Marking two decades after Guitar Hero first launched in North America, providing everyday gamers the opportunity to become rock legends. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing anyone who's nailed the epic lengthy guitar solo in front of a packed living-room audience.
Developed by Harmonix, the game gave players a guitar-shaped controller to match on-screen cues moving along the display in time with the music. Each riff corresponded to particular chords, producing the sensation of an authentic live show.
Harmonix previously experimented with rhythm games prior to teaming up with the publisher, later acquired by Activision in 2006. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for an unlikely massively profitable series which made a significant influence on numerous musicians included, introducing decades-old groups to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, remembers the early budgetary hurdles of licensing the recordings – despite the fact the first two games mostly used cover versions.
“We rerecorded every song since the dollar figure prohibitive,” he says. “Despite having the necessary permissions by themselves, it was extremely difficult. We couldn’t get bands like legendary groups – RedOctane had virtually no money, and we were fairly certain the project would flop. But once the game became a hit, album purchases and radio play increased, everyone wanted to be in.”
He continues: “Among the remarkable aspects was how many mothers and fathers got in touch and thanked us for exposing their kids to the music they loved. It became a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Gains a New Audience
Irish group the Answer included Never Too Late in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician the artist recalls the way the game revived classic rock to the forefront: “The game provided a larger, younger audience. Typically such music was considered outdated material, however when it was included in the title and teenagers were finding it, abruptly it was cool. This validated it, and got rid of the outdated label. It gave all our music a new life.”
In 2008, the band's debut album remained unreleased stateside, so Guitar Hero served as a primary platform for exposure for the group as they went on US tour opening for the rock giants. “The roadies were playing Never Too Late on the tour bus, and several knew us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Major Band Titles and Lasting Influence
Rock’s heavyweight names soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in dedicated game editions centered around each band’s catalogue and associated stories, imagery and legendary status. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said to have made the group greater revenue compared to their studio albums. It moved more than 500,000 units upon release, while sales of Aerosmith’s music saw an increase significantly at a time when the music business faced decline.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire quick-handed dedication within the community. Recently, a streamer completed a remarkable feat featuring the challenging track – a notoriously difficult anthem popularized through Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with similar gameplay and extensive personalization features. The song is difficult enough on expert mode, let alone 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 offers a, fantasy thing. If you play other games, it doesn't imply you ought to pick up a real gun and go to war,” says DragonForce guitarist the artist.
DragonForce previously completed a profitable run when Through the Fire and Flames was featured on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it made them a household name. “I recall our distributors informing us that our records were moving like crazy,” he says. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we were playing right ahead of the headliners at the event.”
Indeed, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero was so immense that it has risked eclipsing everything else the band has done. Last year, the song was used in a trailer for a major film. “In the past I felt differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “Should you just hear a single track, that's fine – each person has their own musical journey and I'm pleased we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Legacy of a Iconic Controller
Top-tier promotion, be it for automobiles, apparel or games, extends beyond mere transactions – it inspires a longing. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “Precisely what our team aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of being a music icon on the stage. Since the beginning, the creators felt that humans have a natural urge to make music, and they wanted to use technology to enable everyone to do it”.
Most of Guitar Hero games were released over a mere five-year period from 2005 to 2010, featuring spin-offs like DJ Hero, including a spinning deck, and Band Hero. After that, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments waned, aside from a short-lived revival in 2015.
Titles such as the fan project and Fortnite Festival have maintained the community active, with expectations of something from the original publisher in development. A new studio has entered production on their first rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are both involved as special advisers. Is the world ready to embrace a new entry in the spirit of the classic?
“Our team believed those games could be similar to sports games where you can update every year,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant new music that it could be perennially popular, thus I remain optimistic. It's entirely possible for it to continue with new generations.”
