Marking 20 years since the legendary game debuted across the Atlantic, offering everyday gamers the means to become a rock star. Not in reality, but try convincing someone who has mastered the epic lengthy guitar solo in front of an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Developed by the developers, Guitar Hero gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to match on-screen cues scrolling down the display synchronized to a song. Each riff mimicked particular chords, producing the feel of an authentic performance.
The studio previously tried its hand with rhythm games prior to teaming up with the publisher, later acquired by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they established the foundations for an unlikely massively profitable series that had a remarkable influence for many of the artists featured, introducing decades-old groups to millions of younger players.
A former executive, former COO of Harmonix, remembers the early financial challenges in securing the recordings – even though initial releases mostly used cover versions.
“We rerecorded all the music because the dollar figure prohibitive,” he says. “Despite having the necessary permissions by themselves, it was extremely difficult. We failed to secure acts such as legendary groups – RedOctane had virtually no money, and we were pretty convinced the project would flop. However, when the game became a hit, album purchases airtime increased, all artists desired to participate.”
He continues: “One of the amazing things was the number of parents got in touch expressing gratitude for introducing their children to the music they adored. It evolved into an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Finds Younger Fans
Irish group the Answer had their track on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist the artist recalls the way the game revived classic rock back into vogue: “Guitar Hero provided a larger, younger audience. Generally such music was seen as music that was past it, however once it got included in the game and teenagers discovered it, suddenly it became trendy. That legitimised the genre, and got rid of the outdated tag. It provided our catalog renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the band's first record remained unreleased stateside, so Guitar Hero was a key medium for exposure for the band as they went on a North American tour supporting the rock giants. “The roadies had on the song on the tour bus, and several knew us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.
Major Band Spin-offs and Lasting Influence
Rock’s heavyweight names soon capitalised on the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in specialized spin-off titles centered around each band’s catalogue and associated stories, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said earned the group greater revenue compared to their records. It sold more than 500,000 copies upon release, and demand for Aerosmith’s music saw an increase significantly during an era as the industry was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero still motivates quick-handed dedication within the community. Earlier this year, a streamer achieved a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s the challenging track – an infamously tough power-metal song made popular by Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with similar gameplay but an array of personalization features. The song is challenging even in expert mode, let alone played at increased tempo and without missing every one of the thousands of cues. The streamer stated requiring nine months to accomplish.
“The game offers a, imaginary experience. Just as with Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you should use actual weapons and go to war,” notes DragonForce guitarist the artist.
The band had already completed a successful tour when their hit appeared in the third game, yet he explains it made them widely recognized. “I remember the record label informing us that our selling albums like crazy,” he says. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we were playing just before top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure via the game proved so vast that it threatened to overshadow all other the band has done. Last year, the song featured in promotional material for a major film. “In the past I felt differently, but now I accept it,” he admits. “Should you just hear one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got a unique path in music and I'm pleased we played a role of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Impact from the Plastic Guitar
The best marketing, be it for cars, clothes or games, extends beyond than selling something – it evokes a longing. Was the game able to harness this? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a rock star on the stage. From day one, the creators felt that there’s an instinctive human desire to create songs, and their goal was to leverage innovation to allow people to do it”.
Most of Guitar Hero games came out over a mere five-year period between 2005 and 2010, featuring spin-offs like the DJ version, including a spinning deck, and Band Hero. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments waned, aside from a brief comeback in 2015.
Games such as the fan project and newer releases have kept the community active, and there’s set to be something from the original publisher on the way. Recently formed developers has entered production on their first music game. Original co-founders are both involved as special advisers. Is the world ready to embrace a new entry following the classic?
“We thought those games could be like Madden where you can releases,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant new music it could remain evergreen, so I’ve always been hopeful. It's entirely possible for it to continue with new generations.”
