Marking two decades since Guitar Hero hit the market in North America, providing players everywhere the opportunity to become rock legends. Not in reality, but try convincing someone who has mastered the epic lengthy instrumental break in front of a packed living-room audience.
Developed by the developers, the game provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to follow on-screen cues scrolling down the screen synchronized to the music. Each riff mimicked particular chords, producing the feel of a genuine live show.
Harmonix previously tried its hand in the music genre before partnering with the publisher, later acquired by Activision in 2006. Together, they established the foundations for an unlikely massively profitable franchise that had a significant influence on numerous of the artists featured, introducing decades-old groups to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, recalls the early budgetary hurdles in securing the songs – even though initial releases mostly used cover versions.
“We rerecorded every song because the cost prohibitive,” he explains. “Despite having the publishing rights alone, it was extremely difficult. We couldn’t get bands like legendary groups – the publisher had virtually no money, and we were fairly certain the project would flop. But once Guitar Hero took off, and record sales airtime were going up, everyone wanted to participate.”
He continues: “One of the amazing things was how many mothers and fathers got in touch and thanked us for exposing their kids to the songs they loved. It became an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Gains Younger Fans
Irish group the Answer included their track in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist the artist remembers how the series revived classic rock back into vogue: “Guitar Hero provided a bigger, younger audience. Typically this had been seen as music that was past it, but then once it got included in the title young people were finding it, abruptly it became trendy. This validated it, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ tag. It provided all our music renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the band's first record remained not available in the US, so Guitar Hero served as a primary platform for exposure for the group during their a North American tour supporting the rock giants. “The roadies had on Never Too Late during travel, and some of them knew us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles Enduring Influence
Rock’s biggest acts soon capitalised on the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in dedicated spin-off titles that focused on each band’s catalogue and related stories, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said to have made the group greater revenue than any of their records. It sold well over half a million copies upon release, while sales of Aerosmith’s music rose significantly during an era when the music business was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero still motivates nimble-fingered dedication among its fans. Recently, an online personality completed a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s the challenging track – an infamously tough anthem popularized through the game – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical gameplay but an array of personalization features. This track is difficult even in expert mode, let alone played at increased tempo and without missing a single one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer claimed it took nine months of practice.
“Guitar Hero offers a, imaginary experience. Just as with other games, it doesn't imply you should use actual weapons and enlist,” notes musician Herman Li.
The band had already wrapped up a successful tour before their hit was featured in the third game, but Li says it turned them into a household name. “I remember our distributors calling to tell me that our 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 was so immense that it threatened to overshadow all other accomplishments. Last year, the song featured in promotional material for a major film. “Previously I felt otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “If you only hear one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got a unique musical journey and I’m glad we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
Enduring Impact from the Iconic Controller
The best marketing, whether it’s for automobiles, clothes or games, extends beyond mere transactions – it inspires a longing. Was the game able to tap into that? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “The excitement of being a music icon on the stage. From day one, the co-founders believed there’s an instinctive human desire to create songs, and their goal was to leverage innovation to enable everyone to participate”.
The majority installments were released over a mere half-decade between 2005 and 2010, featuring derivative titles such as the DJ version, complete with a spinning deck, and Band Hero. After that, the publisher’s interest on peripherals waned, except for a short-lived revival in 2015.
Titles like Clone Hero and newer releases have maintained the scene alive, and there’s expectations of something from the original publisher in development. A new studio has entered production on their first music game. The initial creators are both involved as special advisers. Is the world prepared to welcome a new entry following the classic?
“We thought such titles might become similar to sports games where you can update every year,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much new music that it could be evergreen, thus I remain hopeful. It's entirely possible for it to continue with new generations.”
