Marking 20 years after Guitar Hero first launched in North America, providing everyday gamers the opportunity to become a rock star. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that anyone who has mastered Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo in front of an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by the developers, the game provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to follow coloured notes scrolling down the screen in time with the music. Every sequence mimicked particular chords, producing the sensation of an authentic live show.
Harmonix previously tried its hand with rhythm games prior to teaming up with RedOctane, which was acquired by the gaming giant in 2006. Together, they established the groundwork for an unlikely massively profitable franchise that had a significant impact for many of the artists included, showcasing classic bands to a new generation of younger players.
A former executive, former COO of Harmonix, remembers the early budgetary hurdles of licensing the recordings – even though the first two games mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded all the music since the cost prohibitive,” he says. “Despite having the publishing rights alone, it was nearly impossible. We couldn’t get bands like the Who – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were pretty convinced it would fail. But once Guitar Hero became a hit, and record sales and radio play increased, everyone wanted to participate.”
He continues: “Among the remarkable aspects was how many mothers and fathers reached out and thanked us for introducing their children to the songs they adored. It became a multigenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Gains a New Audience
Irish group one featured act included their track on the 2008 game the popular installment. Guitarist Paul Mahon recalls how the series brought older hits to the forefront: “The game provided a larger, new demographic. Typically this had been considered music that was past it, however when it was featured on the title young people discovered it, suddenly it was cool. This validated it, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It gave all our music a new life.”
At that time, the band's first record remained not available in the US, so Guitar Hero was a key medium of discovery for the band during their US tour supporting AC/DC. “The roadies had on the song during travel, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Major Band Spin-offs and Lasting Influence
Music's biggest acts quickly capitalised on the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in specialized game editions that focused on each band’s catalogue and associated stories, visuals and legendary status. For example, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly earned the band more money than any of their studio albums. It moved more than half a million copies in its first week, and demand for Aerosmith’s music rose of up to 40% during an era when the music business was already collapsing.
The series continues to inspire quick-handed dedication among its fans. Earlier this year, a streamer completed an impressive attempt featuring Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult power-metal song made popular by the game – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with similar mechanics but an array of personalization features. The song is challenging enough on the hardest setting, not to mention performed at double speed and without missing a single one of its near 4,000 notes. They claimed requiring nine months to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, imaginary experience. Just as with other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to pick up actual weapons and enlist,” says DragonForce guitarist the artist.
DragonForce had already wrapped up a successful tour when their hit was featured on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it turned them into a household name. “I remember our distributors informing us that our selling albums like crazy,” he shares. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we were playing just before top acts at the event.”
In fact, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it risked eclipsing all other accomplishments. Last year, the track featured in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I thought differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “Should you just hear one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got a unique path in music and I’m glad we played a role of people’s lives”.
Enduring Legacy of a Plastic Guitar
Top-tier marketing, be it for cars, apparel or video games, extends beyond mere transactions – it inspires a longing. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “Precisely what our team aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “That thrill of performing as a music icon on the stage. From day one, the co-founders believed humans have a natural urge to make music, and they wanted to use technology to enable everyone to do it”.
Most of Guitar Hero games were released over a mere five-year period from 2005 to 2010, featuring derivative titles like the DJ version, complete with a turntable controller, and Band Hero. After that, corporate focus on peripherals died down, except for a brief comeback in 2015.
Games such as Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have kept the scene alive, and there’s expectations of something from the original publisher in development. A new studio has entered work on their first rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are both involved in advisory roles. Is the world prepared to welcome a new entry following Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed such titles could be like Madden allowing annual releases,” he remarks. “With abundant new music that it could be evergreen, so I’ve always been optimistic. There’s no reason for it to continue with new generations.”
