Marking 20 years since the legendary game debuted in North America, offering everyday gamers the opportunity to become rock legends. Figuratively speaking, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing someone who's nailed the epic lengthy guitar solo in front of a packed living-room audience.
Created by the developers, the game provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to match on-screen cues moving along the display synchronized to the music. Every sequence mimicked particular chords, creating the sensation of a genuine live show.
The studio had already tried its hand with rhythm games prior to teaming up with the publisher, which was purchased by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they laid the groundwork for a surprising billion-dollar series which made a remarkable influence for many musicians featured, introducing classic groups to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, recalls the initial financial challenges of licensing the songs – even though initial releases mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded all the music since the cost prohibitive,” he says. “Despite having the necessary permissions by themselves, it proved nearly impossible. We couldn’t get acts such as the Who – the publisher had virtually no money, and we were fairly certain the project would flop. But once Guitar Hero became a hit, and record sales and radio play increased, all artists desired to be in.”
He adds: “Among the amazing things was the number of mothers and fathers reached out and thanked us for introducing their children to the music they adored. It became a multigenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Finds a New Audience
Irish group the Answer included Never Too Late on the 2008 game the popular installment. Lead musician Paul Mahon remembers how the series revived classic rock back into vogue: “The game provided a larger, younger audience. Typically this had been seen as outdated material, however once it got included in the game and teenagers were finding it, abruptly it was cool. This validated the genre, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ label. It gave our catalog renewed popularity.”
At that time, the band's debut album was still unreleased in the US, so Guitar Hero was a key medium for exposure for the group during their US tour opening for AC/DC. “The roadies were playing the song during travel, and some of them knew us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles and Lasting Influence
Rock’s heavyweight names quickly capitalised on the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in dedicated game editions centered around each band’s catalogue and associated lore, imagery and legendary status. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly earned the group greater revenue compared to their records. It moved more than 500,000 units in its first week, and sales of their songs saw an increase of up to 40% during an era as the industry faced decline.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire nimble-fingered fanaticism among its fans. Recently, a streamer completed an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult anthem made popular by Guitar Hero – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with almost identical gameplay but an array of customisation options. The song is difficult enough on the hardest setting, not to mention played at double speed while hitting every one of the thousands of cues. The streamer stated requiring months of practice to accomplish.
“The game offers a, fantasy thing. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you should pick up actual weapons and go to war,” notes musician the artist.
The band had already wrapped up a successful tour before Through the Fire and Flames was featured in the third game, but Li says it made them a household name. “I remember our distributors informing us that our selling albums like crazy,” he says. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we performed right ahead of the headliners at the event.”
Indeed, the band's visibility via the game proved so vast that it threatened to eclipsing everything else accomplishments. Last year, the song was used in a trailer for a major film. “Previously I felt differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “Should you just listen to one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got a unique path in music and I’m glad we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
Enduring Impact of a Plastic Guitar
The best promotion, be it for automobiles, clothes or video games, goes further mere transactions – it inspires a desire. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “That’s exactly what our team aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a rock star on the stage. From day one, the creators believed there’s an instinctive urge to create songs, and they wanted to use technology to enable everyone to do it”.
Most of Guitar Hero games came out in just a five-year period between 2005 and 2010, featuring spin-offs such as DJ Hero, including a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. After that, corporate focus in plastic instruments died down, aside from a short-lived revival in 2015.
Games such as Clone Hero and newer releases have maintained the community alive, and there’s set to be a new product from the original publisher in development. Recently formed developers has begun production on their first rhythm-based title. The initial creators are participating as special advisers. Are gamers prepared to welcome another game following the classic?
“Our team believed such titles might become similar to sports games allowing annual update every year,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant fresh tracks it could remain evergreen, so I’ve always been hopeful. It's entirely possible why it can’t persist for future fans.”
