Marking 20 years since Guitar Hero hit the market across the Atlantic, providing players everywhere the means to become rock legends. Not literally, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that someone who has mastered the epic lengthy guitar solo before a packed living-room audience.
Created by Harmonix, the game provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to match on-screen cues scrolling down the display synchronized to a song. Every sequence corresponded to particular chords, creating the sensation of an authentic live show.
Harmonix previously experimented with rhythm games before partnering with RedOctane, which was purchased by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they established the foundations for a surprising massively profitable series which made a significant influence on numerous musicians included, showcasing classic bands to millions of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, recalls the early financial challenges of licensing the recordings – even though the first two games primarily featured cover versions.
“We rerecorded every song because the cost was so high,” he explains. “Despite having the publishing rights alone, it was extremely difficult. We failed to secure bands like legendary groups – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was fairly certain it would fail. But once the game became a hit, album purchases and radio play were going up, everyone wanted to participate.”
He adds: “One of the amazing things was the number of parents got in touch expressing gratitude for introducing their kids to the music they adored. It evolved into an intergenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Finds a New Audience
Northern Irish group one featured act included Never Too Late in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist Paul Mahon recalls the way the game revived older hits back into vogue: “The game offered a bigger, new demographic. Generally such music was seen as outdated material, but then once it got included in the game young people discovered it, suddenly it was cool. This validated the genre, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It gave our catalog renewed popularity.”
At that time, the band's first record was still unreleased in the US, meaning Guitar Hero was a key medium of discovery for the group during their US tour supporting the rock giants. “The roadies were playing Never Too Late during travel, and some of them recognized us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Major Band Spin-offs and Lasting Impact
Rock’s biggest acts soon capitalised on the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in specialized game editions that focused on their music collections and associated lore, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, the Aerosmith edition, it was said to have made the band greater revenue than any of their records. It moved more than half a million copies upon release, while demand for Aerosmith’s music saw an increase of up to 40% during an era as the industry was already collapsing.
The series still motivates nimble-fingered dedication within the community. Recently, an online personality achieved a remarkable feat featuring Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult power-metal song popularized through the game – using a fan-made version, a no-cost alternative with almost identical mechanics but an array of customisation options. The song is difficult even in expert mode, not to mention performed at double speed and without missing every one of its near 4,000 notes. They claimed it took nine months to accomplish.
“The game offers a, fantasy thing. Just as with other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to use a real gun and enlist,” says DragonForce guitarist the artist.
DragonForce had already completed a profitable run when their hit appeared in the third game, yet he explains it turned them into a household name. “I remember the record label calling to tell me that our selling albums like crazy,” he shares. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we were playing right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure via the game was so immense that it threatened to eclipsing everything else the band has done. Last year, the track featured in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I felt otherwise, but now I accept it,” Li says. “Should you just hear one DragonForce song, that's fine – each person has a unique path in music and I’m glad we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Legacy from the Plastic Guitar
Top-tier promotion, be it for automobiles, apparel or video games, goes further mere transactions – it inspires a longing. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “Precisely what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a rock star on the stage. Since the beginning, the co-founders believed there’s an instinctive human desire to make music, and their goal was to leverage innovation to allow people to participate”.
The majority installments were released over a mere half-decade between 2005 and 2010, including spin-offs like DJ Hero, including a turntable controller, and Band Hero. After that, corporate focus on peripherals waned, except for a brief comeback several years later.
Games such as the fan project and newer releases have kept the community alive, and there’s set to be a new product from the founders in development. A new studio has entered work on their first rhythm-based title. The initial creators are both involved as special advisers. Are gamers prepared to welcome another game in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“We thought those games could be like Madden where you can update every year,” he remarks. “With abundant new music that it could be perennially popular, so I’ve always been hopeful. It's entirely possible for it to persist with new generations.”
