Marking two decades since the legendary game hit the market across the Atlantic, providing players everywhere the means to feel like rock legends. Not literally, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that anyone who has mastered the epic four-minute guitar solo before a packed crowd of friends.
Developed by Harmonix, Guitar Hero provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to follow on-screen cues moving along the display synchronized to the music. Every sequence corresponded to specific notes, producing the sensation of a genuine live show.
Harmonix previously tried its hand in the music genre before partnering with the publisher, which was acquired by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for an unlikely massively profitable franchise that had a remarkable influence on numerous of the artists featured, introducing classic bands to millions of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO from the developer, remembers the early financial challenges in securing the songs – even though initial releases mostly used cover versions.
“We rerecorded every song because the dollar figure was so high,” he says. “Even with the necessary permissions alone, it was extremely difficult. We couldn’t get acts such as the Who – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was fairly certain the project would flop. But once Guitar Hero took off, album purchases and radio play were going up, everyone wanted to participate.”
He adds: “One of the remarkable aspects was the number of mothers and fathers reached out and thanked us for exposing their children to the music they loved. It evolved into an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Finds a New Audience
Northern Irish blues-rock band the Answer had their track on the 2008 game the popular installment. Lead musician the artist recalls the way the game brought classic rock back into vogue: “Guitar Hero provided a bigger, new demographic. Generally this had been considered music that was past it, but then once it got featured on the game young people discovered it, suddenly it became trendy. That legitimised it, and got rid of the outdated label. It provided all our music renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the band's first record remained not available stateside, so the game served as a primary platform of discovery for the group as they went on a North American tour supporting the rock giants. “The roadies had on the song on the tour bus, and some of them recognized us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles and Lasting Impact
Rock’s biggest acts soon capitalised on the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in dedicated spin-off titles that focused on each band’s catalogue and associated stories, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly to have made the band more money compared to their records. It sold more than half a million copies in its first week, and sales of Aerosmith’s music saw an increase of up to 40% during an era when the music business was already collapsing.
The series continues to inspire nimble-fingered dedication within the community. Earlier this year, a streamer achieved a remarkable feat featuring Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough power-metal song made popular by Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with similar gameplay and extensive personalization features. The song is challenging even in expert mode, not to mention played at double speed and without missing a single one of its near 4,000 notes. They stated it took months of practice of practice.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, imaginary experience. Just as with Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you should use actual weapons and go to war,” says DragonForce guitarist the artist.
The band had already completed a profitable run before their hit appeared in the third game, but Li says it turned them into widely recognized. “I recall the record label informing us that our records were moving like crazy,” he says. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we were playing just before top acts at the event.”
In fact, the band's visibility via the game proved so vast that it risked overshadow everything else accomplishments. Recently, the song featured in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I felt differently, but now I accept it,” he admits. “If you only hear one DragonForce song, that's fine – each person has their own musical journey and I’m glad we played a role in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Impact of a Plastic Guitar
Top-tier marketing, be it for automobiles, clothes or video games, goes further than selling something – it inspires a longing. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “That’s exactly what our team aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of being a music icon in the spotlight. From day one, the creators felt that humans have a natural human desire to make music, and they wanted to leverage innovation to allow people to do it”.
Most of Guitar Hero games were released in just a five-year period between 2005 and 2010, including derivative titles such as the DJ version, complete with a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, corporate focus on peripherals waned, aside from a brief comeback in 2015.
Games like the fan project and Fortnite Festival have kept the community active, and there’s expectations of something from the founders in development. Recently formed developers has begun work on its debut rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are participating as special advisers. Are gamers ready to embrace another game in the spirit of the classic?
“Our team believed those games might become like Madden allowing annual releases,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much new music it could remain evergreen, so I’ve always been optimistic. There’s no reason why it can’t persist for future fans.”
