It has been two decades since Guitar Hero hit the market in North America, offering everyday gamers the opportunity to become rock legends. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing anyone who has mastered Free Bird’s four-minute instrumental break before an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Developed by the developers, Guitar Hero provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to match coloured notes scrolling down the display in time with a song. Every sequence mimicked specific notes, producing the sensation of an authentic live show.
The studio had already tried its hand in the music genre prior to teaming up with the publisher, which was purchased by the gaming giant in 2006. Together, they laid the groundwork for an unlikely billion-dollar series which made a significant influence for many musicians included, introducing decades-old groups to a new generation of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, recalls the initial financial challenges of licensing the recordings – even though initial releases primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded all the music because the cost prohibitive,” he explains. “Even with the necessary permissions by themselves, it proved extremely difficult. We couldn’t get acts such as legendary groups – RedOctane had virtually no money, and we were fairly certain it would fail. However, when Guitar Hero took off, album purchases and radio play were going up, everyone wanted to be in.”
He adds: “One of the amazing things was the number of parents reached out and thanked us for introducing their kids to the music they loved. It evolved into an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Gains Younger Fans
Northern Irish group the Answer included Never Too Late on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician the artist remembers how the series brought classic rock back into vogue: “Guitar Hero provided a larger, new demographic. Typically this had been seen as music that was past it, but then when it was featured on the game young people discovered it, suddenly it became trendy. This validated it, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ label. It gave our catalog a new life.”
At that time, the band's first record remained unreleased in the US, meaning the game was a key medium for exposure for the band as they went on US tour opening for the rock giants. “Their crew had on Never Too Late on the tour bus, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Major Band Titles and Lasting Impact
Rock’s heavyweight names soon took advantage of the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in dedicated spin-off titles that focused on each band’s catalogue and related stories, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly to have made the band more money than any of their studio albums. It sold more than 500,000 units upon release, while sales of Aerosmith’s music rose of up to 40% during an era as the industry faced decline.
The series continues to inspire nimble-fingered dedication among its fans. Earlier this year, an online personality completed an impressive attempt featuring Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult anthem made popular by Guitar Hero – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with almost identical mechanics but an array of personalization features. This track is difficult enough on the hardest setting, not to mention performed at increased tempo while hitting a single one of its near 4,000 notes. They claimed it took nine months to accomplish.
“The game is a fun, imaginary experience. Just as with other games, that doesn’t mean you should pick up actual weapons and enlist,” says musician the artist.
DragonForce previously completed a profitable run when their hit appeared on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it made them widely recognized. “I recall our distributors calling to tell me that our selling albums like crazy,” he says. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we were playing just before the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, the band's visibility via the game proved so vast that it has threatened to overshadow all other the band has done. Last year, the track featured in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I thought differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “If you only hear one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got a unique path in music and I’m glad we played a role of people’s lives”.
Enduring Legacy of a Iconic Controller
Top-tier marketing, whether it’s for cars, apparel or games, goes further mere transactions – it evokes a longing. Was the game able to tap into that? “That’s exactly what we were trying to create,” he confirms. “That thrill of being a rock star on the stage. Since the beginning, the co-founders felt that humans have a natural human desire to make music, and their goal was to use technology to enable everyone to do it”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games were released over a mere half-decade from 2005 to 2010, including derivative titles such as DJ Hero, complete with a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. After that, corporate focus in plastic instruments waned, except for a brief comeback in 2015.
Games such as Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have kept the scene active, with expectations of something from the founders on the way. Recently formed developers has begun production on their first rhythm-based title. The initial creators are both involved as special advisers. Is the world ready to embrace another game in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“We thought those games might become similar to sports games allowing annual update every year,” he remarks. “With abundant fresh tracks it could remain perennially popular, thus I remain hopeful. It's entirely possible for it to continue for future fans.”
