It has been 20 years after the legendary game first launched in North America, providing players everywhere the tools to become rock legends. Not literally, but try convincing someone who has mastered Free Bird’s lengthy instrumental break in front of a packed living-room audience.
Created by the developers, the game provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to follow on-screen cues moving along the screen in time with the music. Each riff mimicked particular chords, producing the sensation of an authentic performance.
Harmonix previously tried its hand in the music genre before partnering with the publisher, which was purchased by Activision during the mid-2000s. Together, they established the groundwork for a surprising massively profitable series that had a remarkable influence on numerous musicians included, introducing decades-old groups to a new generation of younger players.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, remembers the initial budgetary hurdles of licensing the songs – even though initial releases mostly used cover versions.
“We reproduced all the music since the dollar figure was so high,” he explains. “Despite having the necessary permissions by themselves, it proved nearly impossible. We failed to secure bands like legendary groups – RedOctane had virtually no money, and we were fairly certain the project would flop. However, when the game became a hit, album purchases airtime increased, all artists desired to participate.”
He adds: “Among the amazing things was how many mothers and fathers reached out and thanked us for exposing their kids to the music they adored. It became an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Gains a New Audience
Irish group the Answer had their track in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician the artist remembers the way the game revived classic rock to the forefront: “Guitar Hero provided a bigger, new demographic. Generally this had been seen as outdated material, but then when it was included in the title and teenagers were finding it, suddenly it became trendy. That legitimised the genre, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ label. It provided all our music a new life.”
At that time, the Answer’s debut album was still not available stateside, so Guitar Hero was a key medium of discovery for the group as they went on US tour opening for the rock giants. “Their crew were playing the song on the tour bus, and several recognized us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles Enduring Impact
Music's biggest acts soon capitalised on the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in dedicated spin-off titles that focused on their music collections and related lore, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said earned the group more money compared to their records. It moved more than half a million copies upon release, while demand for their songs rose of up to 40% during an era when the music business faced decline.
Guitar Hero still motivates nimble-fingered fanaticism among its fans. Earlier this year, a streamer completed a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s the challenging track – a notoriously difficult power-metal song popularized through the game – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical gameplay and extensive personalization features. The song is difficult even in the hardest setting, not to mention performed at double speed while hitting a single one of the thousands of cues. The streamer stated it took nine months to accomplish.
“The game offers a, fantasy thing. Just as with other games, that doesn’t mean you should pick up a real gun and enlist,” says DragonForce guitarist the artist.
The band had already wrapped up a profitable run when Through the Fire and Flames appeared on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it made them a household name. “I remember our distributors informing us that our records were moving rapidly,” he shares. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we performed right ahead of top acts at the event.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero 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. “Previously I felt otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “If you only hear one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got a unique musical journey and I'm pleased we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
Enduring Legacy of a Iconic Controller
The best promotion, whether it’s for automobiles, clothes or video games, goes further than selling something – it inspires a desire. Was the game able to harness this? “Precisely what our team aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a rock star on the stage. From day one, the creators believed there’s an instinctive human desire to create songs, and they wanted to use technology to enable everyone to do it”.
The majority installments were released in just a five-year period between 2005 and 2010, including derivative titles like DJ Hero, complete with a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. After that, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments died down, aside from a brief comeback several years later.
Titles such as Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have kept the scene alive, with set to be a new product from the founders in development. A new studio has entered production on their first rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are participating as special advisers. Is the world ready to embrace a new entry following Guitar Hero?
“We thought such titles might become like Madden allowing annual releases,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much new music that it could be perennially popular, thus I remain optimistic. It's entirely possible why it can’t persist with new generations.”
