Marking 20 years after the legendary game hit the market across the Atlantic, offering everyday gamers the opportunity to feel like rock legends. Figuratively speaking, but try telling that someone who has nailed the epic lengthy instrumental break in front of an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Developed by Harmonix, the game provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to match coloured notes moving along the display in time with the music. Each riff corresponded to specific notes, producing the sensation of an authentic performance.
Harmonix previously tried its hand with rhythm games before partnering with the publisher, which was acquired by Activision in 2006. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar franchise which made a remarkable influence for many of the artists featured, showcasing decades-old bands to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO from the developer, remembers the early financial challenges in securing the recordings – despite the fact the first two games primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded all the music since the cost prohibitive,” he says. “Even with the necessary permissions alone, it was extremely difficult. We failed to secure bands like legendary groups – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was fairly certain it would fail. But once the game became a hit, and record sales airtime were going up, everyone wanted to participate.”
He continues: “Among the remarkable aspects was the number of mothers and fathers got in touch and thanked us for introducing their kids to the music they adored. It became a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Finds a New Audience
Irish blues-rock band one featured act included their track on the 2008 game the popular installment. Lead musician the artist remembers the way the game revived older hits back into vogue: “Guitar Hero offered a larger, younger audience. Typically such music was seen as music that was past it, however once it got included in the title young people discovered it, abruptly it became trendy. That legitimised it, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ tag. It provided all our music a new life.”
In 2008, the band's first record was still 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 during travel, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Major Band Titles and Lasting Influence
Music's heavyweight names soon capitalised on the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in specialized game editions that focused on their music collections and related stories, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said to have made the group greater revenue compared to their studio albums. It sold more than half a million copies in its first week, and sales of their songs saw an increase of up to 40% during an era when the music business was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire nimble-fingered fanaticism among its fans. Earlier this year, an online personality completed a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult anthem popularized through Guitar Hero – using a fan-made version, a no-cost alternative with similar gameplay and extensive customisation options. This track is difficult enough on expert mode, not to mention performed at double speed and without missing a single one of its near 4,000 notes. They stated it took nine months to accomplish.
“The game offers a, imaginary experience. Just as with Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you should use a real gun and go to war,” notes DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
The band previously completed a profitable run before their hit appeared on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it made them widely recognized. “I remember our distributors informing us that we were records were moving rapidly,” he says. “It exploded when we next toured, and we performed right ahead of top acts at the event.”
Indeed, the band's visibility via the game was so immense that it has risked eclipsing all other accomplishments. Last year, the track was used in a trailer for a major film. “Previously I thought differently, but now I accept it,” Li says. “Should you just hear a single track, that's fine – each person has their own path in music and I'm pleased we played a role of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Legacy of a Iconic Controller
Top-tier marketing, whether it’s for automobiles, clothes or video games, goes further than selling something – it evokes a desire. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “That thrill of being a music icon on the stage. Since the beginning, the co-founders felt that there’s an instinctive urge to create songs, 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, featuring derivative titles such as DJ Hero, including a spinning deck, and Band Hero. After that, corporate focus in plastic instruments waned, except for a short-lived revival several years later.
Games such as the fan project and Fortnite Festival have maintained the scene alive, with expectations of something from the original publisher in development. Recently formed developers has begun work on its debut music game. Original co-founders are both involved in advisory roles. Is the world prepared to welcome another game in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“We thought those games might become like Madden allowing annual releases,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant fresh tracks that it could be evergreen, thus I remain optimistic. There’s no reason why it can’t continue for future fans.”
