It has been 20 years after the legendary game hit the market across the Atlantic, giving players everywhere the means to become a rock star. Figuratively speaking, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing someone who's nailed Free Bird’s lengthy instrumental break before a packed living-room audience.
Developed by the developers, the game gave players a guitar-shaped controller to match on-screen cues scrolling down the screen synchronized to a song. Every sequence mimicked specific notes, creating the feel of an authentic performance.
Harmonix previously tried its hand in the music genre prior to teaming up with the publisher, which was purchased by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they established the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar series which made a remarkable impact for many of the artists featured, introducing decades-old groups to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, remembers the early budgetary hurdles of licensing the recordings – even though the first two games mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced all the music since the dollar figure prohibitive,” he says. “Despite having the necessary permissions alone, it proved nearly impossible. We couldn’t get acts such as the Who – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were fairly certain it would fail. However, when Guitar Hero became a hit, and record sales and radio play increased, everyone wanted to participate.”
He continues: “One of the amazing things was the number of mothers and fathers reached out expressing gratitude for exposing their kids to the music they loved. It became an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Gains Younger Fans
Northern Irish blues-rock band the Answer had their track in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist Paul Mahon recalls the way the game brought classic rock to the forefront: “Guitar Hero offered a bigger, new demographic. Generally such music was seen as outdated material, but then when it was featured on the game young people were finding it, abruptly it was cool. That legitimised it, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ label. It gave our catalog a new life.”
In 2008, the Answer’s first record remained unreleased stateside, meaning Guitar Hero served as a primary platform for exposure for the group during their US tour opening for the rock giants. “Their crew had on Never Too Late on the tour bus, and several knew us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.
Major Band Spin-offs Enduring Impact
Music's heavyweight names quickly took advantage of the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in specialized game editions centered around their music collections and associated stories, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly earned the band more money than any of their records. It moved more than 500,000 copies upon release, while sales of their songs saw an increase of up to 40% at a time when the music business was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero still motivates quick-handed dedication among its fans. Recently, an online personality completed a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult power-metal song made popular by the game – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical gameplay and extensive customisation options. The song is difficult enough on the hardest setting, let alone played at double speed while hitting every one of its near 4,000 notes. They claimed requiring nine months of practice.
“The game is a fun, fantasy thing. Just as with Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you ought to use actual weapons and go to war,” notes musician the artist.
The band previously wrapped up a profitable run when their hit was featured on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it turned them into widely recognized. “I recall our distributors informing us that we were records were moving like crazy,” he says. “It exploded when we next toured, and we performed right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it threatened to overshadow everything else accomplishments. Recently, the track featured in a trailer for a major film. “In the past I thought otherwise, but now I accept it,” he admits. “Should you just listen to a single track, it’s totally cool – each person has their own path in music and I'm pleased we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Impact from the Plastic Guitar
Top-tier marketing, be it for automobiles, apparel or video games, goes further than selling something – it evokes a desire. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “Precisely what our team aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of being a rock star on the stage. From day one, the co-founders felt that humans have a natural human desire to create songs, and they wanted to use technology to enable everyone to do it”.
Most installments were released in just a five-year period between 2005 and 2010, including derivative titles such as the DJ version, complete with a spinning deck, and Band Hero. After that, corporate focus on peripherals waned, except for a short-lived revival several years later.
Titles like the fan project and newer releases have maintained the scene alive, with set to be a new product from the original publisher on the way. A new studio has begun production on their first rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are participating as special advisers. Is the world prepared to welcome another game in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed those games could be similar to sports games allowing annual update every year,” he remarks. “With abundant fresh tracks that it could be perennially popular, so I’ve always been hopeful. It's entirely possible why it can’t continue with new generations.”
