Marking 20 years since Guitar Hero hit the market in North America, providing everyday gamers the tools to become a rock star. Not literally, but try telling that anyone who has mastered Free Bird’s four-minute instrumental break before an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by Harmonix, the game gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to match on-screen cues scrolling down the screen synchronized to a song. Each riff mimicked specific notes, producing the sensation of an authentic live show.
Harmonix previously tried its hand with rhythm games prior to teaming up with the publisher, which was purchased by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they established the foundations for an unlikely massively profitable series which made a remarkable influence for many musicians featured, showcasing decades-old bands to millions of gaming enthusiasts.
Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, recalls the initial financial challenges in securing the recordings – despite the fact the first two games mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded all the music since the cost prohibitive,” he says. “Even with the publishing rights by themselves, it was nearly impossible. We failed to secure acts such as the Who – the publisher had virtually no money, and our team was pretty convinced it would fail. But once the game became a hit, and record sales and radio play were going up, everyone wanted to participate.”
He continues: “One of the amazing things was the number of mothers and fathers reached out expressing gratitude for introducing their kids to the music they loved. It evolved into an intergenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Gains Younger Fans
Irish blues-rock band one featured act had their track in the 2008 release the popular installment. Lead musician Paul Mahon recalls how the series revived classic rock back into vogue: “Guitar Hero offered a bigger, new demographic. Typically this had been seen as music that was past it, but then when it was featured on the title and teenagers discovered it, suddenly it was cool. This validated the genre, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ tag. It provided all our music a new life.”
In 2008, the Answer’s debut album was still not available stateside, so Guitar Hero was a key medium for exposure for the band during their a North American tour opening for AC/DC. “The roadies had on the song on the tour bus, and several recognized us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Major Band Titles Enduring Influence
Music's biggest acts quickly took advantage of the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in specialized spin-off titles centered around their music collections and associated lore, imagery and legendary status. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said to have made the group greater revenue than any of their records. It moved more than 500,000 copies upon release, and sales of their songs rose of up to 40% during an era when the music business faced decline.
Guitar Hero still motivates quick-handed dedication within the community. Earlier this year, 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 almost identical mechanics and extensive personalization features. This track is difficult enough on expert mode, not to mention performed at double speed and without missing every one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer stated requiring nine months of practice.
“The game offers a, imaginary experience. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to pick up actual weapons and go to war,” notes DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
DragonForce had already completed a profitable run when Through the Fire and Flames was featured on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it made them widely recognized. “I remember our distributors informing us that we were selling albums like crazy,” he says. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we were playing just before top acts at the event.”
Indeed, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it threatened to eclipsing everything else the band has done. Last year, the song featured in promotional material for a major film. “Previously I felt otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “Should you just listen to one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – each person has their own musical journey and I’m glad we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Legacy of a Iconic Controller
The best marketing, be it for automobiles, apparel or video games, goes further mere transactions – it evokes a longing. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “Precisely what we were trying to create,” he confirms. “The excitement of being a music icon on the stage. Since the beginning, the co-founders felt that there’s an instinctive human desire to make music, and their goal was to use technology to allow people to participate”.
Most of Guitar Hero games were released in just a half-decade from 2005 to 2010, featuring derivative titles like DJ Hero, including a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, corporate focus in plastic instruments died down, except for a short-lived revival in 2015.
Games such as the fan project and newer releases have maintained the community active, with set to be a new product from the original publisher in development. Recently formed developers has begun work on its debut music game. Original co-founders are both involved in advisory roles. Are gamers ready to embrace a new entry following Guitar Hero?
“We thought those games might become like Madden where you can update every year,” he remarks. “There’s so much fresh tracks it could remain evergreen, thus I remain hopeful. It's entirely possible why it can’t persist with new generations.”
