It has been 20 years since the legendary game first launched across the Atlantic, giving players everywhere the means to feel like rock legends. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that someone who has mastered Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo in front of an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by Harmonix, Guitar Hero gave players a guitar-shaped controller to follow coloured notes moving along the display in time with a song. Every sequence corresponded to specific notes, producing the sensation of a genuine live show.
The studio had already tried its hand with rhythm games before partnering with the publisher, later purchased by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they laid the groundwork for an unlikely massively profitable series that had a remarkable influence on numerous musicians featured, showcasing classic groups to millions of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, remembers the early budgetary hurdles of licensing the recordings – despite the fact the first two games primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded every song since the cost was so high,” he explains. “Even with the publishing rights alone, it proved extremely difficult. We failed to secure bands like legendary groups – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was pretty convinced it would fail. But once the game took off, and record sales and radio play were going up, everyone wanted to be in.”
He adds: “Among the amazing things was the number of mothers and fathers reached out expressing gratitude for introducing their children to the music they loved. It became a multigenerational thing.”
Timeless Music Finds Younger Fans
Northern Irish group the Answer had their track on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician the artist recalls the way the game brought older hits to the forefront: “Guitar Hero provided a bigger, new demographic. Typically such music was considered outdated material, however when it was included in the game and teenagers were finding it, suddenly it was cool. That legitimised it, and got rid of the outdated tag. It gave our catalog renewed popularity.”
At that time, the Answer’s debut album was still not available in the US, so Guitar Hero served as a primary platform for exposure for the band during their a North American tour opening for AC/DC. “Their crew were playing Never Too Late on the tour bus, and some of them recognized us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles Enduring Impact
Music's heavyweight names soon capitalised on the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in specialized spin-off titles that focused on each band’s catalogue and related stories, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said earned the band greater revenue compared to their studio albums. It sold more than half a million copies upon release, and sales of their songs saw an increase of up to 40% at a time as the industry was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire nimble-fingered fanaticism within the community. Earlier this year, an online personality achieved an impressive attempt featuring Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult anthem popularized through Guitar Hero – using a fan-made version, a no-cost alternative with almost identical mechanics and extensive customisation options. This track is difficult enough on expert mode, let alone performed at increased tempo and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. They stated requiring months of practice to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero offers a, imaginary experience. Just as with other games, 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 Through the Fire and Flames was featured in the third game, but Li says it turned them into widely recognized. “I recall our distributors calling to tell me that we were selling albums rapidly,” he says. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we were playing just before top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it threatened to eclipsing all other accomplishments. Recently, the track was used in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I felt otherwise, but now I accept it,” Li says. “Should you just listen to a single track, that's fine – everyone’s got their own path in music and I’m glad we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Legacy from the Plastic Guitar
The best marketing, be it for automobiles, clothes or games, goes further than selling something – it evokes a longing. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “That’s exactly what our team trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of performing as a music icon in the spotlight. From day one, the creators felt that humans have a natural human desire to create songs, and their goal was to use technology to enable everyone to do it”.
Most installments came out in just a half-decade from 2005 to 2010, featuring derivative titles such as the DJ version, including a turntable controller, and Band Hero. After that, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments died down, aside from a brief comeback in 2015.
Games such as the fan project and newer releases have maintained the scene active, with set to be a new product from the founders on the way. Recently formed developers has begun work on their first rhythm-based title. The initial creators are both involved in advisory roles. Is the world ready to embrace another game in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed those games could be similar to sports games allowing annual update every year,” he remarks. “There’s so much new music that it could be evergreen, thus I remain hopeful. It's entirely possible why it can’t persist for future fans.”
