It has been 20 years since the legendary game first launched across the Atlantic, giving everyday gamers the means to feel like rock legends. Figuratively speaking, but try convincing anyone who's nailed Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo in front of a packed living-room audience.
Created by the developers, the game gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to match coloured notes scrolling down the screen in time with a song. Each riff mimicked specific notes, creating the sensation of a genuine live show.
Harmonix previously experimented with rhythm games prior to teaming up with the publisher, which was acquired by the gaming giant in 2006. Together, they established the groundwork for an unlikely massively profitable series which made a significant influence on numerous of the artists featured, introducing classic bands to millions of younger players.
A former executive, former COO of Harmonix, recalls the initial budgetary hurdles in securing the recordings – despite the fact the first two games primarily featured cover versions.
“We rerecorded all the music since the dollar figure prohibitive,” he says. “Even with the publishing rights alone, it was extremely difficult. We failed to secure bands like legendary groups – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was fairly certain the project would flop. But once Guitar Hero became a hit, and record sales airtime increased, everyone wanted to be in.”
He adds: “One of the remarkable aspects was the number of mothers and fathers got in touch and thanked us for introducing their kids to the songs they loved. It evolved into an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Gains a New Audience
Northern Irish group the Answer included their track in the 2008 release the popular installment. Guitarist the artist remembers the way the game brought classic rock back into vogue: “Guitar Hero offered a larger, new demographic. Typically such music was considered outdated material, however when it was included in the title young people were finding it, suddenly it became trendy. This validated it, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It provided our catalog a new life.”
In 2008, the band's first record was still unreleased in the US, so the game was a key medium of discovery for the band as they went on US tour opening for AC/DC. “Their crew were playing Never Too Late on the tour bus, and some of them recognized us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs and Lasting Impact
Rock’s biggest acts soon capitalised on the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in specialized game editions centered around each band’s catalogue and associated lore, imagery and legendary status. For example, the Aerosmith edition, it was said to have made the group greater revenue compared to their studio albums. It sold more than 500,000 copies upon release, while demand for Aerosmith’s music saw an increase of up to 40% at a time when the music business was already collapsing.
The series continues to inspire quick-handed dedication within the community. Earlier this year, a streamer completed a remarkable feat featuring Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough anthem made popular by Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with similar mechanics but an array of personalization features. This track is challenging even in the hardest setting, not to mention played at double speed and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. They stated it took nine months to accomplish.
“The game is a fun, fantasy thing. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you should use actual weapons and enlist,” says musician Herman Li.
The band previously completed a successful tour before their hit appeared in the third game, yet he explains it made them a household name. “I remember our distributors calling to tell me that our selling albums like crazy,” he says. “It exploded when we next toured, and we performed right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure via the game was so immense that it has threatened to overshadow everything else the band has done. Recently, the track was used in promotional material for a major film. “In the past I thought otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “If you only listen to one DragonForce song, that's fine – each person has a unique path in music and I'm pleased we played a role in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Impact from the Plastic Guitar
The best promotion, be it for cars, apparel or video games, goes further mere transactions – it evokes a longing. Was the game able to tap into that? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of being a music icon on the stage. From day one, the co-founders believed humans have a natural urge to make music, and they wanted to use technology to enable everyone to do it”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games were released in just a five-year period from 2005 to 2010, including derivative titles such as DJ Hero, including a turntable controller, and Band Hero. Subsequently, corporate focus in plastic instruments died down, except for a short-lived revival in 2015.
Titles such as Clone Hero and newer releases have maintained the scene alive, and there’s set to be something from the founders in development. A new studio has begun work on its debut music game. Original co-founders are participating as special advisers. Are gamers ready to embrace a new entry in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“We thought such titles might become like Madden where you can releases,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much fresh tracks that it could be evergreen, so I’ve always been hopeful. It's entirely possible for it to persist for future fans.”
