It has been 20 years since the legendary game hit the market across the Atlantic, providing players everywhere the tools to feel like a rock star. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing anyone who has mastered the epic lengthy guitar solo before an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Developed by Harmonix, the game gave players a guitar-shaped controller to follow on-screen cues moving along the screen in time with the music. Each riff mimicked particular chords, producing the sensation of a genuine live show.
The studio had already tried its hand in the music genre before partnering with the publisher, which was purchased by Activision in 2006. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar franchise which made a remarkable impact for many of the artists featured, showcasing decades-old groups to millions of gaming enthusiasts.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO from the developer, recalls the initial budgetary hurdles in securing the recordings – despite the fact initial releases mostly used cover versions.
“We reproduced every song since the dollar figure prohibitive,” he explains. “Even with the necessary permissions by themselves, it was nearly impossible. We couldn’t get acts such as the Who – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was pretty convinced the project would flop. But once the game became a hit, and record sales airtime increased, everyone wanted to participate.”
He adds: “One of the remarkable aspects was the number of mothers and fathers reached out and thanked us for exposing their children to the songs they adored. It became an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Gains Younger Fans
Northern Irish blues-rock band one featured act included Never Too Late on the 2008 game the popular installment. Lead musician the artist remembers how the series brought older hits to the forefront: “The game offered a larger, new demographic. Generally this had been considered outdated material, but then when it was featured on the game and teenagers were finding it, abruptly it was cool. That legitimised it, eliminating the outdated tag. It gave all our music renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the Answer’s first record was still unreleased stateside, meaning the game was a key medium of discovery for the band as they went on a North American tour supporting AC/DC. “The roadies had on Never Too Late on the tour bus, and some of them recognized us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles Enduring Impact
Rock’s biggest acts soon took advantage of the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in specialized game editions centered around each band’s catalogue and associated lore, imagery and legendary status. For example, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly earned the group more money compared to their records. It moved well over half a million units upon release, while sales of their songs saw an increase of up to 40% during an era when the music business was already collapsing.
The series continues to inspire quick-handed fanaticism among its fans. Recently, a streamer achieved a remarkable feat featuring the challenging track – an infamously tough power-metal song made popular by the game – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with similar gameplay and extensive customisation options. This track is challenging enough on the hardest setting, let alone played at double speed while hitting every one of its near 4,000 notes. They claimed requiring months of practice to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero offers a, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you should pick up actual weapons and go to war,” says musician the artist.
DragonForce had already completed a profitable run before Through the Fire and Flames appeared in the third game, yet he explains it made them widely recognized. “I recall the record label informing us that our records were moving like crazy,” he shares. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we were playing right ahead of top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it has threatened to overshadow all other accomplishments. Recently, the track featured in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I felt otherwise, but now I accept it,” Li says. “Should you just listen to one DragonForce song, that's fine – everyone’s got a unique path in music and I'm pleased we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
Enduring Impact from the Iconic Controller
The best promotion, be it for automobiles, apparel or video games, extends beyond than selling something – it evokes a desire. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “Precisely what our team aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a music icon on the stage. Since the beginning, the co-founders believed there’s an instinctive urge to make music, and their goal was to use technology to enable everyone to do it”.
The majority installments were released in just a half-decade from 2005 to 2010, featuring spin-offs such as DJ Hero, including a turntable controller, and Band Hero. After that, corporate focus on peripherals died down, except for a brief comeback several years later.
Titles such as Clone Hero and newer releases have kept the scene alive, and there’s set to be a new product from the original publisher on the way. A new studio has entered work on their first music game. Original co-founders are both involved in advisory roles. Are gamers ready to embrace a new entry following the classic?
“Our team believed such titles could be like Madden where you can update every year,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant new music it could remain evergreen, thus I remain optimistic. It's entirely possible why it can’t persist for future fans.”
