Marking two decades since the legendary game hit the market in North America, providing everyday gamers the opportunity to feel like rock legends. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that someone who has nailed Free Bird’s lengthy guitar solo before an enthusiastic crowd of friends.
Created by Harmonix, Guitar Hero gave players a guitar-shaped controller to match coloured notes scrolling down the display in time with a song. Each riff mimicked specific notes, creating the feel of an authentic performance.
The studio previously experimented with rhythm games before partnering with RedOctane, later acquired by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they established the groundwork for a surprising billion-dollar series which made a remarkable impact for many of the artists included, introducing classic groups to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, recalls the initial financial challenges of licensing the songs – even though the first two games primarily featured cover versions.
“We rerecorded all the music because the dollar figure was so high,” he explains. “Despite having the publishing rights by themselves, it was extremely difficult. We failed to secure bands like the Who – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were fairly certain the project would flop. But once Guitar Hero became a hit, album purchases and radio play were going up, everyone wanted to be in.”
He adds: “Among the amazing things was how many mothers and fathers got in touch and thanked us for exposing their kids to the music they loved. It became an intergenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Gains Younger Fans
Irish group the Answer included Never Too Late in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician the artist remembers how the series revived older hits to the forefront: “Guitar Hero offered a bigger, younger audience. Generally such music was considered outdated material, but then when it was included in the game young people were finding it, abruptly it was cool. This validated it, eliminating the outdated tag. It gave our catalog renewed popularity.”
At that time, the band's first record was still unreleased in the US, meaning Guitar Hero was a key medium of discovery for the group during their a North American tour opening for the rock giants. “Their crew were playing Never Too Late during travel, and some of them knew us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.
Major Band Spin-offs and Lasting Influence
Rock’s biggest acts quickly capitalised on the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in specialized spin-off titles centered around their music collections and associated lore, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly to have made the band greater revenue than any of their studio albums. It moved well over 500,000 copies in its first week, and sales of Aerosmith’s music rose significantly during an era when the music business faced decline.
The series continues to inspire quick-handed fanaticism among its fans. Recently, an online personality completed a remarkable feat featuring the challenging track – a notoriously difficult anthem made popular by Guitar Hero – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with similar mechanics and extensive personalization features. The song is difficult enough on expert mode, not to mention played at double speed and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. The streamer stated it took nine months of practice.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, fantasy thing. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to use actual weapons and go to war,” says DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
DragonForce had already completed a successful tour before Through the Fire and Flames was featured on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it turned them into a household name. “I remember our distributors informing us that we were selling albums rapidly,” he says. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we performed just before top acts at the event.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero was so immense that it risked overshadow everything else the band has done. Last year, the track was used in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I felt differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “If you only listen to one DragonForce song, that's fine – each person has a unique musical journey and I'm pleased we played a role of people’s lives”.
Enduring Impact from the Plastic Guitar
Top-tier promotion, be it for automobiles, clothes or video games, extends beyond mere transactions – it inspires a longing. Was the game able to tap into that? “That’s exactly what our team aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “The excitement of being a music icon on the stage. Since the beginning, the co-founders believed humans have a natural human desire to make music, and their goal was to leverage innovation to allow people to participate”.
The majority installments came out over a mere five-year period from 2005 to 2010, including spin-offs like DJ Hero, complete with a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. After that, corporate focus on peripherals died down, except for a brief comeback in 2015.
Games like Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have maintained the community active, with set to be a new product from the founders on the way. Recently formed developers has entered work on their first music game. The initial creators are both involved in advisory roles. Are gamers ready to embrace another game in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed those games could be similar to sports games where you can releases,” he remarks. “There’s so much new music that it could be perennially popular, thus I remain hopeful. There’s no reason for it to persist for future fans.”
