Marking 20 years after Guitar Hero hit the market across the Atlantic, offering everyday gamers the means to feel like rock legends. Figuratively speaking, but try convincing someone who has mastered the epic four-minute instrumental break before a packed living-room audience.
Developed by the developers, Guitar Hero provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to match coloured notes moving along the display in time with a song. Every sequence mimicked particular chords, creating the sensation of a genuine performance.
Harmonix had already experimented in the music genre prior to teaming up with RedOctane, which was acquired by Activision during the mid-2000s. Together, they laid the groundwork for an unlikely billion-dollar series that had a remarkable impact for many musicians included, introducing classic bands to a new generation of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, recalls the early financial challenges in securing the recordings – even though the first two games mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced every song because the dollar figure was so high,” he says. “Despite having the necessary permissions alone, it was extremely difficult. We failed to secure bands like the Who – RedOctane had virtually no money, and we were fairly certain it would fail. But once the game became a hit, album purchases and radio play increased, everyone wanted to be in.”
He continues: “One of the amazing things was the number of parents reached out expressing gratitude for exposing their kids to the songs they adored. It evolved into an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Finds Younger Fans
Irish blues-rock band one featured act had their track on the 2008 game the popular installment. Lead musician the artist recalls the way the game brought older hits to the forefront: “Guitar Hero offered a larger, new demographic. Generally this had been seen as outdated material, but then when it was included in the title young people discovered it, abruptly it became trendy. This validated the genre, and got rid of the outdated tag. It provided all our music a new life.”
In 2008, the Answer’s debut album was still not available in the US, meaning the game was a key medium of discovery for the band as they went on US tour opening for AC/DC. “Their crew had on the song during travel, and some of them recognized us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.
Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs and Lasting Impact
Music's biggest acts soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in dedicated game editions that focused on their music collections and associated lore, visuals and legendary status. For example, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly earned the group more money than any of their records. It sold more than 500,000 copies in its first week, and sales of Aerosmith’s music rose significantly during an era as the industry faced decline.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire quick-handed dedication among its fans. Recently, an online personality achieved a remarkable feat featuring the challenging track – an infamously tough anthem made popular by Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with similar mechanics but an array of personalization features. This track is challenging even in the hardest setting, not to mention performed at double speed while hitting every one of its near 4,000 notes. They claimed requiring months of practice of practice.
“The game is a fun, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you should use actual weapons and go to war,” notes musician Herman Li.
The band previously wrapped up a profitable run before their hit appeared on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it made them widely recognized. “I remember our distributors informing us that we were selling albums like crazy,” he says. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we were playing just before the headliners at the event.”
Indeed, the band's visibility via the game proved so vast that it threatened to eclipsing all other the band has done. Recently, the track featured in a trailer for a major film. “In the past I thought otherwise, but now I accept it,” Li says. “Should you just hear a single track, it’s totally cool – each person has their own path in music and I'm pleased we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Impact of a Plastic Guitar
The best marketing, be it for automobiles, apparel or games, goes further than selling something – it evokes a longing. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “Precisely what our team aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a rock star on the stage. Since the beginning, the co-founders believed humans have a natural human desire to create songs, and their goal was to leverage innovation to allow people to participate”.
Most of Guitar Hero games came out in just a five-year period from 2005 to 2010, featuring spin-offs like the DJ version, including a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, corporate focus on peripherals died down, except for a short-lived revival in 2015.
Titles like Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have kept the scene active, and there’s expectations of something from the founders in development. Recently formed developers has entered production on their first rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are both involved in advisory roles. Are gamers ready to embrace a new entry following 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 fresh tracks that it could be evergreen, thus I remain hopeful. It's entirely possible for it to continue for future fans.”
