Marking two decades after Guitar Hero debuted in North America, providing players everywhere the opportunity to feel like rock legends. Figuratively speaking, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that anyone who's nailed the epic lengthy guitar solo before an enthusiastic crowd of friends.
Developed by Harmonix, Guitar Hero gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to follow on-screen cues scrolling down the screen synchronized to the music. Every sequence corresponded to particular chords, creating the feel of a genuine live show.
Harmonix had already tried its hand in the music genre prior to teaming up with the publisher, later acquired by Activision in 2006. Collaboratively, they established the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar series that had a remarkable impact for many musicians included, showcasing decades-old bands to a new generation of younger players.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, recalls the early budgetary hurdles of licensing the recordings – even though the first two games mostly used cover versions.
“We reproduced every song since the cost was so high,” he explains. “Even with the publishing rights alone, it proved extremely difficult. We failed to secure acts such as legendary groups – the publisher had virtually no money, and our team was pretty convinced it would fail. But once Guitar Hero became a hit, album purchases airtime increased, everyone wanted to be in.”
He continues: “One of the amazing things was the number of parents got in touch and thanked us for introducing their children to the music they adored. It became a multigenerational thing.”
Timeless Music Gains Younger Fans
Northern Irish group the Answer had their track on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician Paul Mahon recalls the way the game revived older hits back into vogue: “Guitar Hero provided a bigger, younger audience. Typically such music was seen as outdated material, but then when it was featured on the title and teenagers discovered it, abruptly it was cool. This validated the genre, and got rid of the outdated tag. It gave all our music a new life.”
At that time, the band's first record remained unreleased in the US, meaning Guitar Hero was a key medium for exposure for the band during their US tour opening for AC/DC. “The roadies were playing the song during travel, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Major Band Titles Enduring Impact
Rock’s biggest acts quickly capitalised on the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in specialized game editions that focused on each band’s catalogue and related lore, imagery and legendary status. For example, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly earned the group more money than any of their studio albums. It sold more than half a million units upon release, while sales of their songs saw an increase of up to 40% during an era as the industry was already collapsing.
The series still motivates nimble-fingered dedication within the community. Earlier this year, a streamer achieved a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s the challenging track – a notoriously difficult anthem made popular by Guitar Hero – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with similar gameplay and extensive customisation options. This track is challenging even in the hardest setting, not to mention performed at double speed and without missing every one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer stated requiring nine months to accomplish.
“The game is a fun, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you ought to use a real gun and go to war,” notes musician the artist.
The band previously wrapped up a successful tour when their hit appeared in the third game, yet he explains it made them a household name. “I recall our distributors calling to tell me that we were selling albums like crazy,” he shares. “It exploded when we next toured, and we performed right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it risked overshadow all other accomplishments. Recently, the song featured in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I felt otherwise, but now I accept it,” he admits. “If you only listen to one DragonForce song, that's fine – each person has their own path in music and I’m glad we played a role of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Impact of a Plastic Guitar
Top-tier marketing, be it for cars, clothes or video games, goes further than selling something – it evokes a longing. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “Precisely what we were aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “The excitement of being a rock star on the stage. Since the beginning, the creators believed humans have a natural urge to make music, and their goal was to use technology to enable everyone to participate”.
Most of Guitar Hero games came out in just a half-decade between 2005 and 2010, including spin-offs such as DJ Hero, complete with a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest on peripherals died down, aside from a brief comeback several years later.
Titles such as the fan project and Fortnite Festival have maintained the community active, with expectations of a new product from the founders in development. A new studio has entered production on its debut music game. Original co-founders are participating in advisory roles. Is the world ready to embrace a new entry in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed such titles might become similar to sports games where you can releases,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much fresh tracks it could remain perennially popular, thus I remain hopeful. There’s no reason for it to continue with new generations.”
