Marking two decades after the legendary game hit the market across the Atlantic, providing players everywhere the means to feel like rock legends. Figuratively speaking, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that anyone who has mastered Free Bird’s lengthy instrumental break before an enthusiastic crowd of friends.
Created by the developers, the game gave players a guitar-shaped controller to match coloured notes moving along the screen synchronized to a song. Every sequence corresponded to particular chords, creating the sensation of a genuine live show.
Harmonix had already tried its hand in the music genre before partnering with RedOctane, which was purchased by Activision in 2006. Together, they laid the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar series that had a remarkable impact for many musicians featured, introducing classic groups to a new generation of younger players.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, recalls the initial financial challenges in securing the songs – despite the fact initial releases primarily featured cover versions.
“We rerecorded all the music because the dollar figure prohibitive,” he says. “Despite having the necessary permissions alone, it was extremely difficult. We failed to secure bands like legendary groups – RedOctane had virtually no money, and we were fairly certain the project would flop. However, when the game became a hit, and record sales airtime were going up, all artists desired to be in.”
He continues: “Among the remarkable aspects was the number of parents reached out and thanked us for exposing their children to the songs they adored. It evolved into an intergenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Gains Younger Fans
Irish group the Answer had Never Too Late in the 2008 release the popular installment. Guitarist the artist recalls the way the game brought older hits back into vogue: “Guitar Hero provided a larger, new demographic. Generally such music was considered outdated material, but then once it got featured on the title and teenagers were finding it, abruptly it became trendy. This validated it, eliminating the outdated tag. It provided our catalog renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the band's debut album was still unreleased in the US, so Guitar Hero was a key medium of discovery for the band during their US tour opening for AC/DC. “Their crew had on Never Too Late during travel, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Major Band Titles Enduring Influence
Rock’s biggest acts quickly capitalised on the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in specialized spin-off titles that focused on their music collections and related lore, imagery and legendary status. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, it was said to have made the group greater revenue than any of their studio albums. It sold more than 500,000 units in its first week, while sales of their songs rose of up to 40% during an era when the music business was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire quick-handed dedication within the community. Earlier this year, an online personality achieved a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s the challenging track – a notoriously difficult anthem popularized through Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with similar mechanics but an array of personalization features. The song is challenging even in the hardest setting, not to mention played at double speed while hitting every one of its near 4,000 notes. They claimed requiring months of practice of practice.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, imaginary experience. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you should use actual weapons and enlist,” notes DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
DragonForce had already completed a successful tour before their hit appeared in the third game, but Li says it turned them into a household name. “I remember the record label calling to tell me that our selling albums like crazy,” he says. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we performed right ahead of top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, the band's visibility via the game proved so vast that it has threatened to eclipsing all other the band has done. Last year, the song featured in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I felt differently, but now I accept it,” he admits. “Should you just hear a single track, that's fine – each person has their own path in music and I’m glad we played a role in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Impact from the Iconic Controller
The best marketing, be it for cars, clothes or games, extends beyond mere transactions – it evokes a desire. Was the game able to tap into that? “Precisely what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of being a music icon in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the creators believed humans have a natural urge to make music, and their goal was to use technology to allow people to do it”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games came out in just a half-decade between 2005 and 2010, featuring derivative titles such as the DJ version, including a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. After that, the publisher’s interest on peripherals died down, except for a short-lived revival several years later.
Titles such as Clone Hero and newer releases have kept the scene alive, and there’s expectations of something from the founders on the way. A new studio has entered production on its debut music game. Original co-founders are both involved as special advisers. Is the world prepared to welcome another game following the classic?
“Our team believed those games might become like Madden allowing annual update every year,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant fresh tracks it could remain evergreen, thus I remain optimistic. It's entirely possible for it to continue for future fans.”
