Marking 20 years after Guitar Hero debuted across the Atlantic, providing players everywhere the opportunity to feel like a rock star. Not in reality, but try convincing someone who has mastered the epic four-minute instrumental break in front of a packed crowd of friends.
Created by the developers, Guitar Hero provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to match coloured notes moving along the screen in time with a song. Every sequence mimicked 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 acquired by the gaming giant in 2006. Together, they established the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar series that had a significant impact on numerous of the artists featured, showcasing classic groups to millions of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO of Harmonix, recalls the early budgetary hurdles of licensing the songs – despite the fact initial releases primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced all the music because the dollar figure was so high,” he explains. “Even with the publishing rights by themselves, it was extremely difficult. We couldn’t get bands like the Who – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was pretty convinced the project would flop. However, when Guitar Hero took off, album purchases airtime increased, all artists desired to be in.”
He adds: “Among the amazing things was the number of mothers and fathers reached out expressing gratitude for exposing their children to the music they adored. It became a multigenerational thing.”
Timeless Music Gains a New Audience
Irish group the Answer included Never Too Late in the 2008 release the popular installment. Lead musician the artist remembers the way the game revived older hits back into vogue: “Guitar Hero offered a larger, new demographic. Generally this had been considered outdated material, however when it was included in the title and teenagers were finding it, abruptly it was cool. This validated the genre, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ tag. It gave all our music renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the Answer’s first record was still unreleased in the US, meaning the game was a key medium for exposure for the band during their US tour opening for AC/DC. “Their crew had on Never Too Late during travel, and some of them recognized us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs Enduring Impact
Rock’s heavyweight names soon capitalised on the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in specialized game editions centered around each band’s catalogue and related stories, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, the Aerosmith edition, it was said to have made the band greater revenue than any of their studio albums. It sold more than 500,000 copies in its first week, while demand for their songs saw an increase of up to 40% at a time as the industry was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire nimble-fingered fanaticism within the community. Recently, a streamer achieved an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s the challenging track – a notoriously difficult anthem made popular by Guitar Hero – using a fan-made version, a no-cost alternative with almost identical mechanics and extensive customisation options. This track is difficult enough on the hardest setting, let alone performed at increased tempo while hitting every one of the thousands of cues. They stated it took nine months of practice.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, fantasy thing. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to pick up a real gun and enlist,” notes DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
DragonForce had already wrapped up a successful tour when their hit appeared on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it made them a household name. “I remember our distributors calling to tell me that we were records were moving like crazy,” he says. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we performed just before the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, the band's visibility via the game proved so vast that it risked overshadow all other the band has done. Recently, the song was used in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I felt differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “If you only hear one DragonForce song, that's fine – each person has their own musical journey and I’m glad we played a role of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Legacy from the Plastic Guitar
The best promotion, be it for cars, apparel or video games, goes further than selling something – it evokes a desire. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “Precisely what we were aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “The excitement of performing as a music icon on the stage. Since the beginning, the creators believed humans have a natural human desire to make music, and they wanted to use technology to enable everyone to do it”.
Most installments came out in just a five-year period from 2005 to 2010, including spin-offs like DJ Hero, including a turntable controller, and Band Hero. After that, corporate focus in plastic instruments died down, except for a short-lived revival several years later.
Titles like Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have maintained the scene active, and there’s set to be something from the founders on the way. A new studio has begun production on its debut rhythm-based title. 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 like Madden where you can update every year,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much new music it could remain perennially popular, thus I remain hopeful. It's entirely possible for it to persist with new generations.”
