It has been two decades after Guitar Hero first launched across the Atlantic, offering players everywhere the opportunity to feel like rock legends. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that anyone who's mastered the epic lengthy guitar solo before a packed living-room audience.
Developed by the developers, the game gave players a guitar-shaped controller to match on-screen cues scrolling down the display in time with a song. Every sequence corresponded to specific notes, producing the sensation of an authentic performance.
Harmonix previously experimented with rhythm games before partnering with the publisher, later acquired by Activision in 2006. Collaboratively, they laid the groundwork for an unlikely massively profitable franchise which made a significant influence for many musicians featured, introducing decades-old groups to a new generation of younger players.
A former executive, former COO from the developer, recalls the initial financial challenges of licensing the songs – even though the first two games primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced all the music since the dollar figure prohibitive,” he says. “Even with the necessary permissions by themselves, it was nearly impossible. We couldn’t get acts such as legendary groups – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was pretty convinced the project would flop. However, when Guitar Hero became a hit, album purchases airtime were going up, all artists desired to participate.”
He continues: “One of the remarkable aspects was the number of parents reached out and thanked us for exposing their kids to the songs they loved. It evolved into an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Gains a New Audience
Northern Irish group the Answer had Never Too Late in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist the artist remembers the way the game revived older hits back into vogue: “The game provided a bigger, younger audience. Typically such music was seen as music that was past it, but then once it got included in the game and teenagers were finding it, suddenly it became trendy. This validated the genre, and got rid of the outdated tag. It provided all our music renewed popularity.”
At that time, the Answer’s debut album remained unreleased in the US, meaning Guitar Hero served as a primary platform of discovery for the band during their US tour opening for AC/DC. “Their crew had on Never Too Late during travel, and several knew us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Major Band Spin-offs and Lasting Influence
Music's biggest acts soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in dedicated spin-off titles that focused on each band’s catalogue and associated lore, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly to have made the band greater revenue than any of their studio albums. It sold more than 500,000 units in its first week, and demand for Aerosmith’s music saw an increase significantly at a time as the industry faced decline.
The series continues to inspire nimble-fingered fanaticism among its fans. Recently, a streamer completed an impressive attempt featuring the challenging track – a notoriously difficult anthem made popular by Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with similar gameplay and extensive customisation options. 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. They stated requiring nine months to accomplish.
“The game is a fun, fantasy thing. If you play other games, it doesn't imply you should pick up actual weapons and go to war,” says musician the artist.
The band previously wrapped up a profitable run when Through the Fire and Flames was featured in the third game, yet he explains it turned them into widely recognized. “I remember the record label calling to tell me that our selling albums like crazy,” he says. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we were playing right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure via the game was so immense that it has risked overshadow everything else accomplishments. Recently, the song featured in promotional material for a major film. “In the past I felt differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “Should you just listen to a single track, that's fine – everyone’s got a unique musical journey and I’m glad we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Impact of a Iconic Controller
The best marketing, whether it’s for automobiles, apparel or games, goes further than selling something – it evokes a longing. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “That’s exactly what our team aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “The excitement of being a music icon in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the co-founders believed there’s an instinctive urge to create songs, and their goal was to use technology to allow people to do it”.
Most of Guitar Hero games came out over a mere five-year period from 2005 to 2010, including spin-offs such as DJ Hero, complete with a turntable controller, and Band Hero. After that, corporate focus on peripherals died down, aside from a brief comeback several years later.
Games like the fan project and Fortnite Festival have maintained the scene alive, and there’s expectations of a new product from the original publisher in development. Recently formed developers has entered work on their first music game. The initial creators are participating as special advisers. Is the world ready to embrace another game following the classic?
“We thought such titles could be like Madden where you can releases,” he remarks. “With abundant new music that it could be evergreen, so I’ve always been optimistic. There’s no reason for it to continue for future fans.”
