It has been 20 years since the legendary game first launched in North America, giving players everywhere the opportunity to become rock legends. Not literally, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing anyone who has nailed Free Bird’s lengthy instrumental break before a packed crowd of friends.
Developed by Harmonix, the game provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to match on-screen cues moving along the display in time with the music. Each riff corresponded to particular chords, creating the sensation of a genuine live show.
The studio had already experimented with rhythm games prior to teaming up with the publisher, later purchased by the gaming giant in 2006. Together, they laid the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar franchise that had a remarkable impact for many musicians included, showcasing decades-old groups to a new generation of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, recalls the early budgetary hurdles of licensing the songs – despite the fact initial releases primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced all the music since the dollar figure was so high,” he explains. “Despite having the publishing rights by themselves, it proved nearly impossible. We couldn’t get acts such as legendary groups – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were fairly certain it would fail. However, when Guitar Hero took off, album purchases and radio play increased, all artists desired to participate.”
He continues: “Among the remarkable aspects was how many mothers and fathers reached out expressing gratitude for introducing their children to the songs they loved. It evolved into an intergenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Finds Younger Fans
Irish blues-rock band the Answer included Never Too Late on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist Paul Mahon remembers the way the game brought older hits to the forefront: “Guitar Hero provided a larger, new demographic. Generally such music was considered music that was past it, however when it was featured on the game young people discovered it, abruptly it was cool. That legitimised the genre, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It gave all our music renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the Answer’s debut album was still unreleased stateside, so the game was a key medium for exposure for the group during their US tour opening for AC/DC. “Their crew were playing the song during travel, and several knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Major Band Titles Enduring Impact
Rock’s heavyweight names soon took advantage of the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in dedicated spin-off titles centered around their music collections and related lore, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, the Aerosmith edition, it was said to have made the band greater revenue than any of their studio albums. It sold well over half a million copies in its first week, while demand for Aerosmith’s music saw an increase of up to 40% at a time as the industry was already collapsing.
The series still motivates quick-handed fanaticism among its fans. Recently, an online personality achieved a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult power-metal song popularized through the game – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical gameplay and extensive personalization features. The song is challenging enough on the hardest setting, let alone played at increased tempo while hitting every one of the thousands of cues. They stated requiring months of practice of practice.
“The game offers a, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you ought to use a real gun and go to war,” says DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
DragonForce had already completed a successful tour before Through the Fire and Flames appeared in the third game, but Li says it turned them into a household name. “I remember our distributors informing us that we were records were moving rapidly,” he says. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we performed right ahead of top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it threatened to eclipsing all other the band has done. Recently, the song featured in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I thought differently, but now I accept it,” Li says. “If you only hear one DragonForce song, that's fine – each person has a unique musical journey and I'm pleased we played a role of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Impact from the Iconic Controller
Top-tier marketing, be it for automobiles, clothes or games, extends beyond mere transactions – it inspires a desire. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “That’s exactly what our team aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of being a rock star on the stage. Since the beginning, the co-founders felt that humans have a natural human desire to create songs, and their goal was to leverage innovation to enable everyone to do it”.
Most installments came out over a mere half-decade between 2005 and 2010, including derivative titles such as DJ Hero, complete with a turntable controller, and Band Hero. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest on peripherals died down, except for a short-lived revival in 2015.
Titles like the fan project and newer releases have kept the scene active, and there’s expectations of something from the original publisher in development. Recently formed developers has begun production on their first rhythm-based title. The initial creators are both involved in advisory roles. Is the world ready to embrace another game following Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed those games could be similar to sports games where you can update every year,” he remarks. “There’s so much fresh tracks it could remain evergreen, so I’ve always been hopeful. There’s no reason why it can’t continue with new generations.”
