It has been 20 years since Guitar Hero debuted across the Atlantic, offering players everywhere the tools to feel like rock legends. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing anyone who has nailed the epic four-minute guitar solo in front of an enthusiastic crowd of friends.
Created by the developers, Guitar Hero provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to follow coloured notes moving along the display in time with a song. Every sequence corresponded to particular chords, creating the feel of an authentic performance.
The studio had already experimented in the music genre prior to teaming up with the publisher, later purchased by Activision in 2006. Together, they laid the foundations for an unlikely massively profitable series that had a significant influence for many musicians included, showcasing classic groups to a new generation of younger players.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, remembers the initial financial challenges of licensing the recordings – despite the fact the first two games mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced all the music since the dollar figure prohibitive,” he says. “Despite having the necessary permissions alone, it proved extremely difficult. We couldn’t get acts such as the Who – RedOctane had virtually no money, and we were fairly certain it would fail. But once Guitar Hero became a hit, album purchases and radio play were going up, all artists desired to be in.”
He adds: “Among the remarkable aspects was the number of mothers and fathers got in touch and thanked us for introducing their children to the music they loved. It evolved into an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Gains a New Audience
Northern Irish group the Answer included their track on the 2008 game the popular installment. Lead musician the artist recalls the way the game brought classic rock back into vogue: “Guitar Hero offered a bigger, younger audience. Generally this had been considered music that was past it, however when it was included in the title young people discovered it, abruptly it was cool. This validated it, and got rid of the outdated tag. It provided all our music renewed popularity.”
At that time, the band's debut album was still unreleased stateside, so Guitar Hero was a key medium for exposure for the group during their US tour supporting the rock giants. “The roadies were playing Never Too Late during travel, and several knew us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Major Band Titles and Lasting Impact
Rock’s biggest acts quickly capitalised on the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in dedicated game editions that focused on their music collections and related lore, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly earned the band greater revenue compared to their records. It sold more than half a million copies upon release, while sales of Aerosmith’s music rose of up to 40% at a time as the industry was already collapsing.
The series continues to inspire nimble-fingered fanaticism within the community. Recently, a streamer achieved an impressive attempt featuring the challenging track – a notoriously difficult anthem made popular by the game – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with similar gameplay and extensive personalization features. The song is challenging even in the hardest setting, let alone played at double speed while hitting a single one of the thousands of cues. The streamer claimed requiring nine months of practice.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you should pick up a real gun and go to war,” says musician Herman Li.
The band previously wrapped up a profitable run before Through the Fire and Flames was featured in the third game, but Li says it made them widely recognized. “I recall our distributors calling to tell me that we were selling albums rapidly,” he shares. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we were playing right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it threatened to eclipsing everything else accomplishments. Recently, the track featured in a trailer for a major film. “Previously I thought otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “Should you just listen to one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – each person has a unique path in music and I’m glad we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Legacy of a Plastic Guitar
Top-tier marketing, whether it’s for automobiles, apparel or video games, goes further mere transactions – it evokes a longing. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “Precisely what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of being a music icon in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the co-founders felt that there’s an instinctive urge to make music, and they wanted to leverage innovation to allow people to do it”.
Most installments came out in just a half-decade from 2005 to 2010, including derivative titles such as the DJ version, complete with a spinning deck, and Band Hero. After that, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments died down, except for a brief comeback in 2015.
Titles like the fan project and Fortnite Festival have kept the scene alive, and there’s set to be a new product from the original publisher in development. Recently formed developers has begun work on their first music game. Original co-founders are both involved in advisory roles. Are gamers ready to embrace a new entry in the spirit of the classic?
“Our team believed such titles could be like Madden where you can releases,” he remarks. “There’s so much new music that it could be perennially popular, thus I remain hopeful. It's entirely possible why it can’t continue for future fans.”
