prepared to welcome another game in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“We thought such titles could be similar to sports games where you can releases,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant fresh tracks that it could be evergreen, so I’ve always been optimistic. There’s no reason for it to persist for future fans.”
