It has been 20 years since the legendary game first launched across the Atlantic, offering players everywhere the means to become rock legends. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that anyone who's mastered the epic lengthy guitar solo in front of an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by the developers, the game gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to follow on-screen cues moving along the screen synchronized to 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, which was acquired by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Together, they laid the foundations for an unlikely massively profitable series which made a remarkable influence on numerous musicians included, showcasing decades-old bands to millions of gaming enthusiasts.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO of Harmonix, recalls the initial budgetary hurdles of licensing the recordings – despite the fact initial releases primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded every song since the dollar figure prohibitive,” he explains. “Despite having the publishing rights alone, it proved extremely difficult. We failed to secure bands like the Who – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were pretty convinced the project would flop. But once the game became a hit, album purchases and radio play were going up, all artists desired to participate.”
He adds: “One of the amazing things was the number of parents reached out and thanked us for introducing their kids to the songs they adored. It evolved into an intergenerational thing.”
Timeless Music Finds Younger Fans
Irish group the Answer had Never Too Late on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician the artist remembers how the series brought older hits back into vogue: “The game provided a bigger, new demographic. Typically such music was considered music that was past it, however once it got featured on the title and teenagers were finding it, suddenly it became trendy. This validated the genre, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ label. It provided all our music a new life.”
At that time, the Answer’s first record was still not available in the US, meaning Guitar Hero served as a primary platform for exposure for the band during their a North American tour supporting the rock giants. “Their crew had on Never Too Late on the tour bus, and several recognized us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.
Major Band Spin-offs and Lasting Influence
Music's heavyweight names soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in dedicated game editions that focused on their music collections and associated lore, visuals and legendary status. For example, the Aerosmith edition, it was said to have made the band more money compared to their records. It sold well over 500,000 units in its first week, and sales of Aerosmith’s music saw an increase of up to 40% at a time when the music business was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire nimble-fingered fanaticism within the community. Recently, an online personality completed a remarkable feat featuring Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult anthem made popular by Guitar Hero – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with similar gameplay but an array of personalization features. The song is difficult even in the hardest setting, not to mention performed at increased tempo while hitting a single one of the thousands of cues. They claimed it took months of practice of practice.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, imaginary experience. If you play Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you ought to pick up actual weapons and go to war,” notes DragonForce guitarist the artist.
The band previously 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 recall the record label informing us that we were records were moving like crazy,” he shares. “It exploded when we next toured, and we were playing right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure via the game was so immense that it threatened to overshadow all other accomplishments. Recently, the track featured in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I thought otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “If you only hear one DragonForce song, that's fine – everyone’s got a unique musical journey and I'm pleased we played a role in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Legacy from the Plastic Guitar
Top-tier promotion, whether it’s for cars, apparel or video games, extends beyond mere transactions – it evokes a longing. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “Precisely what we were trying to create,” he confirms. “The excitement of performing as a music icon in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the creators believed there’s an instinctive urge to make music, and they wanted to use technology to allow people to participate”.
The majority installments were released in just a half-decade from 2005 to 2010, including spin-offs like DJ Hero, complete with a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. After that, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments died down, aside from a brief comeback in 2015.
Games 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 begun work on their first rhythm-based title. The initial creators are participating as special advisers. Is the world prepared to welcome another game following the classic?
“Our team believed those games might become similar to sports games where you can releases,” he remarks. “There’s so much new music that it could be evergreen, so I’ve always been hopeful. It's entirely possible for it to persist with new generations.”
