Marking 20 years since the legendary game first launched in North America, providing everyday gamers the tools to feel like rock legends. Figuratively speaking, but try convincing someone who's mastered Free Bird’s lengthy instrumental break in front of a packed living-room audience.
Developed by the developers, the game gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to match coloured notes moving along the screen synchronized to a song. Each riff corresponded to specific notes, producing the feel of an authentic live show.
Harmonix had already experimented in the music genre before partnering with the publisher, which was purchased by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they laid the groundwork for an unlikely billion-dollar franchise that had a significant impact on numerous of the artists featured, showcasing decades-old groups to millions of younger players.
A former executive, former COO of Harmonix, remembers the initial financial challenges in securing the recordings – despite the fact initial releases mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced every song because the cost prohibitive,” he explains. “Even with the necessary permissions alone, it proved nearly impossible. We couldn’t get bands like legendary groups – RedOctane had virtually no money, and we were pretty convinced it would fail. However, when Guitar Hero became a hit, and record sales and radio play increased, everyone wanted to participate.”
He continues: “Among the amazing things was the number of parents reached out expressing gratitude for introducing their kids to the songs they loved. It evolved into an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Gains Younger Fans
Irish group the Answer had their track on the 2008 game the popular installment. Guitarist the artist remembers the way the game revived older hits back into vogue: “Guitar Hero offered a bigger, new demographic. Generally such music was considered outdated material, but then once it got included in the title young people were finding it, suddenly it was cool. This validated it, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ label. It provided our catalog renewed popularity.”
At that time, the band's first record remained unreleased stateside, meaning the game served as a primary platform for exposure for the group as they went on a North American tour supporting the rock giants. “Their crew had on Never Too Late during travel, and several knew us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs and Lasting Impact
Rock’s heavyweight names soon took advantage of the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in specialized game editions centered around their music collections and related lore, imagery and legendary status. For example, the Aerosmith edition, it was said to have made the band more money compared to their records. It moved well over half a million units in its first week, while sales of Aerosmith’s music saw an increase significantly during an era when the music business was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire nimble-fingered dedication among its fans. Recently, an online personality completed an impressive attempt featuring the challenging track – an infamously tough power-metal song popularized through the game – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with almost identical gameplay and extensive personalization features. The song is challenging enough on the hardest setting, let alone performed at increased tempo while hitting every one of the thousands of cues. The streamer claimed requiring months of practice to accomplish.
“The game offers a, fantasy thing. Just as with Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you ought to pick up a real gun and go to war,” notes DragonForce guitarist the artist.
The band previously wrapped up a successful tour when their hit was featured on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it made them a household name. “I remember our distributors informing us that our records were moving rapidly,” he says. “It exploded when we next toured, and we were playing just before the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, the band's visibility via the game proved so vast that it risked eclipsing all other the band has done. Last year, the song featured in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I thought differently, but now I accept it,” he admits. “If you only listen to one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got their own path in music and I’m glad we played a role of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Impact of a Plastic Guitar
Top-tier marketing, be it for automobiles, apparel or video games, goes further mere transactions – it evokes a longing. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “That’s exactly what our team trying to create,” he confirms. “The excitement of performing as a rock star in the spotlight. From day one, the creators felt that there’s an instinctive urge to make music, and they wanted to use technology to allow people to do it”.
Most of Guitar Hero games came out over a mere half-decade between 2005 and 2010, featuring derivative titles such as DJ Hero, including a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest on peripherals waned, aside from a brief comeback several years later.
Games such as the fan project and Fortnite Festival have maintained the community alive, and there’s set to be a new product from the founders on the way. Recently formed developers has entered work on their first music game. The initial creators are both involved in advisory roles. Is the world prepared to welcome another game in the spirit of the classic?
“We thought those games could be similar to sports games allowing annual releases,” he remarks. “There’s so much fresh tracks it could remain evergreen, thus I remain hopeful. There’s no reason why it can’t persist for future fans.”
