Marking 20 years since Guitar Hero debuted across the Atlantic, offering players everywhere the means to feel like rock legends. Not literally, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that someone who's mastered Free Bird’s lengthy guitar solo in front of a packed crowd of friends.
Created by the developers, Guitar Hero provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to match coloured notes moving along the display synchronized to a song. Every sequence corresponded to particular chords, creating the sensation of a genuine performance.
The studio previously experimented in the music genre prior to teaming up with RedOctane, later purchased by the gaming giant in 2006. Together, they laid the foundations for a surprising massively profitable series that had a remarkable impact on numerous musicians featured, introducing decades-old groups to millions of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, remembers the early budgetary hurdles of licensing the recordings – despite the fact the first two games mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced all the music because the cost prohibitive,” he explains. “Even with the necessary permissions alone, it proved nearly impossible. We couldn’t get acts such as legendary groups – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was pretty convinced it would fail. However, when Guitar Hero took off, album purchases and radio play increased, everyone wanted to participate.”
He adds: “Among the amazing things was the number of mothers and fathers got in touch and thanked us for introducing their children to the music they adored. It evolved into a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Gains a New Audience
Northern Irish group the Answer had their track in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician Paul Mahon remembers the way the game brought older hits back into vogue: “The game provided a larger, new demographic. Generally this had been seen as music that was past it, however when it was included in the title and teenagers were finding it, abruptly it was cool. This validated it, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ tag. It gave our catalog a new life.”
At that time, the band's debut album was still unreleased in the US, meaning Guitar Hero was a key medium for exposure for the group as they went on US tour opening for the rock giants. “Their crew were playing the song during travel, and several knew us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Major Band Spin-offs and Lasting Impact
Rock’s biggest acts soon took advantage of the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in specialized spin-off titles that focused on their music collections and related lore, imagery and legendary status. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, it was said to have made the band greater revenue compared to their records. It moved well over 500,000 copies upon release, and sales of Aerosmith’s music saw an increase significantly during an era when the music business was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero still motivates nimble-fingered dedication within the community. Recently, a streamer completed a remarkable feat featuring Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult power-metal song made popular by Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with almost identical mechanics and extensive personalization features. The song is difficult even in expert mode, let alone performed at increased tempo and without missing every one of the thousands of cues. They stated it took nine months of practice.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, imaginary experience. Just as with other games, that doesn’t mean you should use a real gun and enlist,” notes musician the artist.
DragonForce had already wrapped up a successful tour before Through the Fire and Flames was featured on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it turned them into widely recognized. “I remember our distributors calling to tell me that we were selling albums like crazy,” he shares. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we were playing just before the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure via the game proved so vast that it threatened to eclipsing all other accomplishments. Recently, the track was used in promotional material for a major film. “Previously I felt otherwise, but now I accept it,” he admits. “If you only hear a single track, that's fine – everyone’s got their own musical journey and I'm pleased we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Impact of a Iconic Controller
The best marketing, be it for cars, apparel or video games, extends beyond mere transactions – it inspires a desire. Was the game able to tap into that? “That’s exactly what our team trying to create,” he confirms. “That thrill of being a music icon in the spotlight. From day one, the co-founders felt that there’s an instinctive urge to make music, and they wanted to use technology to allow people to do it”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games were released over a mere half-decade between 2005 and 2010, including spin-offs like DJ Hero, complete with a turntable controller, and Band Hero. After that, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments died down, aside from a short-lived revival in 2015.
Titles such as Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have maintained the scene alive, with set to be something from the founders on the way. Recently formed developers has begun production on its debut music game. Original co-founders are participating as special advisers. Are gamers ready to embrace a new entry following Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed such titles might become like Madden where you can releases,” he remarks. “There’s so much fresh tracks that it could be perennially popular, thus I remain optimistic. It's entirely possible for it to persist with new generations.”
