It has been 20 years after Guitar Hero hit the market 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 mastered the epic lengthy guitar solo in front of an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by Harmonix, the game gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to match coloured notes moving along the display in time with the music. Every sequence corresponded to particular chords, creating the feel of an authentic live show.
Harmonix previously tried its hand with rhythm games prior to teaming up with RedOctane, which was acquired by the gaming giant in 2006. Together, they established the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar franchise which made a remarkable impact on numerous of the artists included, introducing decades-old groups to a new generation of younger players.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, remembers the initial budgetary hurdles in securing the songs – even though the first two games mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded all the music because the dollar figure prohibitive,” he says. “Even with the necessary permissions by themselves, it was nearly impossible. We couldn’t get acts such as the Who – the publisher had virtually no money, and we were fairly certain the project would flop. But once Guitar Hero became a hit, and record sales and radio play increased, everyone wanted to participate.”
He adds: “Among the amazing things was how many mothers and fathers reached out expressing gratitude for introducing their children to the music they adored. It became an intergenerational thing.”
Timeless Music Gains a New Audience
Irish group the Answer included their track on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician the artist recalls how the series brought classic rock to the forefront: “The game provided a larger, new demographic. Typically such music was considered music that was past it, but then when it was included in the game and teenagers were finding it, abruptly it was cool. That legitimised it, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It gave all our music a new life.”
In 2008, the band's first record remained not available in the US, so the game served as a primary platform for exposure for the band as they went on a North American tour supporting AC/DC. “Their crew were playing the song during travel, and some of them recognized us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.
Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs and Lasting Impact
Rock’s heavyweight names soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in dedicated game editions that focused on their music collections and related lore, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly to have made the band more money than any of their records. It moved more than half a million units in its first week, and demand for Aerosmith’s music saw an increase of up to 40% during an era when the music business was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire quick-handed fanaticism among its fans. Earlier this year, a streamer completed a remarkable feat featuring Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult power-metal song popularized through the game – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with almost identical mechanics and extensive personalization features. The song is difficult even in the hardest setting, let alone played at double speed while hitting every one of its near 4,000 notes. They claimed requiring months of practice to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you ought to use actual weapons and go to war,” says DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
The band had already completed a profitable run when their hit was featured in the third game, but Li says it made them widely recognized. “I remember our distributors informing us that we were records were moving rapidly,” he shares. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we performed right ahead of top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it has threatened to eclipsing everything else the band has done. Recently, the track was used in promotional material for a major film. “Previously I thought otherwise, but now I accept it,” he admits. “If you only listen to one DragonForce song, that's fine – each person has their own path in music and I’m glad we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Impact of a Plastic Guitar
The best marketing, be it for cars, apparel or games, goes further than selling something – it inspires a desire. Was the game able to tap into that? “That’s exactly what our team aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “The excitement of performing as a rock star on the stage. Since the beginning, the co-founders believed humans have a natural human desire to create songs, and they wanted to use technology to allow people to do it”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games came out over a mere half-decade between 2005 and 2010, featuring spin-offs like DJ Hero, complete with a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. After that, corporate focus in plastic instruments died down, aside from a short-lived revival in 2015.
Games such as Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have kept the scene active, with set to be something from the founders in development. A new studio has entered production on their first rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are both involved as special advisers. Is the world prepared to welcome another game in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed such titles might become like Madden where you can releases,” he remarks. “With abundant new music that it could be perennially popular, thus I remain hopeful. It's entirely possible for it to persist for future fans.”
