Marking 20 years since the legendary game hit the market in North America, offering everyday gamers the means to feel like rock legends. Figuratively speaking, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that someone who has mastered Free Bird’s lengthy instrumental break in front of a packed living-room audience.
Developed by the developers, the game provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to match coloured notes moving along the display in time with the music. Each riff mimicked particular chords, creating the sensation of a genuine live show.
Harmonix previously tried its hand with rhythm games prior to teaming up with the publisher, later purchased by Activision in 2006. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar franchise that had a significant impact on numerous of the artists included, showcasing classic groups to millions of younger players.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, recalls the initial budgetary hurdles in securing the recordings – despite the fact initial releases primarily featured cover versions.
“We rerecorded every song since the dollar figure was so high,” he says. “Despite having the publishing rights by themselves, it was extremely difficult. We couldn’t get bands like legendary groups – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was fairly certain the project would flop. However, when Guitar Hero became a hit, album purchases airtime increased, all artists desired to participate.”
He adds: “One of the remarkable aspects was how many parents reached out and thanked us for exposing their kids to the songs they loved. It evolved into a multigenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Gains Younger Fans
Irish blues-rock band the Answer included their track on the 2008 game the popular installment. Lead musician Paul Mahon remembers the way the game brought older hits back into vogue: “Guitar Hero provided a bigger, new demographic. Generally this had been seen as outdated material, but then when it was featured on the game young people discovered it, suddenly it became trendy. That legitimised it, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ label. It provided all our music renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the band's debut album remained unreleased in the US, so the game served as a primary platform of discovery for the band during their US tour opening for AC/DC. “The roadies were playing Never Too Late on the tour bus, and several knew us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles and Lasting Influence
Rock’s heavyweight names soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in specialized game editions that focused on each band’s catalogue and related lore, imagery and legendary status. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly to have made the band more money compared to their studio albums. It sold well over 500,000 copies in its first week, while demand for Aerosmith’s music rose significantly during an era as the industry faced decline.
The series continues to inspire nimble-fingered dedication among its fans. Recently, a streamer completed a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult power-metal song popularized through the game – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with similar gameplay and extensive customisation options. The song is challenging even in expert mode, not to mention played at double speed and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. They stated it took nine months to accomplish.
“The game is a fun, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you should pick up actual weapons and go to war,” says musician Herman Li.
The band had already wrapped up a profitable run before their hit appeared in the third game, but Li says it made them a household name. “I remember our distributors informing us that we were records were moving rapidly,” he shares. “It exploded when we next toured, and we performed just before the headliners at the event.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure via the game proved so vast that it threatened to overshadow all other accomplishments. Last year, the song was used in promotional material for a major film. “Previously I felt differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “Should you just hear a single track, that's fine – everyone’s got their own path in music and I'm pleased we played a role of people’s lives”.
Enduring Legacy of a Plastic Guitar
Top-tier promotion, be it for cars, apparel or games, extends beyond mere transactions – it inspires a longing. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “The excitement of being a rock star on the stage. From day one, the creators felt that there’s an instinctive human desire to create songs, and they wanted to leverage innovation to allow people to do it”.
Most of Guitar Hero games came out over a mere five-year period from 2005 to 2010, featuring derivative titles like the DJ version, complete with a turntable controller, and Band Hero. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments waned, except for a short-lived revival several years later.
Titles like Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have kept the scene active, with expectations of a new product from the original publisher on the way. A new studio has entered production on its debut rhythm-based title. The initial creators are participating as special advisers. Is the world ready to embrace another game in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed those games might become similar to sports games allowing annual update every year,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much fresh tracks it could remain perennially popular, so I’ve always been hopeful. It's entirely possible for it to persist for future fans.”
