Marking 20 years since the legendary game debuted in North America, giving players everywhere the opportunity to feel like a rock star. Figuratively speaking, but try telling that someone who has nailed the epic lengthy guitar solo in front of a packed crowd of friends.
Created by Harmonix, the game provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to follow coloured notes scrolling down the display 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, later purchased by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they established the groundwork for a surprising massively profitable series that had a remarkable influence on numerous of the artists included, introducing decades-old groups to a new generation of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, recalls the initial budgetary hurdles of licensing the songs – even though initial releases primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced all the music because the dollar figure was so high,” he says. “Despite having the publishing rights by themselves, it proved extremely difficult. We couldn’t get bands like legendary groups – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were pretty convinced the project would flop. But once Guitar Hero became a hit, and record sales airtime were going up, all artists desired to be in.”
He adds: “Among the remarkable aspects was the number of mothers and fathers reached out expressing gratitude for exposing their children to the music they loved. It evolved into a multigenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Gains a New Audience
Irish group one featured act had their track in the 2008 release the popular installment. Guitarist Paul Mahon remembers the way the game revived classic rock to the forefront: “The game offered a bigger, new demographic. Generally this had been considered outdated material, but then once it got featured on the game young people were finding it, abruptly it became trendy. This validated it, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ tag. It gave our catalog renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the Answer’s first record was still unreleased stateside, so Guitar Hero was a key medium of discovery for the band as they went on a North American tour opening for the rock giants. “The roadies were playing Never Too Late during travel, and several knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Major Band Titles and Lasting Impact
Music's heavyweight names soon capitalised on the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in dedicated game editions centered around each band’s catalogue and associated lore, visuals and legendary status. For example, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly earned the band greater revenue than any of their records. It moved well over 500,000 copies upon release, and demand for Aerosmith’s music rose of up to 40% at a time as the industry was already collapsing.
The series still motivates quick-handed dedication among its fans. Earlier this year, a streamer achieved an impressive attempt featuring the challenging track – a notoriously difficult anthem popularized through Guitar Hero – using a fan-made version, 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 a single one of the thousands of cues. They claimed requiring months of practice of practice.
“The game is a fun, imaginary experience. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you should use actual weapons and enlist,” says DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
The band previously wrapped up a profitable run before their hit appeared on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it turned them into widely recognized. “I remember our distributors informing us that our selling albums like crazy,” he shares. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we performed just before the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it threatened to overshadow all other accomplishments. Last year, the song was used in a trailer for a major film. “Previously I felt differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “If you only hear a single track, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got a unique path in music and I’m glad we played a role of people’s lives”.
Enduring Impact from the Plastic Guitar
The best promotion, whether it’s for cars, clothes or games, goes further mere transactions – it inspires a longing. Was the game able to harness this? “Precisely what our team aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “That thrill of performing as a rock star on the stage. Since the beginning, the co-founders felt that there’s an instinctive urge to create songs, and they wanted to use technology to allow people to participate”.
The majority installments were released over a mere half-decade between 2005 and 2010, featuring spin-offs such as DJ Hero, complete with a turntable controller, and Band Hero. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest on peripherals died down, aside from a brief comeback in 2015.
Games like the fan project and newer releases have kept the scene alive, and there’s set to be something from the founders in development. Recently formed developers has begun production on its debut music game. The initial creators are participating as special advisers. Are gamers ready to embrace a new entry following the classic?
“Our team believed such titles could be like Madden allowing annual releases,” he remarks. “There’s so much fresh tracks it could remain perennially popular, so I’ve always been hopeful. It's entirely possible why it can’t persist for future fans.”
