It has been 20 years after the legendary game hit the market in North America, providing everyday gamers the opportunity to feel like rock legends. Not literally, but try telling that someone who's nailed the epic lengthy instrumental break before a packed living-room audience.
Developed by the developers, the game provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to match coloured notes moving along the display synchronized to a song. Each riff mimicked specific notes, creating the feel of an authentic performance.
Harmonix had already experimented with rhythm games before partnering with RedOctane, later acquired by the gaming giant in 2006. Together, they laid the groundwork for a surprising massively profitable series that had a remarkable influence on numerous of the artists featured, showcasing classic bands to millions of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, remembers the early financial challenges in securing the recordings – despite the fact initial releases primarily featured cover versions.
“We rerecorded every song because the dollar figure was so high,” he says. “Despite having the necessary permissions alone, it proved nearly impossible. We couldn’t get bands like legendary groups – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were fairly certain the project would flop. However, when the game became a hit, and record sales airtime increased, everyone wanted to participate.”
He continues: “One of the remarkable aspects was how many parents got in touch and thanked us for introducing their kids to the songs they loved. It became a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Finds a New Audience
Northern Irish group the Answer included Never Too Late on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist the artist recalls how the series brought older hits back into vogue: “The game provided a larger, younger audience. Typically this had been considered music that was past it, but then once it got featured on the title and teenagers discovered it, suddenly it became trendy. This validated it, eliminating the outdated label. It gave all our music a new life.”
In 2008, the Answer’s debut album was still unreleased stateside, meaning the game was a key medium of discovery for the group as they went on US tour supporting AC/DC. “Their crew were playing Never Too Late during travel, and several knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs Enduring Impact
Music's biggest acts soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in dedicated spin-off titles that focused on their music collections and related lore, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, the Aerosmith edition, it was said to have made the group more money compared to their records. It moved more than half a million units in its first week, while sales of their songs rose significantly at a time as the industry faced decline.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire quick-handed dedication among its fans. Recently, an online personality completed an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s the challenging track – a notoriously difficult power-metal song made popular by Guitar Hero – using a fan-made version, a no-cost alternative with similar mechanics and extensive personalization features. This track is challenging even in the hardest setting, not to mention performed at increased tempo and without missing a single one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer claimed requiring nine months of practice.
“Guitar Hero offers a, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you ought to pick up actual weapons and enlist,” notes DragonForce guitarist the artist.
DragonForce previously completed a profitable run when their hit appeared on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it made them widely recognized. “I recall the record label informing us that we were selling albums rapidly,” he shares. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we were playing just before the headliners at the event.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure via the game proved so vast that it has risked overshadow everything else the band has done. Last year, the song was used in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I thought otherwise, but now I accept it,” Li says. “Should you just hear a single track, that's fine – everyone’s got their own path in music and I'm pleased we played a role of people’s lives”.
Enduring Impact of a Plastic Guitar
The best promotion, be it for cars, clothes or video games, goes further than selling something – it evokes a desire. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “That’s exactly what we were trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of being a rock star on the stage. Since the beginning, the creators believed there’s an instinctive human desire to create songs, and they wanted to use technology to allow people to participate”.
Most of Guitar Hero games were released over a mere five-year period from 2005 to 2010, including spin-offs like DJ Hero, complete with a spinning deck, and Band Hero. Subsequently, corporate focus on peripherals waned, aside from a brief comeback in 2015.
Games such as Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have kept the scene active, with expectations of a new product from the founders on the way. A new studio has begun work on their first music game. Original co-founders are both involved in advisory roles. Is the world ready to embrace another game following Guitar Hero?
“We thought such titles might become like Madden where you can releases,” he remarks. “There’s so much fresh tracks it could remain perennially popular, thus I remain optimistic. There’s no reason why it can’t continue with new generations.”
