Marking two decades since the legendary game hit the market in North America, providing everyday gamers the means to become a rock star. Figuratively speaking, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that anyone who's mastered the epic lengthy instrumental break in front of an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by Harmonix, the game provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to match on-screen cues moving along the screen in time with a song. Each riff mimicked particular chords, producing the feel of a genuine live show.
Harmonix previously experimented with rhythm games prior to teaming up with RedOctane, which was acquired by Activision in 2006. Collaboratively, they established the foundations for a surprising billion-dollar series that had a significant influence on numerous of the artists featured, introducing decades-old groups to millions of younger players.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, remembers the early budgetary hurdles in securing the songs – even though the first two games mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced every song because the cost prohibitive,” he says. “Even with the publishing rights alone, it was nearly impossible. We couldn’t get bands like legendary groups – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were fairly certain the project would flop. However, when Guitar Hero became a hit, and record sales and radio play increased, everyone wanted to participate.”
He continues: “Among the remarkable aspects was how many mothers and fathers reached out and thanked us for introducing their children to the music they loved. It became a multigenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Finds a New Audience
Northern Irish blues-rock band the Answer had their track in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist Paul Mahon remembers the way the game revived older hits back into vogue: “Guitar Hero provided a bigger, new demographic. Typically this had been seen as music that was past it, however once it got featured on the title and teenagers were finding it, abruptly it became trendy. This validated it, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ label. It gave our catalog renewed popularity.”
At that time, the Answer’s first record remained not available in the US, so the game served as a primary platform of discovery for the band during their a North American tour opening for the rock giants. “Their crew were playing the song during travel, and some of them recognized us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles and Lasting Influence
Music's biggest acts quickly took advantage of the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in specialized game editions that focused on their music collections and related stories, visuals and legendary status. For example, the Aerosmith edition, it was said to have made the band more money compared to their studio albums. It moved more than half a million copies in its first week, while sales of their songs saw an increase of up to 40% at a time when the music business was already collapsing.
The series still motivates quick-handed fanaticism within the community. Recently, an online personality achieved a remarkable feat featuring Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult power-metal song popularized through Guitar Hero – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with similar gameplay and extensive personalization features. The song is difficult enough on expert mode, let alone performed at double speed and without missing a single one of its near 4,000 notes. They claimed requiring nine months of practice.
“Guitar Hero offers a, fantasy thing. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you should use actual weapons and go to war,” says musician Herman Li.
DragonForce had already wrapped up a successful tour when Through the Fire and Flames was featured on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it turned them into widely recognized. “I remember our distributors informing us that we were records were moving rapidly,” he says. “It exploded when we next toured, and we performed right ahead of top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, the band's visibility via the game was so immense that it has threatened to overshadow all other the band has done. Recently, the song featured in a trailer for a major film. “Previously I felt differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “Should you just listen to one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got a unique path in music and I'm pleased we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Impact from the Plastic Guitar
The best marketing, be it for cars, clothes or games, extends beyond mere transactions – it inspires a desire. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “That’s exactly what we were trying to create,” he confirms. “That thrill of performing as a music icon in the spotlight. From day one, the creators believed there’s an instinctive urge to create songs, and their goal was to use technology to enable everyone to participate”.
Most installments were released in just a five-year period from 2005 to 2010, including spin-offs such as the DJ version, complete with a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, corporate focus on peripherals died down, except for a short-lived revival several years later.
Titles like Clone Hero and newer releases have kept the scene alive, with expectations of a new product from the founders on the way. A new studio has entered production on their first music game. Original co-founders are both involved in advisory roles. Is the world prepared to welcome a new entry following the classic?
“We thought such titles might become like Madden where you can releases,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much new music that it could be perennially popular, so I’ve always been hopeful. It's entirely possible for it to persist for future fans.”
