It has been 20 years since Guitar Hero debuted across the Atlantic, giving players everywhere the tools to become rock legends. Not in reality, but try convincing anyone who has nailed the epic lengthy instrumental break in front of an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by Harmonix, Guitar Hero provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to match coloured notes moving along the display synchronized to a song. Each riff corresponded to specific notes, creating the feel of an authentic live show.
Harmonix had already experimented in the music genre before partnering with RedOctane, later purchased by the gaming giant in 2006. Together, they laid the groundwork for an unlikely massively profitable series which made a remarkable influence for many of the artists included, introducing decades-old bands to a new generation of younger players.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, remembers the early budgetary hurdles of licensing the songs – despite the fact initial releases primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded all the music since the cost prohibitive,” he says. “Despite having the publishing rights by themselves, it was extremely difficult. We couldn’t get acts such as legendary groups – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was pretty convinced it would fail. But once the game took off, album purchases and radio play increased, all artists desired to be in.”
He adds: “Among the amazing things was how many mothers and fathers reached out and thanked us for exposing their kids to the music they loved. It became an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Gains Younger Fans
Irish blues-rock band one featured act included their track in the 2008 release the popular installment. Guitarist Paul Mahon recalls how the series revived classic rock to the forefront: “Guitar Hero provided a bigger, younger audience. Generally this had been considered music that was past it, but then once it got featured on the game young people were finding it, suddenly it was cool. This validated the genre, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ label. It provided all our music renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the band's first record remained unreleased in the US, so the game served as a primary platform of discovery for the band during their a North American tour supporting the rock giants. “The roadies had on Never Too Late on the tour bus, and several recognized us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Major Band Titles and Lasting Impact
Rock’s biggest acts quickly capitalised on the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in dedicated game editions that focused on their music collections and associated stories, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said to have made the band more money compared to their studio albums. It sold well over 500,000 copies upon release, and sales of their songs saw an increase of up to 40% during an era when the music business faced decline.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire quick-handed dedication within the community. Earlier this year, a streamer completed a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s the challenging track – an infamously tough power-metal song popularized through the game – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with similar mechanics and extensive personalization features. The song is difficult enough on the hardest setting, not to mention played at increased tempo while hitting a single one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer claimed requiring months of practice to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, fantasy thing. Just as with Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you should use actual weapons and enlist,” says musician the artist.
The band had already completed a profitable run before Through the Fire and Flames was featured on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it made them a household name. “I remember the record label informing us that we were records were moving like crazy,” he says. “It exploded when we next toured, and we performed right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it threatened to eclipsing all other the band has done. Recently, the song was used in promotional material for a major film. “In the past I thought differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “If you only hear one DragonForce song, that's fine – each person has their own musical journey and I'm pleased we played a role in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Impact from the Iconic Controller
The best marketing, be it for cars, apparel or video games, extends beyond mere transactions – it inspires a desire. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “That’s exactly what we were trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a music icon in the spotlight. From day one, the co-founders felt that humans have a natural urge to make music, and their goal was to use technology to allow people to do it”.
Most installments were released in just a five-year period between 2005 and 2010, including derivative titles such as the DJ version, including a turntable controller, and Band Hero. After that, corporate focus in plastic instruments died down, aside from a brief comeback in 2015.
Titles like the fan project and Fortnite Festival have kept the scene alive, with set to be something from the founders in development. Recently formed developers has begun work on their first music game. Original co-founders are participating as special advisers. Are gamers prepared to welcome another game in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“We thought those games could be like Madden allowing annual update every year,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much fresh tracks that it could be evergreen, thus I remain hopeful. There’s no reason why it can’t persist for future fans.”
