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 has mastered Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo before an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by the developers, the game provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to match coloured notes scrolling down the screen in time with a song. Every sequence corresponded to particular chords, creating the feel of an authentic live show.
Harmonix previously tried its hand in the music genre prior to teaming up with RedOctane, later purchased by the gaming giant in 2006. Together, they laid the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar series that had a remarkable influence on numerous musicians included, showcasing decades-old bands to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO of Harmonix, remembers the initial budgetary hurdles in securing the songs – even though initial releases mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded all the music since the cost prohibitive,” he explains. “Despite having the necessary permissions by themselves, it proved extremely difficult. We failed to secure acts such as legendary groups – RedOctane had virtually no money, and our team was fairly certain the project would flop. But once the game took off, album purchases airtime increased, all artists desired to participate.”
He continues: “Among the amazing things was how many mothers and fathers got in touch expressing gratitude for introducing their kids to the music they loved. It evolved into a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Finds Younger Fans
Northern Irish group one featured act included their track on the 2008 game the popular installment. Guitarist Paul Mahon remembers the way the game revived older hits back into vogue: “Guitar Hero offered a larger, younger audience. Generally such music was considered music that was past it, however when it was featured on the game young people discovered it, suddenly it was cool. This validated the genre, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It provided our catalog a new life.”
In 2008, the band's debut album was still unreleased stateside, meaning Guitar Hero served as a primary platform for exposure for the band during their a North American tour supporting the rock giants. “Their crew were playing the song on the tour bus, and several knew us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Major Band Spin-offs and Lasting Influence
Music's heavyweight names quickly capitalised on the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in specialized spin-off titles that focused on their music collections and related lore, visuals and legendary status. For example, the Aerosmith edition, it was said earned the band greater revenue than any of their records. It sold more than 500,000 copies in its first week, and sales of their songs saw an increase of up to 40% at a time as the industry was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire nimble-fingered dedication within the community. Earlier this year, an online personality achieved an impressive attempt featuring Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult anthem popularized through the game – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical gameplay but an array of personalization features. This track is challenging enough on the hardest setting, let alone played at increased tempo while hitting every one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer stated requiring nine months to accomplish.
“The game is a fun, 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.
DragonForce had already wrapped up a profitable run before their hit appeared in the third game, yet he explains it turned them into widely recognized. “I remember the record label calling to tell me that our selling albums rapidly,” he says. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we performed just before top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it risked overshadow everything else the band has done. Recently, the track was used in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I thought otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “If you only hear one DragonForce song, that's fine – each person has a unique musical journey and I’m glad we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Impact of a Iconic Controller
The best promotion, be it for cars, clothes or games, goes further mere transactions – it evokes a longing. 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 in the spotlight. From day one, the co-founders felt that there’s an instinctive human desire to make music, and their goal was to use technology to enable everyone to participate”.
Most installments were released in just a half-decade from 2005 to 2010, including spin-offs such as DJ Hero, including a turntable controller, and Band Hero. After that, the publisher’s interest on peripherals waned, except for a short-lived revival several years later.
Titles like the fan project and newer releases have maintained the community active, with set to be something from the original publisher in development. A new studio has entered production on its debut rhythm-based title. The initial creators are both involved in advisory roles. Is the world ready to embrace a new entry in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“We thought those games could be like Madden allowing annual update every year,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant fresh tracks it could remain evergreen, thus I remain optimistic. There’s no reason for it to continue for future fans.”
