Marking 20 years after the legendary game debuted across the Atlantic, providing players everywhere the opportunity to feel like rock legends. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that someone who's nailed the epic lengthy instrumental break in front of an enthusiastic 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 the music. Each riff mimicked specific notes, creating the sensation of an authentic performance.
Harmonix had already tried its hand with rhythm games before partnering with the publisher, which was acquired by the gaming giant in 2006. Together, they established the foundations for an unlikely massively profitable series which made a remarkable impact on numerous of the artists featured, showcasing decades-old bands to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, former COO of Harmonix, remembers the early financial challenges in securing the songs – even though the first two games mostly used cover versions.
“We reproduced every song because the dollar figure was so high,” he says. “Despite having the necessary permissions by themselves, it proved nearly impossible. We failed to secure bands like the Who – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were fairly certain the project would flop. However, when the game became a hit, and record sales airtime were going up, all artists desired to be in.”
He continues: “Among the amazing things was how many mothers and fathers got in touch and thanked us for introducing their kids to the songs they loved. It became a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Gains a New Audience
Irish group the Answer had their track on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician Paul Mahon remembers how the series revived classic rock to the forefront: “Guitar Hero provided a larger, younger audience. Typically this had been seen as music that was past it, however once it got included in the title young people were finding it, abruptly it became trendy. This validated the genre, and got rid of the outdated label. It gave all our music renewed popularity.”
At that time, the band's debut album was still not available in the US, meaning Guitar Hero was a key medium of discovery for the band during their US tour supporting the rock giants. “Their crew had on Never Too Late during travel, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Major Band Titles and Lasting Impact
Rock’s heavyweight names soon capitalised on the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in dedicated game editions that focused on each band’s catalogue and related lore, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said earned the group greater revenue than any of their records. It moved more than 500,000 units upon release, while sales of their songs rose significantly during an era when the music business was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire nimble-fingered dedication among its fans. Recently, an online personality completed an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult power-metal song popularized through Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical mechanics and extensive personalization features. The song is difficult even in expert mode, let alone played at double speed while hitting every one of the thousands of cues. They stated it took nine months to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, fantasy thing. If you play other games, it doesn't imply you should use a real gun and go to war,” notes DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
The band had already wrapped up a profitable run before Through the Fire and Flames was featured on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it made them a household name. “I remember the record label calling to tell me that we were records were moving rapidly,” he says. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we performed right ahead of top acts at the event.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure via the game proved so vast that it has risked eclipsing all other the band has done. Recently, the song featured in promotional material for a major film. “In the past I felt otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “Should you just hear one DragonForce song, that's fine – everyone’s got their own path in music and I'm pleased we played a role in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Legacy from the Iconic Controller
The best promotion, whether it’s for automobiles, clothes or video 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 performing as a rock star in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the creators felt that there’s an instinctive urge to make music, and their goal was to leverage innovation to enable everyone to do it”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games were released over a mere five-year period from 2005 to 2010, including spin-offs like the DJ version, complete with a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. After that, corporate focus in plastic instruments waned, aside from a brief comeback in 2015.
Titles such as Clone Hero and newer releases have kept the community alive, with set to be a new product from the founders in development. Recently formed developers has entered work on their first music game. The initial creators are participating in advisory roles. Are gamers ready to embrace another game following the classic?
“Our team believed such titles might become like Madden allowing annual releases,” he remarks. “There’s so much fresh tracks that it could be evergreen, so I’ve always been hopeful. There’s no reason for it to persist for future fans.”
