Marking two decades after the legendary game debuted across the Atlantic, giving everyday gamers the opportunity to feel like rock legends. Not literally, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing someone who has nailed Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo in front of a packed living-room audience.
Created by Harmonix, the game provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to match coloured notes scrolling down the display synchronized to a song. Every sequence corresponded to particular chords, producing the sensation of an authentic live show.
Harmonix had already tried its hand in the music genre prior to teaming up with RedOctane, later acquired by Activision during the mid-2000s. Together, they laid the foundations for an unlikely massively profitable franchise that had a remarkable impact on numerous musicians featured, showcasing classic groups to a new generation of younger players.
A former executive, former COO from the developer, recalls the early financial challenges of licensing the songs – despite the fact the first two games mostly used cover versions.
“We rerecorded every song because the dollar figure prohibitive,” he explains. “Even with the necessary permissions alone, it proved extremely difficult. We failed to secure acts such as legendary groups – the publisher had virtually no money, and we were pretty convinced it would fail. However, when Guitar Hero took off, album purchases and radio play were going up, everyone wanted to participate.”
He adds: “Among the remarkable aspects was how many mothers and fathers got in touch and thanked us for exposing their kids to the music they loved. It became an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Finds a New Audience
Irish group one featured act had Never Too Late on the 2008 game the popular installment. Guitarist the artist recalls the way the game brought older hits back into vogue: “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 Generally this had been seen as outdated material, but then once it got included in the title young people were finding it, abruptly it became trendy. This validated it, and got rid of the outdated label. It gave all our music a new life.”
At that time, the Answer’s debut album remained unreleased in the US, meaning Guitar Hero served as a primary platform for exposure for the group during their US tour opening for the rock giants. “The roadies were playing Never Too Late during travel, and some of them knew us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles and Lasting Impact
Music's heavyweight names soon capitalised on the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in specialized game editions centered around each band’s catalogue and related stories, visuals and legendary status. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, it was said to have made the band greater revenue than any of their studio albums. It moved more than 500,000 copies in its first week, and sales of Aerosmith’s music saw an increase of up to 40% during an era when the music business was already collapsing.
The series continues to inspire nimble-fingered dedication within the community. Earlier this year, a streamer achieved a remarkable feat featuring the challenging track – a notoriously difficult anthem popularized through the game – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with almost identical gameplay but an array of personalization features. This track is difficult even in the hardest setting, not to mention performed at double speed and without missing every one of the thousands of cues. They stated it took months of practice of practice.
“The game is a fun, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you should use a real gun and enlist,” notes DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
DragonForce previously wrapped up a profitable run before their hit was featured on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it turned them into widely recognized. “I recall the record label informing us that our selling albums like crazy,” he shares. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we were playing just before top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, the band's visibility via the game was so immense that it has risked overshadow everything else the band has done. Last year, the track was used in a trailer for a major film. “In the past I thought differently, but now I accept it,” Li says. “If you only hear one DragonForce song, that's fine – everyone’s got their own musical journey and I'm pleased we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
Enduring Impact of a Iconic Controller
Top-tier marketing, whether it’s for cars, clothes or video games, goes further than selling something – it inspires a longing. Was the game able to tap into that? “That’s exactly what our team trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of being a rock star in the spotlight. From day one, the co-founders felt that there’s an instinctive human desire to create songs, and they wanted to leverage innovation to enable everyone to do it”.
Most installments were released over a mere five-year period between 2005 and 2010, featuring derivative titles such as the DJ version, complete with a spinning deck, and Band Hero. After that, the publisher’s interest on peripherals died down, aside from a short-lived revival several years later.
Titles such as the fan project and Fortnite Festival have kept the scene active, with set to be a new product from the founders on the way. Recently formed developers has entered production on their first music game. Original co-founders are both involved as special advisers. Are gamers prepared to welcome a new entry following Guitar Hero?
“We thought those games might become like Madden allowing annual releases,” he remarks. “With abundant new music that it could be evergreen, thus I remain hopeful. It's entirely possible for it to continue with new generations.”
