Marking 20 years after Guitar Hero hit the market in North America, giving players everywhere the means to become a rock star. Figuratively speaking, but try convincing someone who's mastered the epic lengthy instrumental break in front of a packed living-room audience.
Developed by Harmonix, Guitar Hero gave players a guitar-shaped controller to match on-screen cues moving along the screen in time with the music. Every sequence corresponded to specific notes, creating the feel of a genuine performance.
Harmonix had already tried its hand with rhythm games before partnering with RedOctane, later acquired by Activision in 2006. Collaboratively, they established the foundations for a surprising massively profitable series that had a significant influence on numerous musicians included, introducing classic bands to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, former COO from the developer, remembers the early budgetary hurdles in securing the recordings – despite the fact the first two games primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced every song because the dollar figure prohibitive,” he says. “Even with the publishing rights by themselves, it was extremely difficult. We couldn’t get bands like legendary groups – RedOctane had virtually no money, and we were fairly certain the project would flop. However, when Guitar Hero became a hit, album purchases and radio play increased, all artists desired to be in.”
He continues: “One of the amazing things was how many parents reached out expressing gratitude for exposing their children to the music they adored. It became a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Finds a New Audience
Northern Irish blues-rock band one featured act included Never Too Late in the 2008 release the popular installment. Lead musician the artist remembers the way the game revived older hits back into vogue: “The game provided a bigger, younger audience. Typically such music was seen as outdated material, however when it was included in the game young people were finding it, suddenly it became trendy. This validated it, eliminating the outdated label. It gave all our music a new life.”
At that time, the band's first record remained unreleased stateside, meaning the game served as a primary platform of discovery for the group as they went on a North American tour opening for the rock giants. “The roadies were playing Never Too Late on the tour bus, and several knew us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.
Major Band Spin-offs Enduring Impact
Rock’s heavyweight names soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in specialized spin-off titles that focused on each band’s catalogue and related lore, imagery and legendary status. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said earned the band more money compared to their studio albums. It sold more than 500,000 units in its first week, while sales of Aerosmith’s music saw an increase significantly at a time when the music business faced decline.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire quick-handed fanaticism among its fans. Recently, a streamer completed a remarkable feat featuring Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult power-metal song made popular by the game – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with almost identical mechanics and extensive personalization features. This track is challenging even in the hardest setting, let alone performed at double speed and without missing every one of the thousands of cues. The streamer stated requiring nine months of practice.
“Guitar Hero offers a, imaginary experience. If you play Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you should use actual weapons and go to war,” says musician the artist.
The band had already wrapped up a profitable run when their hit was featured on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it made them widely recognized. “I recall our distributors informing us that our selling albums rapidly,” he says. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we performed just before top acts at the event.”
In fact, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it has risked eclipsing everything else the band has done. Recently, the track was used in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I felt differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “Should you just listen to a single track, that's fine – everyone’s got a unique musical journey and I’m glad we played a role in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Impact from the Plastic Guitar
The best marketing, be it for cars, clothes or games, goes further than selling something – it inspires a desire. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “That’s exactly what our team aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of being a music icon on the stage. Since the beginning, the creators believed there’s an instinctive human desire to make music, and their goal was to leverage innovation to allow people to do it”.
Most of Guitar Hero games were released over a mere half-decade from 2005 to 2010, featuring spin-offs like DJ Hero, complete with a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. After that, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments died down, except for a brief comeback in 2015.
Games such as Clone Hero and newer releases have kept the scene alive, with expectations of a new product from the founders in development. A new studio has begun production on their first music game. Original co-founders are both involved as special advisers. Are gamers prepared to welcome a new entry following Guitar Hero?
“We thought those games could be similar to sports games where you can update every year,” he remarks. “With abundant new music that it could be perennially popular, so I’ve always been optimistic. It's entirely possible why it can’t persist with new generations.”
