Marking 20 years since Guitar Hero first launched in North America, giving players everywhere the tools to feel like a rock star. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that anyone who's nailed Free Bird’s lengthy guitar solo 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 moving along the display in time with a song. Each riff mimicked particular chords, creating the feel of a genuine performance.
Harmonix previously tried its hand in the music genre prior to teaming up with RedOctane, later purchased by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they established the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar series that had a remarkable influence for many musicians featured, showcasing decades-old groups to a new generation of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, recalls the early budgetary hurdles in securing the recordings – despite the fact initial releases mostly used cover versions.
“We rerecorded all the music since the dollar figure was so high,” he says. “Even with the necessary permissions alone, it proved nearly impossible. We failed to secure acts such as legendary groups – RedOctane 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 airtime were going up, everyone wanted to be in.”
He adds: “One of the amazing things was the number of mothers and fathers reached out and thanked us for exposing their children to the songs they loved. It became a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Gains a New Audience
Northern Irish blues-rock band the Answer included Never Too Late on the 2008 game the popular installment. Guitarist Paul Mahon remembers the way the game revived older hits back into vogue: “Guitar Hero provided a bigger, younger audience. Generally such music was seen as outdated material, however once it got featured on the title young people were finding it, abruptly it became trendy. This validated it, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ label. It provided all our music renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the band's debut album was still unreleased in the US, so the game served as a primary platform of discovery for the band during their US tour supporting AC/DC. “The roadies were playing the song during travel, and several recognized us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Major Band Spin-offs Enduring Influence
Music's heavyweight names quickly took advantage of the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in specialized game editions centered around their music collections and associated lore, imagery and legendary status. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said to have made the band greater revenue than any of their records. It moved more than half a million units in its first week, and demand for Aerosmith’s music rose of up to 40% during an era as the industry was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero still motivates quick-handed dedication within the community. Earlier this year, a streamer achieved an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult anthem popularized through Guitar Hero – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with almost identical mechanics but an array of personalization features. The song is difficult enough on the hardest setting, not to mention performed at double speed and without missing every one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer claimed it took months of practice of practice.
“Guitar Hero offers a, imaginary experience. Just as with Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you ought to pick up actual weapons and enlist,” notes musician Herman Li.
DragonForce had already completed a profitable run when their hit was featured in the third game, but Li says it made them widely recognized. “I remember the record label informing us that our records were moving like crazy,” he shares. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we performed just before top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure via the game proved so vast that it has threatened to overshadow everything else accomplishments. Last year, the song featured in promotional material for a major film. “Previously I felt otherwise, but now I accept it,” he admits. “Should you just listen to a single track, that's fine – each person has a unique musical journey and I’m glad we played a role of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Legacy from the Iconic Controller
Top-tier promotion, be it for cars, clothes or games, goes further mere transactions – it inspires a longing. Was the game able to harness this? “That’s exactly what we were trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of being a music icon in the spotlight. From day one, the co-founders believed there’s an instinctive human desire to make music, and their goal was to leverage innovation to allow people to do it”.
Most installments came out in just a five-year period between 2005 and 2010, featuring spin-offs like the DJ version, including a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. After that, the publisher’s interest on peripherals waned, aside from a brief comeback several years later.
Games such as Clone Hero and newer releases have kept the community alive, with set to be something from the original publisher on the way. Recently formed developers has entered production on their first music game. Original co-founders are both involved in advisory roles. Are gamers prepared to welcome a new entry in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed such titles might become similar to sports games where you can update every year,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant new music that it could be perennially popular, so I’ve always been optimistic. It's entirely possible for it to continue with new generations.”