Marking 20 years since the legendary game debuted in North America, providing players everywhere the means to become a rock star. Not literally, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing anyone who has nailed the epic four-minute instrumental break before an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by Harmonix, Guitar Hero provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to follow on-screen cues scrolling down the screen synchronized to a song. Every sequence mimicked specific notes, creating the sensation of a genuine performance.
The studio previously tried its hand with rhythm games prior to teaming up with RedOctane, which was acquired by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Together, they laid the groundwork for an unlikely massively profitable series which made a remarkable influence for many musicians featured, showcasing decades-old bands to a new generation of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, remembers the early financial challenges in securing the songs – even though initial releases mostly used cover versions.
“We rerecorded all the music because the dollar figure was so high,” he explains. “Despite having the publishing rights alone, it proved extremely difficult. We failed to secure acts such as the Who – RedOctane had virtually no money, and we were fairly certain it would fail. However, when the game became a hit, album purchases airtime increased, everyone wanted to be in.”
He adds: “Among the remarkable aspects was the number of mothers and fathers reached out and thanked us for introducing their kids to the music they loved. It evolved into a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Finds a New Audience
Irish group the Answer included their track on the 2008 game the popular installment. Guitarist Paul Mahon recalls how the series brought classic rock to the forefront: “The game offered a larger, new demographic. Typically such music was considered outdated material, but then when it was included in the game young people were finding it, suddenly it became trendy. That legitimised it, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ tag. It gave all our music renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the band's debut album remained unreleased in the US, meaning Guitar Hero was a key medium for exposure for the group during their a North American tour supporting the rock giants. “Their crew were playing Never Too Late during travel, and some of them recognized us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Major Band Titles Enduring Impact
Music's biggest acts quickly capitalised on the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in dedicated game editions that focused on their music collections and related stories, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, the Aerosmith edition, it was said earned the group more money than any of their records. It moved well over half a million copies in its first week, while sales of Aerosmith’s music rose significantly during an era when the music business faced decline.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire nimble-fingered dedication among its fans. Earlier this year, a streamer achieved a remarkable feat featuring Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult anthem popularized through Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical gameplay and extensive customisation options. This track is difficult enough on expert mode, not to mention performed at increased tempo and without missing every one of the thousands of cues. The streamer claimed requiring nine months of practice.
“The game is a fun, fantasy thing. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to use a real gun and go to war,” says musician the artist.
DragonForce had already wrapped up a successful tour when 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 our selling albums like crazy,” he shares. “It exploded when we next toured, and we were playing right ahead of top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it risked overshadow all other accomplishments. Recently, the song was used in promotional material for a major film. “Previously I thought otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “Should you just listen to a single track, it’s totally cool – each person has their own musical journey and I'm pleased we played a role of people’s lives”.
Enduring Legacy of a Iconic Controller
The best marketing, whether it’s for automobiles, apparel or video games, goes further than selling something – it inspires a desire. Was the game able to harness this? “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 believed humans have a natural human desire to create songs, and they wanted to leverage innovation to enable everyone to participate”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games were released in just a half-decade from 2005 to 2010, featuring derivative titles like the DJ version, complete with a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments waned, except for a brief comeback several years later.
Games such as the fan project and newer releases have kept the community active, and there’s set to be something from the founders in development. A new studio has entered work on their first music game. Original co-founders are participating in advisory roles. Is the world prepared to welcome another game in the spirit of the classic?
“We thought those games might become like Madden where you can update every year,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much fresh tracks that it could be evergreen, so I’ve always been hopeful. There’s no reason why it can’t persist for future fans.”
