Marking 20 years since the legendary game debuted across the Atlantic, offering everyday gamers the means to feel like rock legends. Not in reality, but try convincing anyone who's nailed Free Bird’s lengthy instrumental break before an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by the developers, the game provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to match on-screen cues scrolling down the display in time with the music. Every sequence mimicked particular chords, producing the sensation of an authentic performance.
Harmonix previously experimented in the music genre prior to teaming up with the publisher, which was purchased by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Together, they established the groundwork for a surprising billion-dollar franchise that had a remarkable impact for many of the artists featured, showcasing decades-old bands to millions of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO from the developer, remembers the initial financial challenges of licensing the songs – even though initial releases mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced all the music because the cost was so high,” he says. “Even with the publishing rights alone, it was nearly impossible. We failed to secure bands like legendary groups – the publisher had virtually no money, and we were fairly certain it would fail. But once the game became a hit, and record sales airtime were going up, everyone wanted to participate.”
He continues: “One of the remarkable aspects was the number of parents got in touch and thanked us for exposing their kids to the music they adored. It evolved into an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Gains Younger Fans
Northern Irish blues-rock band the Answer included Never Too Late on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician Paul Mahon remembers how the series revived older hits to the forefront: “The game offered a larger, younger audience. Generally this had been seen as music that was past it, however once it got included in the title and teenagers discovered it, suddenly it was cool. This validated the genre, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It provided our catalog renewed popularity.”
At that time, the band's first record was still not available stateside, meaning the game served as a primary platform for exposure for the band during their US tour opening for the rock giants. “The roadies were playing the song during travel, and several knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Major Band Spin-offs Enduring Influence
Music's biggest acts quickly capitalised on the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in specialized game editions centered around their music collections and associated lore, visuals and legendary status. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly to have made the group more money than any of their studio albums. It moved more than 500,000 copies upon release, and demand for their songs saw an increase significantly at a time as the industry faced decline.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire nimble-fingered dedication within the community. Earlier this year, a streamer achieved a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough anthem made popular by the game – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with almost identical mechanics but an array of personalization features. The song is difficult even in expert mode, not to mention performed at increased tempo and without missing every one of the thousands of cues. The streamer stated it took months of practice of practice.
“Guitar Hero offers a, imaginary experience. Just as with Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you should use a real gun and go to war,” says musician Herman Li.
The band had already wrapped up a successful tour when their hit appeared on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it made them widely recognized. “I remember the record label calling to tell me that our records were moving rapidly,” he says. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we were playing just before top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero was so immense that it threatened to eclipsing everything else the band has done. Recently, the track featured in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I thought otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “Should you just hear one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got their own path in music and I'm pleased we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
Enduring Legacy from the Iconic Controller
Top-tier marketing, whether it’s for automobiles, apparel or video games, goes further than selling something – it evokes a desire. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of performing as a rock star on the stage. From day one, the co-founders felt that humans have a natural human desire to make music, and they wanted to use technology to enable everyone to participate”.
Most of Guitar Hero games were released over a mere five-year period between 2005 and 2010, featuring spin-offs such as the DJ version, including a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, corporate focus on peripherals waned, aside from a brief comeback several years later.
Titles like the fan project and newer releases have maintained the community active, and there’s expectations of something from the founders in development. Recently formed developers has begun production on their first music game. The initial creators are participating in advisory roles. Is the world prepared to welcome a new entry following the classic?
“Our team believed those games could be like Madden allowing annual update every year,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant new music it could remain perennially popular, so I’ve always been optimistic. It's entirely possible for it to persist for future fans.”
