It has been 20 years since the legendary game hit the market in North America, giving everyday gamers the means to become a rock star. Figuratively speaking, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that anyone who has mastered the epic lengthy instrumental break in front of an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by the developers, the game gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to follow coloured notes moving along the display in time with the music. Every sequence corresponded to specific notes, producing the feel of an authentic performance.
The studio previously tried its hand with rhythm games before partnering with the publisher, which was acquired by the gaming giant in 2006. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for a surprising billion-dollar franchise which made a remarkable impact for many musicians featured, introducing decades-old groups to millions of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO of Harmonix, recalls the early budgetary hurdles in securing the songs – even though the first two games primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced every song since the dollar figure was so high,” he says. “Even with the publishing rights by themselves, it proved nearly impossible. We couldn’t get acts such as legendary groups – RedOctane had virtually no money, and our team was pretty convinced it would fail. But once Guitar Hero became a hit, album purchases and radio play were going up, everyone wanted to be in.”
He adds: “One of the remarkable aspects was the number of parents got in touch and thanked us for exposing their kids to the songs they loved. It became an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Gains a New Audience
Irish group one featured act had Never Too Late in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist Paul Mahon recalls how the series brought classic rock back into vogue: “The game offered a bigger, younger audience. Generally this had been considered outdated material, however once it got included in the title young people discovered it, suddenly it became trendy. This validated it, and got rid of the outdated tag. It provided all our music a new life.”
At that time, the band's first record remained not available in the US, so the game served as a primary platform for exposure for the group as they went on a North American tour supporting the rock giants. “The roadies were playing Never Too Late during travel, and some of them recognized us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles Enduring Influence
Rock’s heavyweight names quickly took advantage of the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in specialized game editions that focused on their music collections and related lore, visuals and legendary status. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said to have made the group greater revenue compared to their studio albums. It moved well over 500,000 units in its first week, and demand for Aerosmith’s music saw an increase significantly during an era when the music business faced decline.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire nimble-fingered fanaticism within the community. Recently, a streamer achieved an impressive attempt featuring the challenging track – a notoriously difficult anthem popularized through Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with almost identical gameplay and extensive personalization features. This track is difficult enough on the hardest setting, let alone played at double speed and without missing every one of the thousands of cues. They claimed requiring months of practice of practice.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you ought to pick up a real gun and go to war,” notes musician the artist.
The band had already completed a profitable run when Through the Fire and Flames was featured on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it made them a household name. “I recall the record label informing us that our selling albums like crazy,” he shares. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we were playing right ahead of top acts at the event.”
In fact, the band's visibility via the game was so immense that it has risked overshadow all other the band has done. Recently, the track was used in a trailer for a major film. “Previously I thought differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “Should you just listen to a single track, that's fine – each person has their own path in music and I’m glad we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Impact from the Plastic Guitar
Top-tier promotion, whether it’s for automobiles, apparel or video games, goes further mere transactions – it inspires a longing. Was the game able to tap into that? “Precisely what our team trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of performing as a rock star in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the co-founders believed humans have a natural human desire to make music, and their goal was to leverage innovation to enable everyone to do it”.
Most of Guitar Hero games came out in just a half-decade between 2005 and 2010, featuring derivative titles like the DJ version, complete with a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, corporate focus on peripherals waned, aside from a brief comeback in 2015.
Titles such as Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have maintained the community active, and there’s expectations of a new product from the original publisher in development. Recently formed developers has begun production on its debut music game. The initial creators are participating as special advisers. Is the world ready to embrace another game following Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed such titles might become similar to sports games where you can releases,” he remarks. “With abundant new music it could remain perennially popular, so I’ve always been hopeful. There’s no reason why it can’t persist for future fans.”
