It has been 20 years since Guitar Hero hit the market across the Atlantic, giving players everywhere the opportunity to become rock legends. Not in reality, but try convincing someone who has mastered Free Bird’s lengthy guitar solo in front of an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by the developers, the game gave players a guitar-shaped controller to match coloured notes scrolling down the display synchronized to a song. Every sequence mimicked particular chords, producing the sensation of an authentic live show.
The studio had already tried its hand in the music genre prior to teaming up with RedOctane, which was acquired by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they established the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar series that had a remarkable impact on numerous musicians featured, showcasing decades-old bands to millions of gaming enthusiasts.
Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, remembers the initial budgetary hurdles of licensing the recordings – even though the first two games primarily featured cover versions.
“We reproduced every song because the dollar figure prohibitive,” he explains. “Despite having the publishing rights alone, it proved extremely difficult. We couldn’t get acts such as the Who – RedOctane had virtually no money, and we were pretty convinced the project would flop. But once Guitar Hero took off, and record sales airtime increased, everyone wanted to be in.”
He adds: “Among the amazing things was the number of parents got in touch and thanked us for exposing their children to the songs they adored. It became a multigenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Finds a New Audience
Irish group the Answer had Never Too Late on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician Paul Mahon remembers the way the game revived classic rock to the forefront: “Guitar Hero provided a bigger, younger audience. Generally this had been seen as outdated material, but then once it got included in the title young people were finding it, abruptly it was cool. This validated it, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ label. It provided our catalog a new life.”
In 2008, the band's first record was still unreleased in the US, meaning the game was a key medium of discovery for the group as they went on a North American tour supporting the rock giants. “Their crew were playing Never Too Late during travel, and several recognized us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles Enduring Influence
Rock’s biggest acts soon capitalised on the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in specialized game editions centered around their music collections and associated stories, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly to have made the group greater revenue compared to their records. It sold well over 500,000 units in its first week, and sales of their songs saw an increase significantly at a time when the music business was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire quick-handed fanaticism within the community. Earlier this year, an online personality completed a remarkable feat featuring Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough anthem made popular by Guitar Hero – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with similar mechanics but an array of customisation options. The song is challenging even in expert mode, not to mention performed at double speed while hitting every one of the thousands of cues. They stated it took nine months of practice.
“The game offers a, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you ought to use actual weapons and enlist,” says musician Herman Li.
The band had already wrapped up a successful tour before their hit appeared on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it turned them into widely recognized. “I remember the record label calling to tell me that we were selling albums like crazy,” he says. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we were playing right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, the band's visibility via the game was so immense that it risked overshadow everything else the band has done. Recently, the song featured in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I felt otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “If you only listen to a single track, that's fine – everyone’s got their own path in music and I'm pleased we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Legacy of a Plastic Guitar
The best marketing, whether it’s for automobiles, apparel or games, goes further mere transactions – it inspires a desire. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “That’s exactly what our team trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a rock star in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the co-founders felt that humans have a natural human desire to make music, and they wanted to use technology to enable everyone to do it”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games were released over a mere five-year period from 2005 to 2010, including spin-offs such as DJ Hero, complete with a turntable controller, and Band Hero. After that, the publisher’s interest on peripherals died down, aside from a brief comeback in 2015.
Games such as the fan project and Fortnite Festival have maintained the community active, with expectations of a new product from the original publisher in development. A new studio has entered work on its debut music game. The initial creators are both involved in advisory roles. Are gamers 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 that it could be evergreen, thus I remain hopeful. It's entirely possible for it to persist for future fans.”
