It has been two decades since the legendary game debuted in North America, giving everyday gamers the opportunity to become rock legends. Figuratively speaking, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing someone who's mastered Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo before a packed living-room audience.
Developed by the developers, Guitar Hero provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to match on-screen cues moving along the screen in time with a song. Every sequence corresponded to specific notes, producing the sensation of a genuine performance.
The studio previously experimented with rhythm games before partnering with RedOctane, which was purchased by the gaming giant in 2006. Together, they laid the groundwork for a surprising billion-dollar series which made a remarkable impact for many of the artists included, showcasing decades-old groups to a new generation of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, recalls the early financial challenges in securing the songs – despite the fact initial releases mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced every song since the dollar figure was so high,” he explains. “Despite having the necessary permissions by themselves, it proved extremely difficult. We couldn’t get acts such as the Who – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was pretty convinced the project would flop. However, when Guitar Hero took off, album purchases and radio play increased, everyone wanted to participate.”
He continues: “One of the amazing things was how many parents got in touch expressing gratitude for exposing their children to the songs they loved. It evolved into an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Finds a New Audience
Irish group the Answer included their track in the 2008 release the popular installment. Lead musician the artist recalls the way the game revived older hits to the forefront: “The game offered a larger, younger audience. Generally such music was considered music that was past it, however once it got featured on the title and teenagers were finding it, abruptly it was cool. That legitimised it, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ label. It provided all our music a new life.”
At that time, the Answer’s debut album remained unreleased in the US, meaning the game served as a primary platform of discovery for the band during their a North American tour opening for AC/DC. “Their crew were playing Never Too Late during travel, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Major Band Spin-offs Enduring Impact
Music's biggest acts soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in dedicated game editions that focused on their music collections and related lore, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, it was said earned the band more money than any of their studio albums. It sold more than half a million units in its first week, and demand for Aerosmith’s music rose significantly during an era when the music business was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire nimble-fingered fanaticism among its fans. Recently, an online personality achieved an impressive attempt featuring Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult power-metal song popularized through the game – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with almost identical gameplay but an array of personalization features. This track is challenging even in the hardest setting, let alone played at increased tempo while hitting a single one of the thousands of cues. The streamer claimed requiring months of practice of practice.
“Guitar Hero offers a, fantasy thing. Just as with other games, it doesn't imply you should use a real gun and go to war,” says DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
The band had already completed a successful tour before their hit appeared on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it turned them into widely recognized. “I remember our distributors calling to tell me that our records were moving rapidly,” he says. “It exploded when we next toured, and we performed right ahead of top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero was so immense that it has risked overshadow all other the band has done. Last year, the song was used in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I felt otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “Should you just listen to a single track, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got their own musical journey and I’m glad we played a role in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Impact from the Iconic Controller
The best marketing, whether it’s for cars, clothes or games, goes further than selling something – it inspires a longing. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “Precisely what our team aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of being a rock star in the spotlight. From day one, the co-founders felt that humans have a natural urge to make music, and their goal was to leverage innovation to allow people to do it”.
Most of Guitar Hero games came out over a mere half-decade between 2005 and 2010, featuring spin-offs like DJ Hero, including a turntable controller, and Band Hero. After that, corporate focus in plastic instruments died down, except for a short-lived revival several years later.
Games like Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have maintained the community alive, and there’s expectations of a new product from the original publisher on the way. A new studio has begun work on their first rhythm-based title. The initial creators are participating in advisory roles. Are gamers ready to embrace another game in the spirit of the classic?
“We thought such titles might become similar to sports games allowing annual releases,” he remarks. “There’s so much fresh tracks that it could be evergreen, thus I remain optimistic. There’s no reason why it can’t continue for future fans.”
