Marking two decades since Guitar Hero first launched in North America, offering everyday gamers the opportunity to feel like a rock star. Not literally, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing someone who has nailed Free Bird’s lengthy guitar solo in front of an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by Harmonix, the game gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to match on-screen cues scrolling down the screen in time with a song. Each riff mimicked particular chords, producing the sensation of an authentic performance.
The studio had already experimented with rhythm games before partnering with RedOctane, later purchased by the gaming giant in 2006. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for a surprising massively profitable series that had a significant influence for many musicians featured, introducing decades-old bands to millions of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, former COO of Harmonix, recalls the early budgetary hurdles in securing the songs – even though the first two games mostly used cover versions.
“We reproduced every song since the dollar figure was so high,” he explains. “Despite having the necessary permissions 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 pretty convinced it would fail. However, when Guitar Hero took off, album purchases airtime were going up, all artists desired to participate.”
He continues: “Among the amazing things was the number of parents reached out expressing gratitude for introducing their children to the music they loved. It evolved into an intergenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Finds a New Audience
Northern Irish group the Answer included their track on the 2008 game the popular installment. Guitarist Paul Mahon recalls how the series revived classic rock back into vogue: “The game provided a larger, younger audience. Generally this had been considered music that was past it, however when it was featured on the title young people discovered it, abruptly it became trendy. That legitimised it, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ tag. It gave our catalog renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the band's first record was still unreleased in the US, so the game served as a primary platform for exposure for the band as they went on a North American tour opening for AC/DC. “Their crew had on the song on the tour bus, and some of them knew us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.
Major Band Spin-offs and Lasting Influence
Music's heavyweight names soon capitalised on the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in specialized game editions centered around each band’s catalogue and related stories, imagery and legendary status. For example, the Aerosmith edition, it was said to have made the band more money than any of their studio albums. It moved more than 500,000 units in its first week, while demand for Aerosmith’s music saw an increase of up to 40% at a time when the music business faced decline.
The series still motivates nimble-fingered fanaticism within the community. Recently, a streamer achieved an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough anthem made popular by Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with similar mechanics but an array of personalization features. The song is difficult even in the hardest setting, not to mention played at double speed and without missing every one of the thousands of cues. The streamer claimed it took nine months of practice.
“The game offers a, fantasy thing. Just as with Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you should use a real gun and go to war,” says DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
The band previously completed a profitable run when Through the Fire and Flames appeared in the third game, but Li says it made them a household name. “I remember our distributors calling to tell me that we were records were moving rapidly,” he shares. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we were playing right ahead of top acts at the event.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure via the game proved so vast that it has threatened to overshadow everything else the band has done. Recently, the song was used in promotional material for a major film. “In the past I felt differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “Should you just hear a single track, it’s totally cool – each person has a unique path in music and I’m glad we played a role in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Legacy from the Iconic Controller
The best marketing, whether it’s for automobiles, clothes or video games, extends beyond mere transactions – it inspires a longing. Was the game able to tap into that? “Precisely what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a rock star in the spotlight. From day one, the co-founders felt that humans have a natural urge to create songs, and they wanted to use technology to enable everyone to participate”.
Most of Guitar Hero games came out over a mere half-decade from 2005 to 2010, including spin-offs like DJ Hero, complete with a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. After that, corporate focus on peripherals died down, aside from 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 founders on the way. A new studio has begun production on their first rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are both involved as special advisers. Is the world ready to embrace another game in the spirit of the classic?
“We thought such titles might become like Madden allowing annual releases,” he remarks. “There’s so much fresh tracks that it could be evergreen, so I’ve always been optimistic. There’s no reason for it to continue for future fans.”
