It has been 20 years after Guitar Hero first launched in North America, providing players everywhere the means to become rock legends. Figuratively speaking, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that anyone who's nailed the epic lengthy guitar solo in front of a packed crowd of friends.
Developed by Harmonix, Guitar Hero gave players a guitar-shaped controller to follow on-screen cues moving along the screen synchronized to the music. Each riff mimicked particular chords, producing the feel of a genuine live show.
The studio had already tried its hand in the music genre before partnering with RedOctane, later acquired by Activision during the mid-2000s. Together, they laid the foundations for an unlikely massively profitable series which made a remarkable impact for many musicians included, showcasing classic bands to millions of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, recalls the initial financial challenges in securing the songs – despite the fact initial releases primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced every song because the cost prohibitive,” he explains. “Even with the publishing rights alone, it proved extremely difficult. We couldn’t get acts such as the Who – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were fairly certain the project would flop. However, when Guitar Hero became a hit, album purchases and radio play increased, everyone wanted to be in.”
He continues: “Among the remarkable aspects was how many mothers and fathers reached out expressing gratitude for exposing their children to the songs they adored. It became a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Gains Younger Fans
Northern Irish group the Answer included Never Too Late on the 2008 game the popular installment. Lead musician the artist remembers how the series brought classic rock back into vogue: “Guitar Hero provided a bigger, younger audience. Typically this had been seen as outdated material, but then once it got featured on the game and teenagers were finding it, suddenly it was cool. This validated it, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It provided all our music a new life.”
At that time, the Answer’s debut album remained not available in the US, so Guitar Hero was a key medium of discovery for the group during their US tour supporting the rock giants. “The roadies had on Never Too Late on the tour bus, and several knew us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Major Band Titles and Lasting Impact
Music's biggest acts quickly capitalised on the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in dedicated spin-off titles that focused on their music collections and associated lore, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly to have made the band greater revenue compared to their records. It moved well over 500,000 units in its first week, while demand for their songs rose significantly during an era when the music business faced decline.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire nimble-fingered dedication among its fans. Earlier this year, a streamer achieved an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s the challenging track – an infamously tough anthem popularized through the game – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with almost identical mechanics and extensive personalization features. The song is difficult even in expert mode, let alone performed at double speed while hitting a single one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer claimed requiring nine months of practice.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, imaginary experience. If you play Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you ought to pick up a real gun and enlist,” says musician the artist.
DragonForce had already completed a successful tour when their hit appeared on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it turned them into widely recognized. “I remember our distributors informing us that our records were moving rapidly,” he says. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we performed right ahead of the headliners at the event.”
Indeed, the band's visibility via the game proved so vast that it risked overshadow all other accomplishments. Recently, the track was used in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I felt otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “Should you just hear one DragonForce song, that's fine – everyone’s got their own path in music and I’m glad we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Impact from the Iconic Controller
The best marketing, whether it’s for automobiles, apparel or video games, goes further mere transactions – it inspires a longing. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “Precisely what our team aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of being a music icon in the spotlight. From day one, the creators believed humans have a natural urge to make music, and their goal was to leverage innovation to enable everyone to participate”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games were released over a mere half-decade from 2005 to 2010, featuring derivative titles such as the DJ version, including a turntable controller, and Band Hero. After that, corporate focus on peripherals died down, except for a short-lived revival several years later.
Titles such as the fan project and Fortnite Festival have maintained the community alive, and there’s set to be a new product from the original publisher in development. A new studio has begun work on their first music game. Original co-founders are participating as special advisers. Is the world prepared to welcome another game in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed those games might become similar to sports games allowing annual releases,” he remarks. “There’s so much fresh tracks it could remain evergreen, so I’ve always been hopeful. It's entirely possible why it can’t continue with new generations.”
