It has been two decades after the legendary game hit the market in North America, offering players everywhere the tools to become rock legends. Not in reality, but try telling that anyone who has nailed Free Bird’s lengthy guitar solo in front of an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by the developers, Guitar Hero gave players a guitar-shaped controller to follow coloured notes moving along the screen in time with the music. Every sequence corresponded to specific notes, creating the sensation of an authentic performance.
Harmonix had already experimented in the music genre before partnering with RedOctane, later purchased by the gaming giant in 2006. Collaboratively, they established the groundwork for an unlikely massively profitable series which made a significant impact for many of the artists featured, introducing decades-old groups to a new generation of younger players.
A former executive, former COO from the developer, remembers the early budgetary hurdles of licensing the songs – despite the fact the first two games primarily featured cover versions.
“We reproduced every song since the dollar figure was so high,” he says. “Despite having the publishing rights by themselves, it proved extremely difficult. We couldn’t get acts such as legendary groups – RedOctane had virtually no money, and we were fairly certain it would fail. But once Guitar Hero took off, album purchases airtime increased, everyone wanted to be in.”
He adds: “Among the amazing things was the number of parents reached out and thanked us for exposing their children to the music they adored. It evolved into a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Gains a New Audience
Northern Irish group one featured act included their track on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician Paul Mahon recalls how the series revived classic rock back into vogue: “Guitar Hero offered a bigger, younger audience. Typically such music was considered music that was past it, but then when it was featured on the game young people discovered it, abruptly it was cool. This validated it, eliminating the outdated tag. It provided all our music a new life.”
In 2008, the band's debut album remained unreleased stateside, meaning the game was a key medium of discovery for the band during their US tour supporting the rock giants. “The roadies had on Never Too Late on the tour bus, and some of them recognized us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Major Band Titles Enduring Influence
Music's biggest acts soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in specialized game editions centered around each band’s catalogue and related stories, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly to have made the band greater revenue than any of their records. It sold more than 500,000 units in its first week, while sales of their songs saw an increase significantly at a time as the industry faced decline.
The series continues to inspire nimble-fingered fanaticism within the community. Recently, an online personality achieved an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s the challenging track – a notoriously difficult power-metal song made popular by the game – using a fan-made version, a no-cost alternative with similar gameplay but an array of personalization features. This track is difficult enough on the hardest setting, not to mention performed at increased tempo while hitting every one of its near 4,000 notes. They stated requiring months of practice of practice.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, imaginary experience. If you play Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you ought to pick up a real gun and enlist,” says musician Herman Li.
DragonForce had already completed a successful tour when their hit appeared on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it turned them into widely recognized. “I remember our distributors calling to tell me that our records were moving like crazy,” he shares. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we were playing right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it threatened to eclipsing everything else accomplishments. Recently, the song featured in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I felt otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “Should you just listen to a single track, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got a unique musical journey and I’m glad we played a role in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Impact of a Iconic Controller
The best promotion, whether it’s for automobiles, clothes or video games, goes further mere transactions – it inspires a desire. Was the game able to tap into that? “Precisely what our team aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “That thrill of being a music icon in the spotlight. From day one, the creators felt that humans have a natural urge to create songs, and their goal was to use technology to enable everyone to participate”.
Most of Guitar Hero games came out in just a half-decade between 2005 and 2010, featuring spin-offs like the DJ version, including a spinning deck, and Band Hero. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments died down, aside from a short-lived revival in 2015.
Titles such as Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have kept the community alive, and there’s expectations of something from the original publisher in development. A new studio has entered work on their first rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are both involved as special advisers. Are gamers prepared to welcome a new entry in the spirit of the classic?
“Our team believed such titles might become like Madden where you can update every year,” he remarks. “There’s so much new music it could remain evergreen, so I’ve always been optimistic. It's entirely possible why it can’t persist for future fans.”
