It has been 20 years since the legendary game debuted across the Atlantic, offering everyday gamers the opportunity to become rock legends. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing anyone who has mastered the epic four-minute instrumental break before an enthusiastic crowd of friends.
Developed by the developers, Guitar Hero provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to follow on-screen cues scrolling down the display synchronized to a song. Every sequence corresponded to specific notes, creating the feel of an authentic live show.
Harmonix previously tried its hand in the music genre prior to teaming up with the publisher, which was purchased by Activision in 2006. Collaboratively, they established the groundwork for an unlikely massively profitable series which made a remarkable influence for many musicians featured, introducing classic groups to a new generation of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, remembers the early budgetary hurdles of licensing the songs – despite the fact initial releases mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded all the music because the dollar figure was so high,” he explains. “Even with the publishing rights alone, it was extremely difficult. We couldn’t get bands like the Who – RedOctane had virtually no money, and our team was pretty convinced it would fail. But once Guitar Hero became a hit, and record sales airtime increased, all artists desired to be in.”
He adds: “Among the amazing things was how many mothers and fathers reached out expressing gratitude for exposing their children to the songs they adored. It became an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Gains Younger Fans
Irish blues-rock band the Answer included their track in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist the artist recalls how the series brought classic rock back into vogue: “The game provided a bigger, new demographic. Typically such music was considered outdated material, but then when it was included in the game and teenagers were finding it, suddenly it was cool. This validated it, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It gave our catalog a new life.”
At that time, the band's debut album remained not available in the US, so the game served as a primary platform of discovery for the group as they went on a North American tour supporting AC/DC. “The roadies had on Never Too Late during travel, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles and Lasting Impact
Music's biggest acts soon capitalised on the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in dedicated spin-off titles that focused on their music collections and related stories, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly earned the band greater revenue compared to their studio albums. It moved more than half a million copies upon release, and sales of their songs saw an increase significantly during an era as the industry was already collapsing.
The series still motivates nimble-fingered fanaticism within the community. Recently, an online personality completed an impressive attempt featuring 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 gameplay and extensive customisation options. The song is difficult enough on the hardest setting, not to mention performed at double speed and without missing every one of its near 4,000 notes. They claimed requiring months of practice of practice.
“The game offers a, fantasy thing. Just as with other games, that doesn’t mean you should use a real gun and go to war,” says musician Herman Li.
DragonForce had already wrapped up a profitable run before Through the Fire and Flames appeared in the third game, but Li says it made them a household name. “I recall the record label calling to tell me that we were records were moving like crazy,” he shares. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we performed just before the headliners at the event.”
In fact, the band's visibility via the game proved so vast that it has risked overshadow all other accomplishments. Last year, the song featured in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I thought otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “Should you just hear one DragonForce song, that's fine – each person has a unique musical journey and I’m glad we played a role in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Impact of a Plastic Guitar
Top-tier promotion, be it for cars, clothes or games, goes further mere transactions – it inspires a longing. Was the game able to harness this? “That’s exactly what our team trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of being a music icon in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the co-founders felt that there’s an instinctive urge to create songs, and their goal was to leverage innovation to allow people to do it”.
Most of Guitar Hero games were released over a mere five-year period from 2005 to 2010, featuring spin-offs such as DJ Hero, complete with a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. After that, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments died down, aside from a short-lived revival in 2015.
Games such as the fan project and Fortnite Festival have kept the community alive, and there’s expectations of something from the original publisher on the way. Recently formed developers has entered production on its debut rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are participating as special advisers. Are gamers ready to embrace another game following Guitar Hero?
“We thought those games could be similar to sports games where you can update every year,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant fresh tracks it could remain perennially popular, so I’ve always been optimistic. It's entirely possible why it can’t persist for future fans.”
