It has been two decades after Guitar Hero debuted in North America, providing everyday gamers the means to become a rock star. Figuratively speaking, but try convincing anyone who's nailed the epic lengthy guitar solo before a packed crowd of friends.
Developed by the developers, Guitar Hero gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to follow on-screen cues scrolling down the screen in time with the music. Every sequence mimicked specific notes, creating the feel of a genuine live show.
Harmonix previously experimented in the music genre prior to teaming up with the publisher, which was purchased by Activision in 2006. Collaboratively, they established the foundations for an unlikely massively profitable series that had a significant influence on numerous of the artists featured, introducing classic groups to millions of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, former COO of Harmonix, remembers the early financial challenges in securing the songs – even though initial releases primarily featured cover versions.
“We reproduced every song because the cost prohibitive,” he says. “Even with the publishing rights by themselves, it was extremely difficult. We failed to secure bands like the Who – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was fairly certain it would fail. But once Guitar Hero took off, and record sales and radio play increased, everyone wanted to be in.”
He continues: “Among the remarkable aspects was how many mothers and fathers got in touch and thanked us for introducing their children to the songs they adored. It evolved into a multigenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Gains Younger Fans
Irish blues-rock band one featured act included their track on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist the artist remembers the way the game revived older hits to the forefront: “Guitar Hero provided a larger, new demographic. Typically such music was seen as outdated material, but then once it got included in the game young people discovered it, suddenly it was cool. This validated it, and got rid of the outdated tag. It provided our catalog a new life.”
In 2008, the Answer’s first record was still not available stateside, so Guitar Hero was a key medium of discovery for the band as they went on a North American tour supporting the rock giants. “Their crew were playing Never Too Late during travel, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Major Band Spin-offs Enduring Impact
Music's biggest acts quickly took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in dedicated game editions centered around each band’s catalogue and associated stories, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said to have made the group greater revenue than any of their records. It moved well over half a million units in its first week, and demand for their songs saw an increase of up to 40% during an era as the industry faced decline.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire quick-handed dedication within the community. Recently, an online personality 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 no-cost alternative with similar mechanics and extensive personalization features. The song is challenging even in the hardest setting, let alone performed at double speed while hitting every one of the thousands of cues. They stated requiring nine months of practice.
“Guitar Hero offers a, imaginary experience. 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.
DragonForce previously wrapped up a profitable run when Through the Fire and Flames was featured in the third game, yet he explains it made them a household name. “I recall the record label calling to tell me that our selling albums rapidly,” he shares. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we were playing right ahead of top acts at the event.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure via the game proved so vast that it threatened to eclipsing everything else the band has done. Recently, the song was used in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I felt differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “If you only listen to one DragonForce song, that's fine – everyone’s got a unique musical journey and I’m glad we played a role of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Impact from the Plastic Guitar
Top-tier promotion, be it for cars, clothes or video games, extends beyond than selling something – it evokes a longing. Was the game able to harness this? “That’s exactly what our team aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “The excitement of performing as a music icon on the stage. From day one, the co-founders felt that there’s an instinctive human desire to make music, and they wanted to use technology to allow people to participate”.
The majority installments were released over a mere five-year period between 2005 and 2010, featuring spin-offs such as the DJ version, 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 community active, and there’s expectations of a new product from the founders in development. A new studio has entered work on their first music game. Original co-founders are both involved in advisory roles. Is the world prepared to welcome another game following Guitar Hero?
“We thought those games might become similar to sports games where you can update every year,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant fresh tracks it could remain perennially popular, so I’ve always been hopeful. It's entirely possible for it to continue for future fans.”
