Marking two decades after the legendary game hit the market in North America, providing players everywhere the opportunity to become rock legends. Not literally, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing someone who's nailed Free Bird’s lengthy instrumental break before an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by Harmonix, the game provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to follow on-screen cues moving along the screen in time with a song. Each riff corresponded to particular chords, creating the feel of an authentic live show.
Harmonix previously tried its hand in the music genre before partnering with the publisher, later acquired by Activision in 2006. Together, they established the foundations for a surprising billion-dollar franchise that had a remarkable impact on numerous musicians featured, showcasing decades-old groups to a new generation of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO of Harmonix, recalls the early budgetary hurdles in securing the songs – despite the fact the first two games mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded every song since the dollar figure prohibitive,” he explains. “Despite having the necessary permissions alone, it was nearly impossible. We failed to secure bands like legendary groups – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was fairly certain the project would flop. But once the game took off, album purchases airtime increased, everyone wanted to be in.”
He continues: “Among the amazing things was how many mothers and fathers got in touch and thanked us for introducing their kids to the music they loved. It became a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Finds a New Audience
Northern Irish blues-rock band one featured act 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: “The game offered a larger, new demographic. Generally this had been considered music that was past it, however when it was featured on the game and teenagers discovered it, abruptly it became trendy. That legitimised the genre, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ label. It gave all our music renewed popularity.”
At that time, the band's debut album was still unreleased stateside, so Guitar Hero was a key medium of discovery for the band during their US tour opening for AC/DC. “Their crew had on Never Too Late on the tour bus, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles Enduring Influence
Music's heavyweight names soon took advantage of the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in dedicated game editions that focused on their music collections and related lore, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly to have made the group greater revenue compared to their studio albums. It moved more than half a million units upon release, and demand for Aerosmith’s music saw an increase of up to 40% at a time as the industry faced decline.
The series still motivates nimble-fingered dedication within the community. Recently, a streamer completed an impressive attempt 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 almost identical gameplay but an array of personalization features. This track is difficult even in the hardest setting, let alone performed at double speed while hitting every one of its near 4,000 notes. They stated it took months of practice of practice.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, imaginary experience. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to use a real gun and go to war,” notes DragonForce guitarist the artist.
DragonForce previously completed a successful tour before their hit appeared in the third game, yet he explains it made them a household name. “I recall the record label informing us that our records were moving rapidly,” he says. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we performed right ahead of top acts at the event.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure via the game was so immense that it has threatened to overshadow everything else accomplishments. Last year, the song featured in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I thought differently, but now I accept it,” he admits. “Should you just listen to one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – each person has their own musical journey and I’m glad we played a role of people’s lives”.
Enduring Legacy of a Plastic Guitar
Top-tier promotion, be it for cars, apparel or games, goes further than selling something – it inspires a desire. Was the game able to tap into that? “Precisely what we were aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “The excitement of being a rock star on the stage. From day one, the creators believed there’s an instinctive human desire to create songs, and their goal was to leverage innovation to allow people to do it”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games came out in just a five-year period from 2005 to 2010, featuring derivative titles like DJ Hero, including a turntable controller, and Band Hero. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest on peripherals waned, except for a short-lived revival several years later.
Titles such as the fan project and newer releases have kept the scene alive, with set to be something from the founders on the way. A new studio has entered production on their first music game. Original co-founders are participating as special advisers. Is the world prepared to welcome a new entry following Guitar Hero?
“We thought such titles might become like Madden allowing annual releases,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant new music it could remain evergreen, so I’ve always been hopeful. There’s no reason why it can’t persist with new generations.”
