Marking two decades after Guitar Hero first launched across the Atlantic, providing players everywhere the opportunity to feel like rock legends. Figuratively speaking, but try telling that someone who's mastered the epic lengthy instrumental break in front of an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by the developers, the game provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to follow coloured notes scrolling down the screen in time with a song. Each riff corresponded to specific notes, producing the sensation of an authentic live show.
The studio had already tried its hand with rhythm games prior to teaming up with RedOctane, which was purchased by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they established the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar franchise which made a remarkable impact for many of the artists included, introducing classic bands to a new generation of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, recalls the early budgetary hurdles of licensing the recordings – even though initial releases mostly used cover versions.
“We reproduced all the music because the dollar figure was so high,” he explains. “Despite having the publishing rights alone, it was extremely difficult. We failed to secure bands like the Who – the publisher had virtually no money, and our team was fairly certain the project would flop. However, when the game took off, album purchases airtime were going up, all artists desired to be in.”
He adds: “Among the remarkable aspects was how many parents reached out and thanked us for exposing their kids to the music they adored. It evolved into an intergenerational thing.”
Timeless Music Finds a New Audience
Northern Irish blues-rock band the Answer had their track on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician Paul Mahon recalls how the series revived classic rock to the forefront: “Guitar Hero offered a bigger, new demographic. Generally this had been seen as music that was past it, however once it got featured on the game young people discovered it, suddenly it was cool. That legitimised it, and got rid of the outdated label. It gave all our music renewed popularity.”
At that time, the Answer’s debut album remained not available in the US, meaning the game was a key medium for exposure for the band during their US tour opening for AC/DC. “Their crew were playing the song during travel, and several knew us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Major Band Titles Enduring Impact
Music's heavyweight names quickly took advantage of the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in specialized spin-off titles centered around their music collections and associated lore, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, the Aerosmith edition, it was said to have made the group greater revenue than any of their records. It moved more than half a million units in its first week, and sales of their songs rose significantly at a time as the industry faced decline.
The series still motivates nimble-fingered fanaticism within the community. Recently, an online personality achieved a remarkable feat featuring the challenging track – a notoriously difficult anthem popularized through the game – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with similar mechanics and extensive personalization features. This track is difficult enough on the hardest setting, let alone performed at double speed and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. They stated requiring months of practice of practice.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, imaginary experience. Just as with Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you should pick up actual weapons and enlist,” notes musician Herman Li.
DragonForce previously completed a profitable run when Through the Fire and Flames was featured in the third game, but Li says it made them a household name. “I recall the record label informing us that we were selling albums like crazy,” he shares. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we were playing just before top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure via the game proved so vast that it threatened to eclipsing everything else accomplishments. Last year, the song featured in promotional material for a major film. “In the past I thought differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “Should you just listen to one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – each person has a unique musical journey and I’m glad we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Impact of a Plastic Guitar
The best promotion, be it for automobiles, clothes or video games, goes further mere transactions – it evokes a desire. Was the game able to tap into that? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of performing as a rock star on the stage. Since the beginning, the co-founders believed there’s an instinctive human desire to make music, and they wanted to leverage innovation to enable everyone to participate”.
Most installments came out over a mere half-decade from 2005 to 2010, including derivative titles like the DJ version, complete with a turntable controller, and Band Hero. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments died down, except for a brief comeback in 2015.
Games such as Clone Hero and newer releases have kept the community alive, and there’s expectations of a new product from the original publisher in development. Recently formed developers has begun production on its debut music game. Original co-founders are participating in advisory roles. Is the world ready to embrace another game in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed such titles could be like Madden where you can update every year,” he remarks. “With abundant fresh tracks it could remain evergreen, so I’ve always been optimistic. There’s no reason why it can’t persist with new generations.”
