Marking 20 years since Guitar Hero hit the market in North America, providing everyday gamers the means to feel like rock legends. Not literally, but try convincing someone who has mastered Free Bird’s four-minute instrumental break in front of a packed living-room audience.
Created by Harmonix, Guitar Hero provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to match coloured notes scrolling down the screen synchronized to a song. Every sequence mimicked specific notes, creating the sensation of an authentic live show.
The studio previously tried its hand in the music genre before partnering with the publisher, later acquired by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Together, they laid the groundwork for a surprising massively profitable franchise that had a remarkable influence on numerous musicians featured, introducing classic bands to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO of Harmonix, recalls the early budgetary hurdles of licensing the recordings – even though the first two games primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced all the music because the dollar figure was so high,” he says. “Even with the necessary permissions alone, it proved extremely difficult. We failed to secure acts such as legendary groups – the publisher had virtually no money, and our team was fairly certain the project would flop. However, when the game became a hit, and record sales airtime increased, all artists desired to participate.”
He adds: “One of the remarkable aspects was the number of mothers and fathers reached out expressing gratitude for exposing their kids to the songs they loved. It became an intergenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Gains a New Audience
Irish blues-rock band one featured act included Never Too Late in the 2008 release the popular installment. Guitarist the artist recalls how the series brought classic rock back into vogue: “Guitar Hero provided a bigger, new demographic. Typically this had been seen as outdated material, however once it got featured on the title and teenagers were finding it, suddenly it became trendy. That legitimised the genre, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It gave all our music renewed popularity.”
At that time, the band's debut album was still not available stateside, so Guitar Hero served as a primary platform of discovery for the band 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 recognized us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles Enduring Influence
Rock’s biggest acts soon capitalised on the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in specialized game editions that focused on their music collections and related stories, visuals and legendary status. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said to have made the band more money than any of their studio albums. It sold more than half a million copies upon release, while sales of Aerosmith’s music saw an increase of up to 40% during an era when the music business faced decline.
Guitar Hero still motivates nimble-fingered dedication among its fans. Earlier this year, an online personality achieved a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s the challenging track – a notoriously difficult anthem popularized through the game – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical gameplay and extensive personalization features. The song is difficult even in the hardest setting, let alone played at double speed and without missing every one of its near 4,000 notes. They claimed requiring nine months of practice.
“Guitar Hero offers a, imaginary experience. If you play Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you ought to use actual weapons and enlist,” notes musician the artist.
The band previously wrapped up a profitable run before their hit appeared on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it made them a household name. “I recall the record label informing us that we were records were moving rapidly,” he shares. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we performed right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it has risked eclipsing all other the band has done. Recently, the track was used in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I felt otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “If you only hear a single track, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got a unique musical journey and I’m glad we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Legacy of a Plastic Guitar
Top-tier marketing, be it for cars, apparel or games, goes further than selling something – it evokes a desire. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “That’s exactly what our team trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a rock star on the stage. From day one, the creators believed humans have a natural human desire to create songs, and their goal was to leverage innovation to enable everyone to do it”.
Most installments came out over a mere five-year period from 2005 to 2010, featuring derivative titles like DJ Hero, including a turntable controller, and Band Hero. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments waned, aside from a brief comeback several years later.
Titles such as the fan project and newer releases have kept the scene active, and there’s expectations of something from the founders on the way. A new studio has begun work on its debut rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are participating as special advisers. Is the world ready to embrace another game following Guitar Hero?
“We thought such titles could be similar to sports games allowing annual releases,” he remarks. “There’s so much new music it could remain perennially popular, thus I remain hopeful. There’s no reason for it to continue with new generations.”
