It has been two decades since the legendary game first launched in North America, providing players everywhere the opportunity to feel like a rock star. Not literally, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that anyone who has mastered Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo before a packed crowd of friends.
Developed by Harmonix, Guitar Hero provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to follow on-screen cues scrolling down the screen in time with a song. Each riff mimicked specific notes, producing the sensation of a genuine performance.
The studio previously experimented in the music genre prior to teaming up with the publisher, later acquired by Activision in 2006. Collaboratively, they laid the groundwork for an unlikely massively profitable franchise that had a significant impact for many of the artists featured, showcasing classic groups to millions of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, remembers the initial budgetary hurdles in securing the recordings – even though the first two games primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced every song because the cost was so high,” he explains. “Despite having the necessary permissions by themselves, it proved nearly impossible. We failed to secure bands like the Who – the publisher had virtually no money, and we were pretty convinced it would fail. But once Guitar Hero became a hit, and record sales and radio play were going up, all artists desired to be in.”
He continues: “Among the remarkable aspects was the number of mothers and fathers got in touch and thanked us for introducing their kids to the songs they adored. It became an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Gains a New Audience
Northern Irish blues-rock band one featured act had Never Too Late on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist the artist remembers the way the game brought older hits back into vogue: “Guitar Hero provided a larger, new demographic. Typically this had been considered outdated material, however once it got featured on the title and teenagers were finding it, suddenly it became trendy. That legitimised the genre, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ label. It provided our catalog a new life.”
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 as they went on a North American tour opening for AC/DC. “Their crew had on Never Too Late during travel, and some of them recognized us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs Enduring Impact
Music's biggest acts quickly took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in specialized spin-off titles centered around their music collections and related stories, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly to have made the group greater revenue than any of their studio albums. It moved well over 500,000 units in its first week, while 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 among its fans. Earlier this year, an online personality completed an impressive attempt featuring Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough power-metal song made popular by Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with similar mechanics and extensive customisation options. This track is challenging even in the hardest setting, let alone performed at increased tempo and without missing a single one of its near 4,000 notes. They stated it took nine months to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, fantasy thing. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you should pick up a real gun and go to war,” notes DragonForce guitarist the artist.
DragonForce had already wrapped up a successful tour when their hit was featured on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it made them a household name. “I remember the record label calling to tell me that our records were moving like crazy,” he says. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we were playing right ahead of top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, the band's visibility via the game proved so vast that it has risked overshadow all other the band has done. Recently, the track featured in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I felt differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “If you only listen to one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got their own musical journey and I’m glad we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
Enduring Legacy of a Plastic Guitar
Top-tier promotion, be it for cars, apparel or games, goes further mere transactions – it evokes a desire. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “Precisely what our team aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “That thrill of being a music icon on the stage. From day one, the creators felt that there’s an instinctive human desire to make music, and their goal was to leverage innovation to enable everyone to do it”.
Most of Guitar Hero games were released in just a half-decade between 2005 and 2010, featuring derivative titles like the DJ version, including a spinning deck, and Band Hero. Subsequently, corporate focus on peripherals died down, except for a short-lived revival in 2015.
Titles such as the fan project and Fortnite Festival have maintained the scene active, and there’s expectations of something from the original publisher in development. A new studio has entered production on their first rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are participating as special advisers. Is the world ready to embrace another game following Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed those games could be like Madden allowing annual update every year,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much new music it could remain evergreen, so I’ve always been hopeful. It's entirely possible for it to persist for future fans.”
