Marking 20 years after the legendary game hit the market across the Atlantic, giving players everywhere the opportunity to become rock legends. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that someone who's nailed Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo before an enthusiastic crowd of friends.
Created by Harmonix, the game gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to match coloured notes scrolling down the screen in time with a song. Every sequence mimicked specific notes, producing the feel of a genuine live show.
Harmonix had already experimented with rhythm games prior to teaming up with RedOctane, which was purchased by Activision during the mid-2000s. Together, they established the groundwork for an unlikely billion-dollar franchise that had a significant influence on numerous musicians included, introducing decades-old bands to a new generation of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO from the developer, recalls the initial financial challenges in securing the songs – even though the first two games primarily featured cover versions.
“We rerecorded every song since the cost was so high,” he says. “Despite having the publishing rights by themselves, it proved extremely difficult. We couldn’t get acts such as the Who – RedOctane had virtually no money, and our team was pretty convinced the project would flop. But once Guitar Hero took off, and record sales and radio play increased, all artists desired to participate.”
He adds: “Among the remarkable aspects was the number of mothers and fathers reached out expressing gratitude for exposing their children to the music they adored. It evolved into an intergenerational thing.”
Timeless Music Finds a New Audience
Irish group the Answer had their track in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist the artist remembers how the series revived classic rock to the forefront: “The game provided a bigger, younger audience. Generally this had been considered outdated material, however when it was featured on the game young people discovered it, suddenly it became trendy. That legitimised the genre, and got rid of the outdated tag. It gave all our music a new life.”
In 2008, the band's debut album remained not available stateside, meaning the game served as a primary platform for exposure for the band as they went on US tour opening for AC/DC. “Their crew were playing Never Too Late during travel, and several recognized us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.
Major Band Spin-offs Enduring Impact
Music's heavyweight names quickly took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in specialized spin-off titles centered around their music collections and related lore, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly to have made the band greater revenue than any of their records. It moved more than 500,000 units upon release, and demand for Aerosmith’s music rose of up to 40% at a time when the music business was already collapsing.
The series still motivates quick-handed fanaticism within the community. Earlier this year, a streamer completed a remarkable feat featuring the challenging track – an infamously tough power-metal song made popular by Guitar Hero – using a fan-made version, a no-cost alternative with almost identical mechanics and extensive personalization features. The song is difficult enough on expert mode, let alone performed at double speed while hitting every one of its near 4,000 notes. They stated requiring nine months to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero offers a, fantasy thing. Just as with Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you should use actual weapons and go to war,” says DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
The band previously wrapped up a successful tour before their hit appeared in the third game, but Li says it turned them into widely recognized. “I recall the record label informing us that we were selling albums like crazy,” he says. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we were playing right ahead of top acts at the event.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it threatened to overshadow all other the band has done. Recently, the song was used in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I felt otherwise, but now I accept it,” he admits. “If you only hear one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got their own musical journey and I'm pleased we played a role of people’s lives”.
Enduring Impact from the Plastic Guitar
Top-tier marketing, be it for cars, clothes or games, goes further than selling something – it inspires a longing. Was the game able to tap into that? “Precisely what our team aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of being a music icon on the stage. Since the beginning, the creators felt that humans have a natural urge to create songs, and they wanted to leverage innovation to enable everyone to participate”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games were released in just a five-year period between 2005 and 2010, including derivative titles like the DJ version, complete with a spinning deck, and Band Hero. After that, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments died down, except for a short-lived revival in 2015.
Titles such as Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have maintained the community active, and there’s set to be something from the original publisher in development. A new studio has begun work on its debut music game. Original co-founders are both involved as special advisers. Are gamers prepared to welcome a new entry following the classic?
“Our team believed those games could be similar to sports games where you can update every year,” he remarks. “With abundant fresh tracks that it could be perennially popular, so I’ve always been hopeful. It's entirely possible why it can’t continue for future fans.”
