Marking two decades since Guitar Hero debuted in North America, giving everyday gamers the opportunity to feel like a rock star. Not literally, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that anyone who has mastered the epic lengthy guitar solo in front of a packed crowd of friends.
Created by Harmonix, Guitar Hero provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to match coloured notes moving along the display synchronized to a song. Each riff corresponded to specific notes, creating the feel of an authentic live show.
The studio previously experimented in the music genre prior to teaming up with the publisher, later acquired by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for an unlikely massively profitable franchise that had a remarkable impact for many of the artists included, introducing decades-old bands to a new generation of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, recalls the initial budgetary hurdles of licensing the recordings – despite the fact the first two games mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded every song since the dollar figure prohibitive,” he explains. “Even with the publishing rights alone, it proved nearly impossible. We failed to secure bands like the Who – the publisher had virtually no money, and we were pretty convinced it would fail. However, when the game took off, album purchases airtime increased, everyone wanted to be in.”
He adds: “One of the remarkable aspects was how many parents got in touch expressing gratitude for exposing their children to the songs they loved. It became a multigenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Finds a New Audience
Irish group the Answer included their track in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician Paul Mahon remembers how the series revived older hits back into vogue: “Guitar Hero provided a larger, new demographic. Typically this had been considered music that was past it, however once it got included in the title young people discovered it, abruptly it was cool. That legitimised the genre, and got rid of the outdated tag. It gave all our music renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the band's debut album was still unreleased stateside, meaning Guitar Hero was a key medium for exposure for the group as they went on US tour supporting AC/DC. “Their crew had on the song on the tour bus, and several recognized us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.
Major Band Spin-offs Enduring Influence
Rock’s biggest acts soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in dedicated game editions centered around their music collections and related lore, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said earned the band greater revenue compared to their studio albums. It moved more than half a million copies in its first week, while demand for their songs saw an increase significantly during an era when the music business faced decline.
The series still motivates quick-handed fanaticism within the community. Recently, an online personality completed an impressive attempt featuring Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult power-metal song made popular by the game – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with almost identical gameplay but an array of personalization features. The song is difficult enough on expert mode, not to mention performed at increased tempo and without missing every one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer claimed it took months of practice of practice.
“Guitar Hero offers a, imaginary experience. Just as with other games, it doesn't imply you ought to pick up actual weapons and enlist,” says musician Herman Li.
The band had already completed a successful tour when their hit appeared in the third game, but Li says it made them widely recognized. “I remember the record label calling to tell me that our records were moving rapidly,” he says. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we performed just before top acts at the event.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it has risked overshadow everything else the band has done. Last year, the song featured in a trailer for a major film. “In the past I thought differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “If you only hear one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – each person has their own path in music and I'm pleased we played a role of people’s lives”.
Enduring Legacy of a Plastic Guitar
Top-tier promotion, whether it’s for automobiles, clothes or games, goes further than selling something – it evokes a longing. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “That’s exactly what our team aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as 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”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games came out in just a five-year period between 2005 and 2010, including derivative titles such as DJ Hero, complete with a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. After that, corporate focus on peripherals died down, aside from a short-lived revival in 2015.
Games like the fan project and Fortnite Festival have kept the community alive, and there’s expectations of a new product from the founders in development. A new studio has begun production on their first rhythm-based title. The initial creators are participating in advisory roles. Is the world prepared to welcome another game following the classic?
“Our team believed such titles might become similar to sports games allowing annual releases,” he remarks. “There’s so much new music it could remain perennially popular, so I’ve always been hopeful. There’s no reason for it to persist with new generations.”
