Marking two decades since Guitar Hero debuted across the Atlantic, giving players everywhere the opportunity to feel like rock legends. Figuratively speaking, but try telling that anyone who has mastered Free Bird’s lengthy guitar solo before an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by the developers, the game provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to follow coloured notes moving along the screen synchronized to the music. Each riff corresponded to specific notes, creating the feel of an authentic live show.
The studio previously experimented with rhythm games prior to teaming up with the publisher, later acquired by Activision during the mid-2000s. Together, they laid the foundations for a surprising massively profitable franchise that had a remarkable influence on numerous of the artists included, showcasing 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 recordings – even though initial releases primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded every song because the cost prohibitive,” he explains. “Despite having the necessary permissions alone, it was nearly impossible. We failed to secure bands like legendary groups – the publisher had virtually no money, and our team was fairly certain the project would flop. But once Guitar Hero became a hit, album purchases and radio play were going up, all artists desired to be in.”
He adds: “One of the amazing things was the number of parents got in touch and thanked us for introducing their children to the music they loved. It became an intergenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Finds a New Audience
Irish group the Answer had Never Too Late on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist the artist remembers how the series revived classic rock to the forefront: “Guitar Hero offered a larger, new demographic. Generally this had been seen as music that was past it, but then when it was featured on the title young people were finding it, abruptly it was cool. This validated it, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ label. It provided all our music renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the Answer’s first record remained unreleased stateside, meaning Guitar Hero served as a primary platform of discovery for the group as they went on US tour opening for the rock giants. “The roadies had on the song during travel, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs Enduring Impact
Rock’s heavyweight names soon took advantage of the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in dedicated game editions centered around each band’s catalogue and associated stories, imagery and legendary status. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly to have made the group greater revenue compared to their studio albums. It sold more than 500,000 units in its first week, while demand for Aerosmith’s music rose significantly at a time as the industry was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero still motivates nimble-fingered dedication within the community. Recently, an online personality completed a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s the challenging track – an infamously tough power-metal song popularized through the game – using a fan-made version, a no-cost alternative with almost identical mechanics but an array of customisation options. The song is difficult enough on the hardest setting, let alone played at double speed and without missing every one of the thousands of cues. The streamer claimed requiring nine months to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, fantasy thing. Just as with other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to pick up actual weapons and go to war,” notes DragonForce guitarist the artist.
DragonForce previously wrapped up a successful tour when Through the Fire and Flames appeared in the third game, but Li says it made them a household name. “I remember the record label calling to tell me that our selling albums rapidly,” he shares. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we were playing just before top acts at the event.”
Indeed, the band's visibility via the game proved so vast that it has threatened to overshadow everything else the band has done. Last year, the track featured in a trailer for a major film. “In the past I felt otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “Should you just listen to one DragonForce song, that's fine – each person has their own musical journey and I'm pleased we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Impact of a Plastic Guitar
Top-tier marketing, whether it’s for automobiles, clothes or video games, extends beyond than selling something – it inspires a desire. Was the game able to harness this? “Precisely what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of performing as a music icon on the stage. Since the beginning, the creators believed there’s an instinctive human desire to make music, and they wanted to leverage innovation to enable everyone to participate”.
The majority installments were released over a mere half-decade between 2005 and 2010, including derivative titles like the DJ version, complete with a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, corporate focus in plastic instruments waned, except for a brief comeback several years later.
Titles like Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have maintained the scene alive, with expectations of a new product from the original publisher on the way. A new studio has begun work on their first music game. The initial creators are participating as special advisers. Are gamers prepared to welcome a new entry following Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed such titles could be similar to sports games allowing annual update every year,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant fresh tracks it could remain perennially popular, so I’ve always been optimistic. It's entirely possible why it can’t persist with new generations.”
