It has been 20 years after the legendary game first launched across the Atlantic, giving players everywhere the tools to become a rock star. Figuratively speaking, but try telling that anyone who's nailed the epic lengthy instrumental break in front of an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Developed by the developers, Guitar Hero gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to follow on-screen cues scrolling down the display in time with the music. Every sequence corresponded to specific notes, producing the sensation of an authentic live show.
The studio had already experimented in the music genre prior to teaming up with RedOctane, later purchased by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they established the foundations for an unlikely massively profitable franchise that had a remarkable influence on numerous musicians included, showcasing classic bands to millions of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, recalls the early financial challenges of licensing the recordings – despite the fact the first two games mostly used cover versions.
“We reproduced all the music since the cost prohibitive,” he says. “Even with the necessary permissions alone, it was nearly impossible. We couldn’t get acts such as the Who – the publisher had virtually no money, and our team was pretty convinced it would fail. However, when the game became a hit, album purchases airtime were going up, everyone wanted to be in.”
He continues: “One of the amazing things was how many parents got in touch and thanked us for exposing their children to the music they loved. It became a multigenerational thing.”
Timeless Music Gains Younger Fans
Irish blues-rock band one featured act had their track in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist Paul Mahon remembers the way the game revived classic rock back into vogue: “Guitar Hero provided a larger, younger audience. Typically this had been seen as outdated material, but then when it was featured on the title young people were finding it, suddenly it was cool. That legitimised the genre, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ label. It gave all our music renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the band's debut album remained unreleased in the US, meaning the game was a key medium of discovery for the group as they went on a North American tour supporting the rock giants. “Their crew had on the song on the tour bus, and several knew us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles Enduring Impact
Music's heavyweight names soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in specialized game editions centered around their music collections and related stories, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, it was said earned the group greater revenue than any of their studio albums. It moved more than 500,000 copies upon release, and sales of Aerosmith’s music rose significantly at a time when the music business was already collapsing.
The series continues to inspire quick-handed fanaticism among its fans. Earlier this year, a streamer achieved an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult power-metal song made popular by Guitar Hero – using a fan-made version, a no-cost alternative with similar mechanics but an array of personalization features. The song is challenging even in expert mode, not to mention played at double speed and without missing every one of the thousands of cues. They claimed it took nine months of practice.
“The game is a fun, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you should pick up actual weapons and go to war,” notes musician the artist.
The band had already wrapped up a successful tour before Through the Fire and Flames appeared in the third game, but Li says it turned them into widely recognized. “I remember the record label informing us that we were records were moving rapidly,” he says. “It exploded when we next toured, and we were playing right ahead of top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it risked eclipsing everything else the band has done. Recently, the song featured in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I thought differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “Should you just listen to a single track, that's fine – each person has their own path in music and I'm pleased we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Impact of a Plastic Guitar
The best marketing, be it for cars, apparel or video games, goes further than selling something – it inspires a longing. Was the game able to tap into that? “Precisely what we were trying to create,” he confirms. “The excitement of being a rock star in the spotlight. 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 do it”.
Most of Guitar Hero games were released over a mere five-year period between 2005 and 2010, including spin-offs like the DJ version, complete with a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, corporate focus in plastic instruments waned, except for a brief comeback several years later.
Titles such as Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have maintained the scene alive, with expectations of something from the original publisher in development. Recently formed developers has begun production on their first music game. Original co-founders are participating in advisory roles. Is the world prepared to welcome another game in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“We thought such titles could be similar to sports games allowing annual releases,” he remarks. “There’s so much fresh tracks that it could be evergreen, thus I remain hopeful. It's entirely possible why it can’t continue for future fans.”
