It has been 20 years after Guitar Hero hit the market across the Atlantic, giving players everywhere the means to feel like a rock star. Figuratively speaking, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that anyone who has nailed the epic lengthy guitar solo in front of an enthusiastic crowd of friends.
Created by the developers, Guitar Hero provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to match coloured notes moving along the display in time with the music. Every sequence mimicked particular chords, creating the feel of a genuine performance.
The studio had already experimented in the music genre prior to teaming up with the publisher, which was purchased by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar franchise which made a remarkable influence for many of the artists included, introducing classic groups to millions of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO of Harmonix, remembers the early budgetary hurdles in securing the songs – despite the fact initial releases primarily featured cover versions.
“We rerecorded all the music because the cost prohibitive,” he explains. “Despite having the publishing rights alone, it proved extremely difficult. We couldn’t get acts such as the Who – the publisher had virtually no money, and our team was fairly certain it would fail. However, when the game became a hit, and record sales airtime were going up, everyone wanted to be in.”
He continues: “Among the amazing things was how many mothers and fathers got in touch expressing gratitude for introducing their kids to the music they loved. It became a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Gains a New Audience
Northern Irish blues-rock band the Answer included Never Too Late on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist the artist remembers how the series revived older hits to the forefront: “Guitar Hero offered a larger, new demographic. Generally such music was seen as music that was past it, but then once it got included in the game and teenagers discovered it, abruptly it was cool. This validated the genre, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It provided our catalog a new life.”
At that time, the Answer’s debut album remained unreleased stateside, meaning Guitar Hero was a key medium of discovery for the band as they went on a North American tour supporting AC/DC. “The roadies had on the song during travel, and several recognized us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles Enduring Influence
Music's heavyweight names soon capitalised on the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in dedicated game editions that focused on each band’s catalogue and related lore, imagery and legendary status. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly to have made the band more money than any of their studio albums. It moved well over 500,000 copies in its first week, while demand for Aerosmith’s music rose significantly at a time as the industry was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire nimble-fingered dedication within the community. Recently, an online personality achieved an impressive attempt featuring Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult anthem made popular by Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with similar gameplay but an array of customisation options. This track is difficult enough on the hardest setting, not to mention played at double speed while hitting every one of its near 4,000 notes. They stated it took months of practice of practice.
“The game offers a, fantasy thing. If you play other games, it doesn't imply you should use a real gun and go to war,” notes musician the artist.
DragonForce had already wrapped up a successful tour when their hit appeared on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it turned them into widely recognized. “I recall our distributors informing us that we were records were moving rapidly,” he says. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we performed right ahead of top acts at the event.”
In fact, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero was so immense that it threatened to eclipsing everything else the band has done. Recently, the song featured in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I thought differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “If you only listen to one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – each person has a unique path in music and I'm pleased we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
Enduring Legacy of a Iconic Controller
Top-tier marketing, be it for cars, clothes or games, goes further than selling something – it inspires a desire. Was the game able to harness this? “Precisely what we were aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “That thrill of being a rock star in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the co-founders believed humans have a natural human desire to make music, and their goal was to use technology to enable everyone to do it”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games were released over a mere half-decade between 2005 and 2010, featuring derivative titles like DJ Hero, including a spinning deck, and Band Hero. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments waned, except for a short-lived revival in 2015.
Titles such as the fan project and newer releases have kept the community alive, with expectations of something from the founders in development. A new studio has entered work on its debut rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are participating as special advisers. Are gamers prepared to welcome another game following Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed such titles might become like Madden allowing annual update every year,” he remarks. “With abundant new music it could remain evergreen, thus I remain optimistic. There’s no reason for it to continue for future fans.”
