Marking 20 years after the legendary game debuted in North America, giving everyday gamers the tools to become a rock star. Not in reality, but try telling that someone who's nailed Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo before an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by Harmonix, the game provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to match on-screen cues moving along the screen synchronized to a song. Each riff corresponded to specific notes, producing the feel of an authentic live show.
The studio had already tried its hand in the music genre before partnering with the publisher, later purchased by the gaming giant in 2006. Together, they laid the groundwork for an unlikely billion-dollar franchise that had a remarkable influence for many musicians featured, introducing decades-old groups to a new generation of younger players.
A former executive, former COO of Harmonix, remembers the initial budgetary hurdles of licensing the recordings – even though initial releases mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced all the music because the dollar figure prohibitive,” he says. “Even with the necessary permissions alone, it proved extremely difficult. We couldn’t get bands like legendary groups – the publisher had virtually no money, and our team was pretty convinced the project would flop. But once the game became a hit, and record sales and radio play were going up, all artists desired to participate.”
He adds: “Among the amazing things was the number of parents got in touch and thanked us for exposing their children to the songs they adored. It became an intergenerational thing.”
Timeless Music Gains a New Audience
Northern Irish blues-rock band one featured act had their track on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist Paul Mahon recalls the way the game brought older hits back into vogue: “The game provided a bigger, new demographic. Typically such music was seen as music that was past it, but then when it was featured on the title and teenagers were finding it, abruptly it became trendy. This validated it, and got rid of the outdated label. It provided our catalog a new life.”
In 2008, the Answer’s debut album remained not available in the US, so Guitar Hero was a key medium of discovery for the band as they went on a North American tour opening for AC/DC. “The roadies were playing the song during travel, and some of them recognized us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Major Band Spin-offs and Lasting Impact
Music's heavyweight names soon took advantage of the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in specialized game editions centered around their music collections and associated lore, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said to have made the group greater revenue than any of their records. It moved well over 500,000 copies upon release, while demand for Aerosmith’s music saw an increase significantly during an era as the industry faced decline.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire nimble-fingered fanaticism among its fans. Earlier this year, an online personality achieved a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s the challenging track – a notoriously difficult power-metal song popularized through Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with almost identical mechanics and extensive customisation options. This track is challenging even in expert mode, not to mention performed at double speed and without missing every one of the thousands of cues. The streamer claimed requiring nine months to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you should use a real gun and go to war,” says DragonForce guitarist the artist.
DragonForce had already wrapped up a profitable run before Through the Fire and Flames was featured on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it turned them into widely recognized. “I recall the record label informing us that we were records were moving rapidly,” he says. “It exploded when we next toured, and we were playing just before top acts at the event.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero was so immense that it threatened to eclipsing all other the band has done. Last year, the track was used in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I felt differently, but now I accept it,” Li says. “Should you just listen to a single track, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got their own musical journey and I'm pleased we played a role in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Impact of a Iconic Controller
Top-tier marketing, whether it’s for cars, apparel or games, goes further than selling something – it inspires a longing. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “Precisely what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a music icon in the spotlight. From day one, the creators believed there’s an instinctive urge to create songs, and they wanted to use technology to allow people to do it”.
Most of Guitar Hero games came out in just a five-year period from 2005 to 2010, including spin-offs like DJ Hero, complete with a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. After that, corporate focus in plastic instruments died down, aside from a brief comeback in 2015.
Titles such as Clone Hero and newer releases have kept the community active, and there’s expectations of a new product from the founders in development. A new studio has entered production on their first music game. Original co-founders are both involved as special advisers. Is the world ready to embrace a new entry following Guitar Hero?
“We thought such titles could be similar to sports games allowing annual releases,” he remarks. “With abundant fresh tracks that it could be evergreen, so I’ve always been optimistic. It's entirely possible for it to persist for future fans.”
