Marking 20 years after the legendary game hit the market in North America, offering players everywhere the tools to feel like a rock star. Figuratively speaking, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing someone who has nailed the epic four-minute instrumental break before a packed crowd of friends.
Created by Harmonix, Guitar Hero provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to match on-screen cues scrolling down the display in time with the music. Every sequence corresponded to specific notes, creating the sensation of an authentic live show.
The studio had already experimented in the music genre before partnering with the publisher, later purchased by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they laid the groundwork for a surprising massively profitable franchise that had a remarkable impact on numerous of the artists included, introducing classic bands to millions of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, recalls the early financial challenges in securing the songs – even though initial releases primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded every song because the cost prohibitive,” he explains. “Even with the publishing rights alone, it was extremely difficult. We failed to secure acts such as legendary groups – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was fairly certain it would fail. But once Guitar Hero took off, album purchases and radio play were going up, everyone wanted to be in.”
He adds: “One of the remarkable aspects was how many parents got in touch and thanked us for exposing their children to the music they adored. It became an intergenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Finds a New Audience
Northern Irish group the Answer had their track in the 2008 release the popular installment. Guitarist the artist recalls the way the game revived classic rock to the forefront: “The game provided a bigger, new demographic. Generally such music was seen as outdated material, however when it was featured on the game and teenagers discovered it, suddenly it became trendy. That legitimised it, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It gave all our music a new life.”
In 2008, the Answer’s debut album remained unreleased stateside, so 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 had on the song during travel, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs and Lasting Impact
Music's heavyweight names quickly capitalised on the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in specialized game editions centered around their music collections and associated lore, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly earned the group more money compared to their records. It sold well over half a million units in its first week, and sales of Aerosmith’s music rose of up to 40% during an era when the music business faced decline.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire quick-handed dedication within the community. Recently, a streamer achieved an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult power-metal song made popular by the game – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with almost identical gameplay but an array of customisation options. This track is difficult enough on the hardest setting, let alone played at increased tempo and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. They stated requiring months of practice to accomplish.
“The game is a fun, imaginary experience. Just as with Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you ought to use a real gun and go to war,” notes DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
The band had already completed a successful tour when Through the Fire and Flames was featured in the third game, but Li says it turned them into widely recognized. “I remember our distributors informing us that our records were moving like crazy,” he shares. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, 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 has risked eclipsing everything else the band has done. Recently, the song was used in a trailer for a major film. “Previously I felt otherwise, but now I accept it,” he admits. “If you only hear one DragonForce song, that's fine – each person has their own musical journey and I’m glad we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
Enduring Impact from the Plastic Guitar
Top-tier promotion, be it for automobiles, clothes or games, goes further mere transactions – it inspires a longing. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “That’s exactly what we were trying to create,” he confirms. “That thrill of being a rock star in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the co-founders believed humans have a natural human desire to create songs, and their goal was to leverage innovation to allow people to do it”.
Most installments came out over a mere half-decade from 2005 to 2010, including derivative titles such as the DJ version, including a spinning deck, and Band Hero. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments died down, aside from a brief comeback in 2015.
Titles like Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have maintained the community active, and there’s expectations of something from the founders in development. A new studio has entered production on their first music game. The initial creators are both involved as special advisers. Are gamers ready to embrace a new entry in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“We thought those games might become similar to sports games allowing annual update every year,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant new music it could remain perennially popular, thus I remain hopeful. It's entirely possible why it can’t continue for future fans.”
