Marking 20 years since Guitar Hero hit the market across the Atlantic, providing everyday gamers the opportunity to feel like rock legends. Figuratively speaking, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that someone who has mastered Free Bird’s lengthy instrumental break in front of an enthusiastic crowd of friends.
Developed by Harmonix, the game provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to match coloured notes moving along the screen in time with the music. Every sequence corresponded to specific notes, creating the feel of an authentic performance.
Harmonix had already experimented with rhythm games before partnering with the publisher, which was acquired by the gaming giant in 2006. Together, they laid the foundations for an unlikely massively profitable series that had a significant impact on numerous of the artists featured, introducing classic groups to millions of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, recalls the initial budgetary hurdles of licensing the recordings – despite the fact initial releases mostly used cover versions.
“We rerecorded all the music because the cost was so high,” he says. “Even with the necessary permissions alone, it proved nearly impossible. We failed to secure bands like legendary groups – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was pretty convinced the project would flop. However, when the game took off, album purchases airtime increased, all artists desired to be in.”
He adds: “One of the remarkable aspects was the number of mothers and fathers got in touch and thanked us for introducing their children to the music they adored. It evolved into an intergenerational thing.”
Timeless Music Finds a New Audience
Northern Irish blues-rock band the Answer included their track on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist the artist remembers how the series brought older hits to the forefront: “Guitar Hero offered a bigger, new demographic. Generally this had been considered music that was past it, but then when it was included in the title young people were finding it, suddenly it became trendy. This validated it, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ label. It provided our catalog renewed popularity.”
At that time, the Answer’s first record remained unreleased in the US, meaning Guitar Hero was a key medium of discovery for the band during their a North American tour supporting the rock giants. “The roadies were playing the song on the tour bus, and several recognized us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Major Band Titles and Lasting Influence
Music's heavyweight names soon capitalised on the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in specialized game editions centered around each band’s catalogue and related lore, imagery and legendary status. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly earned the group greater revenue than any of their records. It sold well over 500,000 units in its first week, and sales of Aerosmith’s music rose of up to 40% during an era when the music business was already collapsing.
The series still motivates nimble-fingered fanaticism within the community. Earlier this year, an online personality completed an impressive attempt featuring the challenging track – an infamously tough anthem popularized through the game – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with almost identical mechanics and extensive personalization features. The song is difficult even in expert mode, not to mention played at increased tempo while hitting a single one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer stated it took nine months to accomplish.
“The game offers a, imaginary experience. Just as with Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you should use a real gun and go to war,” says musician the artist.
The band previously wrapped up a successful tour before Through the Fire and Flames appeared in the third game, yet he explains it made them widely recognized. “I recall the record label calling to tell me that our records were moving like crazy,” he says. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we were playing right ahead of top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero was so immense that it risked overshadow everything else the band has done. Recently, the track was used in promotional material for a major film. “In the past I felt otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “If you only listen to one DragonForce song, that's fine – each person has their own path in music and I’m glad we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Legacy from the Plastic Guitar
Top-tier marketing, be it for cars, clothes or video games, goes further than selling something – it evokes a longing. Was the game able to harness this? “Precisely what we were trying to create,” he confirms. “That thrill of performing as a rock star on the stage. From day one, the creators felt that humans have a natural urge to make music, and their goal was to leverage innovation to enable everyone to do it”.
Most of Guitar Hero games came out in just a five-year period from 2005 to 2010, featuring spin-offs like the DJ version, complete with a spinning deck, and Band Hero. Subsequently, corporate focus on peripherals died down, aside from a brief comeback in 2015.
Games like Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have maintained the community alive, with set to be a new product from the original publisher in development. A new studio has entered production on its debut rhythm-based title. The initial creators are participating as special advisers. Is the world prepared to welcome a new entry following the classic?
“We thought those games could be like Madden allowing annual releases,” he remarks. “There’s so much fresh tracks it could remain perennially popular, thus I remain hopeful. It's entirely possible for it to persist for future fans.”
