Marking 20 years after Guitar Hero hit the market in North America, offering players everywhere the opportunity to feel like a rock star. Not in reality, but try convincing someone who has mastered the epic lengthy guitar solo before an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by the developers, the game provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to follow coloured notes moving along the screen synchronized to the music. Every sequence mimicked particular chords, creating the feel of a genuine live show.
Harmonix previously experimented with rhythm games before partnering with RedOctane, which was purchased by the gaming giant in 2006. Collaboratively, they laid the groundwork for a surprising massively profitable series which made a significant impact on numerous of the artists featured, introducing decades-old bands to millions of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, former COO of Harmonix, recalls the early budgetary hurdles in securing the songs – even though initial releases mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded all the music because the dollar figure prohibitive,” he explains. “Despite having the necessary permissions by themselves, it proved nearly impossible. We couldn’t get acts such as legendary groups – the publisher had virtually no money, and we were pretty convinced it would fail. But once Guitar Hero took off, and record sales airtime were going up, all artists desired to participate.”
He continues: “One of the amazing things was the number of mothers and fathers reached out and thanked us for introducing their kids to the music they adored. It became an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Finds a New Audience
Northern Irish blues-rock band the Answer included Never Too Late in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician the artist recalls how the series revived classic rock to the forefront: “Guitar Hero provided a bigger, new demographic. Typically this had been considered outdated material, however when it was included in the title and teenagers were finding it, suddenly it was cool. That legitimised the genre, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ label. It provided all our music renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the Answer’s first record remained unreleased stateside, so the game was a key medium for exposure for the group as they went on US tour opening for the rock giants. “Their crew had on the song on the tour bus, and several recognized us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.
Major Band Spin-offs and Lasting Impact
Rock’s heavyweight names soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in specialized game editions centered around their music collections and associated lore, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly to have made the band greater revenue compared to their studio albums. It moved more than 500,000 copies upon release, and sales of Aerosmith’s music saw an increase of up to 40% during an era when the music business was already collapsing.
The series still motivates quick-handed fanaticism among its fans. Recently, an online personality completed an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s the challenging track – an infamously tough power-metal song popularized through the game – using a fan-made version, a no-cost alternative with similar mechanics but an array of personalization features. The song is challenging enough on expert mode, let alone performed at increased tempo while hitting a single one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer stated it took nine months of practice.
“Guitar Hero offers a, fantasy thing. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you should use a real gun and go to war,” notes DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
The band previously completed a successful tour before their hit appeared in the third game, but Li says it turned them into widely recognized. “I recall our distributors informing us that our records were moving like crazy,” he shares. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we performed just before top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it threatened to overshadow all other the band has done. Last year, the track featured in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I thought otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “If you only listen to a single track, it’s totally cool – each person has their own musical journey and I’m glad we played a role in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Impact of a Iconic Controller
Top-tier promotion, be it for cars, clothes or video games, goes further mere transactions – it inspires a desire. Was the game able to harness this? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “The excitement of being a music icon on the stage. From day one, the co-founders felt that humans have a natural urge to make music, and their goal was to leverage innovation to enable everyone to participate”.
Most of Guitar Hero games came out in just a half-decade from 2005 to 2010, including spin-offs like the DJ version, including 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.
Titles such as Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have maintained the community active, and there’s set to be a new product from the founders on the way. A new studio has entered work on their first rhythm-based title. The initial creators are both involved as special advisers. Are gamers prepared to welcome a new entry in the spirit of the classic?
“We thought such titles could be similar to sports games where you can update every year,” he remarks. “There’s so much new music it could remain evergreen, thus I remain hopeful. There’s no reason for it to persist for future fans.”
