It has been 20 years after Guitar Hero hit the market across the Atlantic, giving players everywhere the means to become rock legends. Not literally, but try telling that anyone who's mastered the epic lengthy instrumental break before a packed living-room audience.
Created by the developers, Guitar Hero provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to match coloured notes moving along the screen in time with a song. Every sequence corresponded to specific notes, creating the feel of an authentic performance.
The studio had already tried its hand with rhythm games before partnering with RedOctane, which was purchased by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar series which made a significant impact on numerous of the artists featured, showcasing decades-old groups to millions of younger players.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, remembers the initial financial challenges in securing the recordings – even though the first two games mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced every song since the dollar figure was so high,” he explains. “Despite having the publishing rights by themselves, it proved nearly impossible. We couldn’t get bands like the Who – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was fairly certain the project would flop. But once Guitar Hero became a hit, and record sales airtime increased, everyone wanted to be in.”
He adds: “Among the amazing things was the number of parents got in touch expressing gratitude for exposing their kids to the music they loved. It became an intergenerational thing.”
Timeless Music Gains a New Audience
Northern Irish group the Answer had Never Too Late on the 2008 game the popular installment. Guitarist Paul Mahon remembers how the series revived classic rock back into vogue: “The game offered a bigger, new demographic. Typically such music was considered outdated material, but then once it got featured on the game and teenagers discovered it, suddenly it became trendy. That legitimised the genre, and got rid of the outdated tag. It provided our catalog a new life.”
At that time, the Answer’s debut album was still not available stateside, meaning the game served as a primary platform 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 some of them knew us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.
Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs and Lasting Influence
Music's biggest acts soon capitalised on the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in dedicated spin-off titles that focused on their music collections and related stories, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly to have made the band more money than any of their studio albums. It moved more than 500,000 copies in its first week, and sales of Aerosmith’s music rose of up to 40% at a time when the music business faced decline.
The series continues to inspire quick-handed dedication within the community. Recently, an online personality completed a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s the challenging track – a notoriously difficult anthem made popular by the game – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with similar gameplay and extensive personalization features. This track is difficult enough on the hardest setting, let alone performed at double speed while hitting a single one of its near 4,000 notes. They stated it took nine months to accomplish.
“The game offers a, imaginary experience. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to use actual weapons and enlist,” says musician the artist.
DragonForce previously wrapped up a profitable run before Through the Fire and Flames appeared in the third game, but Li says it made them a household name. “I remember the record label calling to tell me that our records were moving rapidly,” he shares. “It exploded when we next toured, and we were playing just before top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure via the game proved so vast that it has threatened to overshadow all other the band has done. Last year, the track was used in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I thought differently, but now I accept it,” he admits. “If you only hear one DragonForce song, that's fine – each person has a unique musical journey and I’m glad we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
Enduring Legacy from the Iconic Controller
The best marketing, whether it’s for cars, clothes or games, extends beyond mere transactions – it evokes a desire. Was the game able to tap into that? “That’s exactly what our team aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a music icon in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the creators believed humans have a natural urge to create songs, and they wanted to leverage innovation to allow people to participate”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games were released over a mere five-year period between 2005 and 2010, including derivative titles such as DJ Hero, complete with a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, corporate focus in plastic instruments waned, aside from a short-lived revival several years later.
Games such as Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have kept the scene active, with set to be something from the original publisher on the way. Recently formed developers has entered work on their first music game. The initial creators are both involved in advisory roles. Are gamers ready to embrace a new entry in the spirit of the classic?
“Our team believed those games might become similar to sports games where you can update every year,” he remarks. “There’s so much new music that it could be perennially popular, thus I remain optimistic. It's entirely possible for it to persist with new generations.”
