It has been two decades since Guitar Hero debuted across the Atlantic, giving everyday gamers the means to feel like rock legends. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that anyone who has mastered the epic lengthy instrumental break in front of a packed living-room audience.
Developed by the developers, Guitar Hero provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to follow coloured notes scrolling down the screen synchronized to a song. Each riff corresponded to particular chords, creating the sensation of a genuine live show.
Harmonix previously tried its hand in the music genre prior to teaming up with RedOctane, which was purchased by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Together, they established the groundwork for an unlikely billion-dollar franchise that had a significant influence for many musicians included, introducing classic groups to millions of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, former COO from the developer, recalls the initial financial challenges in securing the songs – even though initial releases mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded all the music since the cost was so high,” he says. “Even with the necessary permissions by themselves, it proved extremely difficult. We failed to secure acts such as the Who – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was pretty convinced it would fail. But once Guitar Hero took off, and record sales and radio play increased, everyone wanted to be in.”
He continues: “One of the remarkable aspects was the number of mothers and fathers reached out expressing gratitude for exposing their children to the music they adored. It evolved into an intergenerational thing.”
Timeless Music Finds Younger Fans
Irish group one featured act included Never Too Late in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician the artist recalls how the series revived classic rock back into vogue: “Guitar Hero offered a larger, younger audience. Typically such music was considered outdated material, but then once it got featured on the game and teenagers were finding it, abruptly it was cool. That legitimised the genre, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ label. It gave our catalog a new life.”
In 2008, the Answer’s debut album remained not available in the US, so Guitar Hero served as a primary platform for exposure for the band during their a North American tour supporting AC/DC. “The roadies were playing Never Too Late during travel, and several recognized us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles Enduring Impact
Rock’s heavyweight names quickly took advantage of the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in specialized spin-off titles that focused on their music collections and related lore, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly earned the group greater revenue than any of their records. It sold more than 500,000 copies upon release, while sales of Aerosmith’s music saw an increase significantly during an era when the music business faced decline.
The series continues to inspire nimble-fingered fanaticism among its fans. Earlier this year, an online personality completed a remarkable feat featuring the challenging track – an infamously tough power-metal song popularized through the game – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with similar mechanics but an array of customisation options. The song is challenging enough on the hardest setting, let alone played at double speed and without missing every one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer stated it took months of practice to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero offers a, fantasy thing. Just as with other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to pick up a real gun and enlist,” says musician Herman Li.
The band previously wrapped up a profitable run before Through the Fire and Flames was featured in the third game, but Li says it made them a household name. “I recall our distributors calling to tell me that our selling albums like crazy,” he shares. “It exploded when we next toured, and we were playing right ahead of top acts at the event.”
In fact, the band's visibility via the game proved so vast that it risked overshadow everything else the band has done. Last year, the track was used in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I thought differently, but now I accept it,” Li says. “If you only hear a single track, that's fine – everyone’s got a unique musical journey and I’m glad we played a role of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Legacy of a Iconic Controller
Top-tier promotion, be it for cars, apparel or video games, goes further than selling something – it evokes a desire. Was the game able to tap into that? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of being a rock star on the stage. From day one, the creators felt that humans have a natural urge to make music, and they wanted to use technology to enable everyone to do it”.
Most of Guitar Hero games came out in just a half-decade from 2005 to 2010, featuring spin-offs such as DJ Hero, complete with a turntable controller, and Band Hero. After that, corporate focus on peripherals died down, except for a short-lived revival in 2015.
Games like Clone Hero and newer releases have kept the scene alive, and there’s expectations of a new product from the original publisher in development. Recently formed developers has entered production on its debut rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are participating in advisory roles. Are gamers prepared to welcome another game following Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed such titles could be like Madden allowing annual releases,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much fresh tracks that it could be evergreen, thus I remain hopeful. It's entirely possible why it can’t continue for future fans.”
