Marking 20 years after the legendary game hit the market across the Atlantic, offering players everywhere the opportunity to feel like rock legends. Figuratively speaking, but try telling that someone who's nailed Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo before a packed crowd of friends.
Created by Harmonix, Guitar Hero gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to match coloured notes moving along the screen synchronized to a song. Every sequence corresponded to specific notes, creating the sensation of a genuine live show.
The studio had already experimented in the music genre prior to teaming up with the publisher, later purchased by Activision in 2006. Collaboratively, they laid the groundwork for an unlikely massively profitable series which made a remarkable impact on numerous musicians included, introducing decades-old bands to a new generation of younger players.
A former executive, former COO of Harmonix, remembers the initial budgetary hurdles of licensing the songs – even though the first two games primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced every song because the cost prohibitive,” he says. “Even with the publishing rights alone, it proved nearly impossible. We couldn’t get bands like the Who – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was pretty convinced it would fail. However, when the game took off, album purchases and radio play were going up, all artists desired to participate.”
He adds: “Among the amazing things was the number of mothers and fathers reached out expressing gratitude for exposing their children to the songs they loved. It became a multigenerational thing.”
Timeless Music Gains Younger Fans
Irish blues-rock band one featured act had Never Too Late on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician Paul Mahon recalls the way the game brought classic rock to the forefront: “Guitar Hero offered a bigger, younger audience. Typically this had been considered outdated material, but then when it was featured on the title young people were finding it, suddenly it was cool. That legitimised the genre, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It provided all our music renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the Answer’s debut album was still not available in the US, so Guitar Hero was a key medium of discovery for the group during their US tour opening for the rock giants. “The roadies had on the song during travel, and several knew us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs and Lasting Impact
Rock’s biggest acts quickly took advantage of the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in dedicated game editions centered around their music collections and associated stories, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly earned the band greater revenue than any of their studio albums. It moved well over 500,000 copies upon release, while demand for Aerosmith’s music rose of up to 40% during an era when the music business faced decline.
The series still motivates nimble-fingered dedication within the community. Recently, a streamer achieved an impressive attempt featuring Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult anthem made popular by the game – using a fan-made version, a no-cost alternative with almost identical mechanics but an array of personalization features. This track is challenging enough on the hardest setting, not to mention played at double speed while hitting a single one of its near 4,000 notes. They claimed requiring months of practice to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, fantasy thing. Just as with other games, that doesn’t mean you should pick up actual weapons and go to war,” says DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
DragonForce had already completed a successful tour before their hit was featured in the third game, yet he explains it made them a household name. “I remember the record label informing us that our records were moving like crazy,” he shares. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we performed right ahead of the headliners at the event.”
Indeed, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero was so immense that it has threatened to eclipsing all other accomplishments. Recently, the track was used in promotional material for a major film. “In the past I felt differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “Should you just hear one DragonForce song, that's fine – each person has a unique musical journey and I’m glad we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Legacy from the Plastic Guitar
Top-tier promotion, whether it’s for automobiles, clothes or games, extends beyond than selling something – it evokes a longing. Was the game able to tap into that? “That’s exactly what we were trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of being a music icon in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the creators felt that humans have a natural human desire to make music, and their goal was to leverage innovation to enable everyone to do it”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games came out over a mere half-decade between 2005 and 2010, including derivative titles like the DJ version, including a turntable controller, and Band Hero. After that, corporate focus on peripherals died down, aside from a brief comeback several years later.
Titles such as the fan project and Fortnite Festival have kept the community active, with set to be something from the original publisher on the way. A new studio has entered production on their first rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are both involved as special advisers. Is the world ready to embrace another game following the classic?
“Our team believed those games might become like Madden where you can update every year,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant fresh tracks it could remain evergreen, thus I remain hopeful. It's entirely possible for it to continue for future fans.”
