It has been 20 years since the legendary game debuted across the Atlantic, providing players everywhere the tools to feel like a rock star. Figuratively speaking, but try convincing anyone who's nailed the epic four-minute guitar solo before an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by the developers, Guitar Hero gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to match coloured notes scrolling down the display synchronized to a song. Each riff mimicked particular chords, producing the feel of an authentic live show.
The studio had already experimented in the music genre prior to teaming up with RedOctane, which was acquired by Activision in 2006. Together, they established the foundations for a surprising massively profitable series which made a significant impact on numerous musicians included, showcasing decades-old bands to a new generation of younger players.
A former executive, former COO from the developer, remembers the initial budgetary hurdles in securing the recordings – even though initial releases mostly used cover versions.
“We rerecorded every song because the cost was so high,” he explains. “Despite having the publishing rights by themselves, it was nearly impossible. We failed to secure acts such as the Who – RedOctane had virtually no money, and our team was fairly certain it would fail. However, when the game took off, and record sales and radio play increased, all artists desired to participate.”
He adds: “One of the remarkable aspects was the number of mothers and fathers reached out expressing gratitude for exposing their children to the music they adored. It evolved into a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music 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 Paul Mahon recalls the way the game revived older hits to the forefront: “Guitar Hero offered a larger, younger audience. Typically this had been considered outdated material, however when it was included in the game and teenagers were finding it, abruptly it became trendy. That legitimised the genre, eliminating the outdated tag. It gave all our music renewed popularity.”
At that time, the Answer’s first record was still unreleased stateside, so the game was a key medium of discovery for the group as they went on US tour supporting AC/DC. “Their crew had on Never Too Late on the tour bus, and several knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs and Lasting Impact
Music's biggest acts soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in dedicated spin-off titles centered around their music collections and related lore, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly to have made the band more money than any of their studio albums. It sold more than 500,000 copies in its first week, while sales of Aerosmith’s music saw an increase of up to 40% at a time when the music business was already collapsing.
The series continues to inspire quick-handed fanaticism among its fans. Recently, an online personality achieved a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough anthem made popular by the game – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical mechanics and extensive customisation options. This track is challenging enough on the hardest setting, let alone performed at increased tempo while hitting every one of the thousands of cues. They claimed it took nine months of practice.
“The game offers a, imaginary experience. Just as with Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you should use a real gun and enlist,” says musician Herman Li.
DragonForce had already wrapped up a successful tour before Through the Fire and Flames appeared in the third game, yet he explains it turned them into widely recognized. “I remember our distributors calling to tell me that we were records were moving like crazy,” he says. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we were playing right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure via the game proved so vast that it has risked eclipsing all other the band has done. Recently, the song was used in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I thought otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “If you only listen to one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – each person has a unique path in music and I’m glad we played a role in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Impact of a Iconic Controller
Top-tier promotion, be it for automobiles, clothes or games, extends beyond mere transactions – it evokes a desire. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of performing as a rock star on the stage. Since the beginning, the creators believed humans have a natural human desire to make music, and their goal was to leverage innovation to allow people to do it”.
The majority installments came out over a mere half-decade from 2005 to 2010, including derivative titles like the DJ version, including a spinning deck, and Band Hero. After that, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments waned, aside from a brief comeback several years later.
Titles such as the fan project and newer releases have maintained the scene alive, and there’s expectations of something from the founders in development. A new studio has entered work on its debut music game. Original co-founders are participating as special advisers. Is the world prepared to welcome another game following the classic?
“Our team believed those games could be like Madden where you can update every year,” he remarks. “With abundant fresh tracks it could remain evergreen, thus I remain hopeful. It's entirely possible for it to persist for future fans.”
