It has been 20 years after the legendary game debuted across the Atlantic, providing everyday gamers the opportunity to feel like rock legends. Figuratively speaking, but try convincing anyone who's nailed the epic four-minute instrumental break before an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Developed by Harmonix, the game gave players a guitar-shaped controller to follow on-screen cues scrolling down the screen synchronized to the music. Each riff mimicked specific notes, producing the sensation of an authentic live show.
Harmonix previously tried its hand with rhythm games prior to teaming up with RedOctane, later acquired by Activision during the mid-2000s. Together, they established the groundwork for a surprising billion-dollar series that had a remarkable influence on numerous musicians featured, showcasing classic bands to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, former COO from the developer, recalls the initial financial challenges in securing the songs – despite the fact initial releases primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded every song since the dollar figure prohibitive,” he explains. “Even with the publishing rights alone, it was extremely difficult. We couldn’t get acts such as legendary groups – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were pretty convinced the project would flop. But once the game became a hit, and record sales and radio play increased, everyone wanted to participate.”
He continues: “One of the amazing things was how many mothers and fathers got in touch and thanked us for exposing their children to the songs they loved. It evolved into a multigenerational thing.”
Timeless Music Gains Younger Fans
Northern Irish group the Answer included Never Too Late in the 2008 release the popular installment. Guitarist the artist remembers how the series revived older hits to the forefront: “Guitar Hero offered a larger, new demographic. Typically this had been seen as music that was past it, however when it was featured on the game and teenagers were finding it, abruptly it became trendy. This validated the genre, and got rid of the outdated tag. It gave all our music renewed popularity.”
At that time, the Answer’s first record was still unreleased stateside, meaning Guitar Hero served as a primary platform for exposure for the band during their a North American tour supporting AC/DC. “Their crew were playing Never Too Late on the tour bus, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs Enduring Influence
Rock’s biggest acts soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in dedicated game editions centered around their music collections and associated lore, imagery and legendary status. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly to have made the group more money compared to their studio albums. It moved more than 500,000 copies in its first week, and sales of Aerosmith’s music saw an increase of up to 40% during an era as the industry faced decline.
The series still motivates nimble-fingered dedication within the community. Recently, an online personality achieved a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult anthem made popular by the game – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with similar mechanics but an array of customisation options. This track is difficult even in expert mode, not to mention performed at double speed and without missing every one of its near 4,000 notes. They stated it took months of practice to accomplish.
“The game is a fun, fantasy thing. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you should use a real gun and go to war,” notes musician Herman Li.
DragonForce previously completed a successful tour when Through the Fire and Flames was featured on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it turned them into widely recognized. “I remember the record label informing us that our selling albums rapidly,” he shares. “It exploded when we next toured, and we performed just before the headliners at the event.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it has threatened to overshadow everything else the band has done. Recently, the song featured in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “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 – everyone’s got a unique path in music and I’m glad we played a role in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Impact of a Iconic Controller
The best marketing, whether it’s for cars, clothes or video games, goes further than selling something – it evokes a longing. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “The excitement of being a music icon in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the creators believed humans have a natural human desire to make music, and they wanted to use technology to enable everyone to do it”.
Most installments were released in just a five-year period between 2005 and 2010, including derivative titles such as DJ Hero, complete with a turntable controller, and Band Hero. After that, corporate focus in plastic instruments waned, aside from a short-lived revival several years later.
Titles such as the fan project and newer releases have maintained the scene alive, and there’s expectations of a new product from the original publisher in development. Recently formed developers has entered work on their first music game. The initial creators are both involved as special advisers. Is the world prepared to welcome a new entry in the spirit of the classic?
“Our team believed those games could be like Madden allowing annual releases,” he remarks. “There’s so much fresh tracks it could remain evergreen, thus I remain optimistic. It's entirely possible why it can’t persist for future fans.”
