It has been two decades since the legendary game hit the market in North America, offering everyday gamers the means to become a rock star. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that someone who has mastered Free Bird’s four-minute instrumental break before a packed living-room audience.
Developed by the developers, the game gave players a guitar-shaped controller to match coloured notes moving along the screen in time with a song. Each riff corresponded to specific notes, producing the sensation of an authentic live show.
The studio had already experimented with rhythm games prior to teaming up with RedOctane, which was purchased by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for an unlikely massively profitable series that had a significant impact on numerous musicians included, introducing decades-old bands to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, former COO of Harmonix, recalls the early financial challenges of licensing the songs – despite the fact initial releases mostly used cover versions.
“We rerecorded every song because the dollar figure prohibitive,” he explains. “Despite having the necessary permissions by themselves, it was nearly impossible. We failed to secure acts such as the Who – RedOctane had virtually no money, and we were fairly certain the project would flop. However, when Guitar Hero took off, and record sales airtime increased, everyone wanted to be in.”
He continues: “One of the amazing things was the number of parents got in touch expressing gratitude for introducing their kids to the songs they loved. It became a multigenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Finds a New Audience
Irish group one featured act had their track on the 2008 game the popular installment. Guitarist Paul Mahon recalls the way the game brought older hits to the forefront: “Guitar Hero offered a bigger, younger audience. Generally this had been considered outdated material, however once it got included in the title young people were finding it, suddenly it was cool. This validated it, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ label. It provided all our music renewed popularity.”
At that time, the Answer’s debut album was still not available stateside, so the game was a key medium for exposure for the group during their a North American tour supporting the rock giants. “The roadies were playing Never Too Late on the tour bus, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles and Lasting Impact
Music's heavyweight names soon capitalised on the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in dedicated spin-off titles that focused on each band’s catalogue and related stories, imagery and legendary status. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly earned the group greater revenue than any of their records. It sold more than half a million units upon release, while demand for Aerosmith’s music saw an increase significantly at a time when the music business was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire quick-handed fanaticism within the community. Recently, an online personality achieved a remarkable feat featuring Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult anthem popularized through the game – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical mechanics but an array of personalization features. This track is difficult even in expert mode, let alone played at increased tempo while hitting every one of its near 4,000 notes. They claimed requiring nine months of practice.
“The game is a fun, fantasy thing. Just as with Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you ought to use actual weapons and enlist,” says musician the artist.
The band had already completed a profitable run before Through the Fire and Flames appeared in the third game, yet he explains it turned them into widely recognized. “I recall our distributors informing us that our selling albums like crazy,” he says. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we were playing right ahead of top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero was so immense that it has risked overshadow all other accomplishments. Last year, the track featured in promotional material for a major film. “Previously I thought otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “Should you just listen to a single track, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got a unique musical journey and I’m glad we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
Enduring Legacy from the Iconic Controller
The best promotion, be it for automobiles, apparel or video games, goes further mere transactions – it evokes a longing. Was the game able to tap into that? “Precisely what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of performing as a rock star in the spotlight. From day one, the co-founders felt that there’s an instinctive human desire to create songs, and they wanted to leverage innovation to allow people to do it”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games were released in just a half-decade from 2005 to 2010, featuring spin-offs like DJ Hero, complete with a spinning deck, and Band Hero. After that, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments died down, except for a short-lived revival several years later.
Games like Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have kept the community active, with set to be something from the original publisher on the way. Recently formed developers has entered work on their first rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are both involved in advisory roles. Is the world ready to embrace a new entry in the spirit of the classic?
“Our team believed those games could be like Madden allowing annual update every year,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant fresh tracks it could remain evergreen, thus I remain optimistic. There’s no reason for it to persist with new generations.”
