Marking 20 years after Guitar Hero first launched across the Atlantic, giving everyday gamers the opportunity to feel like rock legends. Figuratively speaking, but try convincing someone who has nailed the epic lengthy guitar solo in front of a packed living-room audience.
Developed by Harmonix, the game provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to match coloured notes scrolling down the display in time with a song. Each riff corresponded to specific notes, creating the feel of an authentic performance.
Harmonix previously tried its hand in the music genre before partnering with RedOctane, later acquired by Activision in 2006. Together, they laid the foundations for a surprising billion-dollar series which made a remarkable influence on numerous musicians featured, showcasing decades-old bands to a new generation of younger players.
A former executive, former COO of Harmonix, recalls the early budgetary hurdles of licensing the songs – despite the fact the first two games mostly used cover versions.
“We reproduced all the music since the dollar figure was so high,” he says. “Despite having the publishing rights alone, it proved extremely difficult. We failed to secure bands like the Who – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was pretty convinced the project would flop. But once the game became a hit, album purchases airtime were going up, all artists desired to be in.”
He adds: “Among the amazing things was the number of mothers and fathers got in touch expressing gratitude for introducing their kids to the songs they loved. It became a multigenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Finds a New Audience
Irish blues-rock band one featured act included Never Too Late in the 2008 release the popular installment. Lead musician Paul Mahon remembers the way the game brought older hits back into vogue: “The game provided a larger, new demographic. Generally this had been seen as music that was past it, however when it was included in the game and teenagers discovered it, suddenly it was cool. This validated the genre, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ label. It provided all our music renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the band's first record was still not available in the US, meaning the game was a key medium of discovery for the band as they went on US tour opening for AC/DC. “The roadies had on Never Too Late during travel, and some of them recognized us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Major Band Spin-offs Enduring Influence
Rock’s biggest acts quickly took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in dedicated spin-off titles that focused on each band’s catalogue and associated lore, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly to have made the band greater revenue compared to their studio albums. It moved more than half a million units in its first week, and sales of their songs saw an increase of up to 40% during an era when the music business faced decline.
Guitar Hero still motivates quick-handed dedication among its fans. Recently, a streamer achieved an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough anthem made popular by the game – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with almost identical gameplay but an array of personalization features. The song is challenging enough on expert mode, not to mention performed at double speed while hitting every one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer stated requiring nine months of practice.
“Guitar Hero offers a, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you ought to pick up a real gun and enlist,” notes musician Herman Li.
The band had already wrapped up a profitable run before their hit appeared in the third game, yet he explains it made them widely recognized. “I recall our distributors informing us that our selling albums like crazy,” he says. “It exploded when we next toured, and we were playing just before top acts at the event.”
Indeed, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it risked overshadow all other the band has done. Last year, the song was used in promotional material for a major film. “Previously I felt differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “Should you just listen to one DragonForce song, that's fine – each person has a unique musical journey and I'm pleased we played a role in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Impact of a Plastic Guitar
Top-tier marketing, whether it’s for cars, clothes or video games, extends beyond mere transactions – it evokes a longing. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “The excitement of being a rock star on the stage. From day one, the co-founders believed humans have a natural urge to make music, and their goal was to leverage innovation to enable everyone to participate”.
The majority installments were released over a mere five-year period from 2005 to 2010, featuring derivative titles like the DJ version, including a spinning deck, and Band Hero. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest on peripherals died down, except for a brief comeback in 2015.
Titles like Clone Hero and newer releases have maintained the community active, and there’s expectations of a new product from the founders on the way. Recently formed developers has entered work on their first music game. The initial creators are participating as special advisers. Are gamers prepared to welcome another game in the spirit of the classic?
“Our team believed such titles might become like Madden allowing annual releases,” he remarks. “There’s so much fresh tracks it could remain evergreen, thus I remain optimistic. There’s no reason why it can’t continue with new generations.”
