It has been 20 years since Guitar Hero first launched in North America, giving players everywhere the means to feel like a rock star. Not literally, but try convincing someone who's mastered Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo before a packed living-room audience.
Developed by the developers, the game provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to follow coloured notes scrolling down the display synchronized to a song. Each riff mimicked specific notes, creating the feel of an authentic live show.
The studio had already tried its hand in the music genre before partnering with RedOctane, later purchased by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they established the foundations for a surprising massively profitable series that had a significant influence for many musicians included, introducing decades-old groups to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, former COO of Harmonix, recalls the early budgetary hurdles in securing the songs – despite the fact initial releases primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced all the music since the dollar figure prohibitive,” he explains. “Even with the publishing rights alone, it was nearly impossible. We failed to secure bands like legendary groups – RedOctane had virtually no money, and our team was pretty convinced it would fail. However, when Guitar Hero became a hit, and record sales airtime increased, all artists desired to be in.”
He continues: “One of the amazing things was how many parents reached out and thanked us for exposing their kids to the songs they adored. It evolved into an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Gains Younger Fans
Irish blues-rock band one featured act included Never Too Late in the 2008 release the popular installment. Lead musician the artist recalls the way the game brought classic rock to the forefront: “The game offered a bigger, new demographic. Typically such music was considered outdated material, however when it was featured on the title young people discovered it, abruptly it was cool. That legitimised the genre, and got rid of the outdated tag. It provided all our music a new life.”
At that time, the band's first record was still unreleased stateside, so Guitar Hero served as a primary platform for exposure for the band during their US tour supporting the rock giants. “Their crew had on the song during travel, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles and Lasting Impact
Rock’s heavyweight names soon took advantage of the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in specialized spin-off titles that focused on each band’s catalogue and associated lore, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly to have made the group more money than any of their studio albums. It sold well over half a million copies in its first week, and demand for their songs saw an increase of up to 40% at a time when the music business faced decline.
The series continues to inspire 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 – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with similar mechanics and extensive personalization features. This track is challenging enough on expert mode, let alone performed at increased tempo and without missing every one of the thousands of cues. They claimed it took months of practice of practice.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, imaginary experience. Just as with Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you ought to pick up actual weapons and enlist,” says DragonForce guitarist the artist.
The band previously wrapped up a successful tour before Through the Fire and Flames was featured on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it made them widely recognized. “I recall the record label informing us that our records were moving like crazy,” he says. “It exploded when we next toured, and we were playing right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure via the game was so immense that it risked overshadow everything else accomplishments. Recently, the song was used in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I thought differently, but now I accept it,” Li says. “If you only hear a single track, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got their own path in music and I’m glad we played a role of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Legacy of a Plastic Guitar
Top-tier promotion, whether it’s for cars, apparel or video games, goes further mere transactions – it inspires a longing. Was the game able to tap into that? “That’s exactly what our team trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of being a rock star in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the co-founders felt that there’s an instinctive human desire to create songs, and their goal was to use technology to enable everyone to participate”.
Most of Guitar Hero games were released in just a five-year period from 2005 to 2010, featuring spin-offs like DJ Hero, complete with a turntable controller, and Band Hero. After that, the publisher’s interest on peripherals waned, except for a brief comeback in 2015.
Titles such as Clone Hero and newer releases have maintained the community active, with expectations of something from the original publisher in development. Recently formed developers has entered production on its debut rhythm-based title. The initial creators are both involved in advisory roles. Are gamers ready to embrace another game following Guitar Hero?
“We thought such titles could be like Madden allowing annual update every year,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much new music that it could be perennially popular, thus I remain optimistic. There’s no reason why it can’t persist for future fans.”
