Marking 20 years since Guitar Hero debuted across the Atlantic, providing everyday gamers the opportunity to become rock legends. Not in reality, but try telling that someone who has mastered Free Bird’s lengthy guitar solo before an enthusiastic crowd of friends.
Developed by Harmonix, Guitar Hero gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to match on-screen cues scrolling down the display synchronized to the music. Each riff mimicked particular chords, producing the feel of a genuine performance.
Harmonix previously tried its hand with rhythm games prior to teaming up with the publisher, which was purchased by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they established the groundwork for an unlikely massively profitable franchise that had a significant impact on numerous of the artists included, introducing classic groups to millions of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO from the developer, remembers the initial budgetary hurdles in securing the songs – despite the fact the first two games primarily featured cover versions.
“We reproduced all the music because the cost was so high,” he says. “Despite having the publishing rights by themselves, it was nearly impossible. We couldn’t get bands like the Who – the publisher had virtually no money, and we were pretty convinced it would fail. However, when Guitar Hero became a hit, and record sales airtime increased, everyone wanted to participate.”
He continues: “Among the amazing things was how many mothers and fathers reached out expressing gratitude for introducing their kids to the music they loved. It became a multigenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Gains a New Audience
Northern Irish group one featured act had their track in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist Paul Mahon recalls the way the game revived older hits back into vogue: “Guitar Hero provided a bigger, new demographic. Typically such music was seen as outdated material, but then when it was included in the title and teenagers discovered it, abruptly it was cool. This validated it, and got rid of the outdated tag. It provided our catalog a new life.”
In 2008, the band's debut album was still not available in the US, meaning the game served as a primary platform of discovery for the band during their US tour supporting AC/DC. “Their crew had on Never Too Late on the tour bus, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Major Band Spin-offs Enduring Impact
Rock’s heavyweight names soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in specialized game editions that focused on each band’s catalogue and related stories, visuals and legendary status. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly to have made the band more money than any of their studio albums. It sold more than half a million units upon release, while sales of their songs saw an increase significantly during an era as the industry was already collapsing.
The series continues to inspire nimble-fingered fanaticism among its fans. Recently, a streamer achieved an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult anthem popularized through Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with similar gameplay but an array of customisation options. This track is challenging enough on expert mode, let alone performed at double speed and without missing every one of the thousands of cues. They stated it took months of practice of practice.
“The game offers a, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you should pick up a real gun and go to war,” notes DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
DragonForce had already wrapped up a successful tour before Through the Fire and Flames was featured in the third game, yet he explains it made them widely recognized. “I recall our distributors informing us that we were selling albums rapidly,” he says. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we were playing right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it threatened to overshadow everything else accomplishments. Recently, the song featured in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I thought otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “Should you just listen to one DragonForce song, that's fine – everyone’s got their own musical journey and I'm pleased we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Legacy of a Plastic Guitar
The best promotion, be it for automobiles, apparel or video games, goes further mere transactions – it inspires a longing. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “Precisely what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of performing as a rock star on the stage. Since the beginning, the creators believed humans have a natural human desire to make music, and their goal was to leverage innovation to allow people to do it”.
The majority installments were released in just a five-year period from 2005 to 2010, including derivative titles like DJ Hero, including a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. After that, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments died down, aside from a short-lived revival several years later.
Games like the fan project and newer releases have maintained the community alive, with expectations of a new product from the original publisher in development. Recently formed developers has entered production on their first rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are both involved as special advisers. Are gamers prepared to welcome another game following the classic?
“We thought those games could be like Madden allowing annual update every year,” he remarks. “There’s so much fresh tracks that it could be perennially popular, so I’ve always been optimistic. There’s no reason for it to persist for future fans.”
