Marking two decades after the legendary game hit the market in North America, providing everyday gamers the means to become rock legends. Not literally, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing anyone who's nailed the epic lengthy instrumental break in front of a packed living-room audience.
Created by the developers, the game gave players a guitar-shaped controller to follow on-screen cues moving along the screen synchronized to a song. Each riff corresponded to particular chords, creating the sensation of an authentic performance.
Harmonix had already experimented in the music genre before partnering with RedOctane, later acquired by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they established the foundations for a surprising billion-dollar series that had a remarkable impact on numerous of the artists included, showcasing classic bands to millions of younger players.
A former executive, former COO from the developer, remembers the initial financial challenges in securing the recordings – despite the fact the first two games primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced every song since the dollar figure was so high,” he explains. “Despite having the publishing rights by themselves, it was nearly impossible. We couldn’t get bands like the Who – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was fairly certain it would fail. However, when the game became a hit, and record sales airtime were going up, all artists desired to participate.”
He continues: “Among the remarkable aspects was the number of parents got in touch expressing gratitude for introducing their children to the music they adored. It became an intergenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Gains a New Audience
Irish blues-rock band the Answer included Never Too Late on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist Paul Mahon recalls the way the game brought older hits to the forefront: “The game offered a bigger, new demographic. Generally such music was seen as music that was past it, however when it was featured on the title and teenagers discovered it, suddenly it became trendy. This validated the genre, and got rid of the outdated tag. It provided our catalog a new life.”
In 2008, the Answer’s debut album remained not available stateside, so the game was a key medium of discovery for the band during their a North American tour supporting AC/DC. “The roadies had on Never Too Late on the tour bus, and several recognized us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Major Band Titles and Lasting Influence
Rock’s heavyweight names quickly capitalised on the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in specialized game editions centered around their music collections and related lore, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly earned the group greater revenue compared to their studio albums. It sold well over 500,000 copies in its first week, while demand for their songs rose significantly at a time as the industry faced decline.
Guitar Hero still motivates nimble-fingered dedication among its fans. Recently, a streamer achieved an impressive attempt featuring the challenging track – an infamously tough anthem made popular by Guitar Hero – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with similar gameplay but an array of personalization features. This track is difficult even in the hardest setting, not to mention performed at increased tempo and without missing every one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer claimed requiring months of practice to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, imaginary experience. Just as with other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to use a real gun and go to war,” notes DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
The band previously completed a successful tour when Through the Fire and Flames appeared in the third game, yet he explains it made them widely recognized. “I remember our distributors calling to tell me that we were selling albums rapidly,” he says. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we performed right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, the band's visibility via the game proved so vast that it threatened to eclipsing all other accomplishments. Last year, the song featured in promotional material for a major film. “Previously I felt otherwise, but now I accept it,” he admits. “Should you just listen to one DragonForce song, that's fine – everyone’s got their own path in music and I’m glad we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Legacy of a Plastic Guitar
Top-tier promotion, be it for cars, apparel or games, goes further mere transactions – it inspires a longing. Was the game able to tap into that? “Precisely what our team aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of performing as a rock star in the spotlight. From day one, the co-founders believed there’s an instinctive human desire to create songs, and their goal was to use technology to allow people to participate”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games came out in just a half-decade between 2005 and 2010, featuring derivative titles such as DJ Hero, complete with a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, corporate focus on peripherals died down, aside from a short-lived revival in 2015.
Titles such as Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have maintained the community active, and there’s expectations of a new product from the original publisher in development. Recently formed developers has entered production on their first music game. Original co-founders are both involved as special advisers. Are gamers ready to embrace another game following Guitar Hero?
“We thought those games might become like Madden where you can releases,” he remarks. “There’s so much new music that it could be perennially popular, so I’ve always been optimistic. It's entirely possible for it to continue with new generations.”
