It has been two decades since the legendary game debuted across the Atlantic, giving everyday gamers the means to become a rock star. Figuratively speaking, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing someone who has nailed Free Bird’s four-minute instrumental break in front of a packed living-room audience.
Created by Harmonix, the game gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to match on-screen cues scrolling down the screen in time with a song. Every sequence mimicked particular chords, producing the sensation of an authentic live show.
Harmonix had already tried its hand with rhythm games before partnering with RedOctane, later acquired by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for a surprising billion-dollar series which made a significant impact on numerous musicians featured, introducing decades-old bands to millions of younger players.
A former executive, former COO of Harmonix, recalls the initial financial challenges of licensing the recordings – despite the fact initial releases mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced every song since the cost prohibitive,” he explains. “Despite having the necessary permissions alone, it proved extremely difficult. We couldn’t get acts such as the Who – the publisher had virtually no money, and our team was pretty convinced the project would flop. But once Guitar Hero became a hit, album purchases and radio play were going up, all artists desired to be in.”
He adds: “Among the amazing things was how many mothers and fathers got in touch and thanked us for introducing their kids to the songs they adored. It evolved into a multigenerational thing.”
Timeless Music Finds a New Audience
Northern Irish group one featured act had Never Too Late on the 2008 game the popular installment. Lead musician Paul Mahon recalls how the series revived older hits back into vogue: “The game provided a bigger, new demographic. Generally such music was considered music that was past it, but then once it got featured on the title and teenagers were finding it, suddenly it became trendy. This validated it, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ tag. It provided all our music a new life.”
At that time, the Answer’s debut album remained not available in the US, meaning the game served as a primary platform of discovery for the band during their US tour opening for AC/DC. “Their crew were playing Never Too Late during travel, and some of them recognized us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles Enduring Influence
Rock’s biggest acts quickly took advantage of the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in specialized spin-off titles that focused on each band’s catalogue and associated lore, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly earned the group greater revenue than any of their studio albums. It moved more than 500,000 copies upon release, while sales of Aerosmith’s music rose significantly at a time when the music business was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero still motivates nimble-fingered fanaticism within the community. Recently, an online personality completed an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough anthem popularized through the game – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with similar gameplay and extensive personalization features. The song is challenging even in expert mode, let alone played at double speed and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. The streamer claimed requiring months of practice of practice.
“Guitar Hero offers a, fantasy thing. Just as with other games, that doesn’t mean you should use a real gun and go to war,” notes musician the artist.
DragonForce had already wrapped up a profitable run before their hit appeared on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it turned them into a household name. “I remember the record label informing us that we were selling albums rapidly,” he says. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we were playing right ahead of top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it has threatened to eclipsing everything else the band has done. Last year, the track was used in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I felt otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “If you only listen to one DragonForce song, that's fine – everyone’s got their own path in music and I’m glad we played a role in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Impact of a Iconic Controller
Top-tier marketing, whether it’s for cars, clothes or video games, goes further mere transactions – it evokes a longing. Was the game able to harness this? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “The excitement of being a music icon on the stage. From day one, the co-founders felt that humans have a natural urge to make music, and their goal was to leverage innovation to allow people to do it”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games were released over a mere half-decade from 2005 to 2010, including spin-offs like the DJ version, complete with a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, corporate focus in plastic instruments died down, aside from a brief comeback several years later.
Titles like Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have kept the community active, with expectations of something from the original publisher in development. Recently formed developers has begun production on its debut rhythm-based title. The initial creators are participating as special advisers. Are gamers prepared to welcome a new entry following the classic?
“We thought such titles might become similar to sports games where you can releases,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much fresh tracks it could remain perennially popular, so I’ve always been hopeful. There’s no reason for it to continue for future fans.”
