Marking two decades after the legendary game hit the market across the Atlantic, offering players everywhere the means to feel like rock legends. Not literally, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing anyone who has nailed Free Bird’s four-minute instrumental break in front of an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by the developers, the game gave players a guitar-shaped controller to follow on-screen cues moving along the screen in time with a song. Each riff corresponded to particular chords, producing the feel of an authentic performance.
Harmonix previously tried its hand with rhythm games before partnering with the publisher, which was purchased by Activision in 2006. Together, they laid the foundations for a surprising massively profitable series which made a remarkable influence on numerous of the artists featured, introducing classic bands to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, recalls the initial financial challenges in securing the songs – despite the fact initial releases mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced all the music because the dollar figure was so high,” he says. “Despite having the publishing rights by themselves, it was extremely difficult. We couldn’t get bands like legendary groups – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was fairly certain it would fail. But once the game took off, and record sales airtime were going up, everyone wanted to participate.”
He adds: “One of the remarkable aspects was how many parents reached out expressing gratitude for exposing their children to the songs they adored. It became an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Gains a New Audience
Irish group the Answer included their track on the 2008 game the popular installment. Lead musician the artist recalls the way the game revived classic rock back into vogue: “The game offered a larger, younger audience. Typically such music was considered music that was past it, however when it was included in the title and teenagers were finding it, suddenly it was cool. That legitimised it, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ label. It gave our catalog renewed popularity.”
At that time, the Answer’s debut album was still unreleased in the US, meaning the game was a key medium for exposure for the band during their a North American tour supporting 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 quickly capitalised on the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in dedicated game editions that focused on each band’s catalogue and related stories, visuals and legendary status. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said earned the group greater revenue than any of their records. It moved well over half a million units upon release, while sales of Aerosmith’s music rose significantly during an era when the music business faced decline.
The series continues to inspire quick-handed dedication within the community. Earlier this year, an online personality achieved an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough anthem made popular by Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with similar gameplay but an array of customisation options. This track is challenging even in the hardest setting, let alone played at double speed and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. The streamer claimed it took months of practice of practice.
“Guitar Hero offers a, fantasy thing. If you play other games, it doesn't imply you should 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, yet he explains it turned them into a household name. “I recall our distributors informing us that we were selling albums rapidly,” he shares. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we were playing right ahead of the headliners at the event.”
Indeed, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it has threatened to eclipsing everything else accomplishments. Last year, the song was used in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I felt otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “If you only listen to a single track, it’s totally cool – each person has a unique path in music and I’m glad we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
Enduring Legacy of a Plastic Guitar
The best promotion, whether it’s for automobiles, clothes or video games, goes further than selling something – it evokes a longing. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “That’s exactly what we were trying to create,” he confirms. “The excitement of performing as a music icon on the stage. Since the beginning, the creators felt that humans have a natural human desire to create songs, and they wanted to use technology to allow people to do it”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games came out over a mere half-decade between 2005 and 2010, including derivative titles such as the DJ version, complete with a turntable controller, and Band Hero. Subsequently, corporate focus on peripherals waned, except for a short-lived revival in 2015.
Games like Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have kept the community active, with expectations of a new product from the original publisher on the way. A new studio has entered production on its debut music game. Original co-founders are both involved as special advisers. Are gamers ready to embrace another game in the spirit of the classic?
“Our team believed those games might become like Madden allowing annual update every year,” he remarks. “With abundant fresh tracks that it could be perennially popular, thus I remain optimistic. There’s no reason why it can’t continue for future fans.”
