It has been 20 years after the legendary game debuted in North America, providing everyday gamers the tools to become a rock star. Figuratively speaking, but try convincing anyone who has mastered the epic four-minute instrumental break in front of a packed crowd of friends.
Created by Harmonix, the game gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to follow on-screen cues scrolling down the screen synchronized to the music. Each riff mimicked particular chords, producing the feel of a genuine live show.
The studio had already experimented in the music genre prior to teaming up with the publisher, later purchased by Activision in 2006. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar franchise that had a significant impact for many of the artists featured, showcasing classic groups to a new generation of younger players.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, recalls the early budgetary hurdles in securing the songs – even though initial releases mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded all the music because the cost prohibitive,” he says. “Despite having the necessary permissions alone, it was nearly impossible. We couldn’t get acts such as the Who – RedOctane had virtually no money, and our team was fairly certain the project would flop. But once Guitar Hero became a hit, and record sales and radio play were going up, everyone wanted to participate.”
He continues: “One of the amazing things was the number of mothers and fathers got in touch expressing gratitude for exposing their kids to the music they adored. It became an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Gains a New Audience
Northern Irish group the Answer included Never Too Late on the 2008 game the popular installment. Lead musician the artist remembers the way the game brought classic rock to the forefront: “Guitar Hero offered a bigger, younger audience. Generally such music was seen as music that was past it, however when it was featured on the game young people discovered it, suddenly it was cool. This validated the genre, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It provided all our music a new life.”
In 2008, the Answer’s first record remained unreleased stateside, meaning Guitar Hero was a key medium for exposure for the group as they went on a North American tour opening for AC/DC. “Their crew had on Never Too Late during travel, and some of them recognized us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Major Band Titles Enduring Impact
Music's heavyweight names quickly took advantage of the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in dedicated game editions that focused on each band’s catalogue and associated lore, imagery and legendary status. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly to have made the band more money than any of their studio albums. It moved more than half a million units upon release, and 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. Earlier this year, an online personality achieved a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough power-metal song made popular by the game – using a fan-made version, a no-cost alternative with almost identical gameplay and extensive personalization features. The song is challenging even in expert mode, let alone performed at double speed while hitting a single one of the thousands of cues. They claimed requiring months of practice to accomplish.
“The game offers a, fantasy thing. Just as with other games, it doesn't imply you ought to pick up actual weapons and go to war,” says DragonForce guitarist the artist.
DragonForce had already wrapped up a profitable run before their hit was featured on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it turned them into widely recognized. “I recall our distributors informing us that we were records were moving like crazy,” he says. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we were playing right ahead of the headliners at the event.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure via the game proved so vast that it has risked overshadow all other the band has done. Recently, the song featured in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I thought otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “If you only listen to a single track, that's fine – each person has their own musical journey and I’m glad we played a role of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Impact from the Plastic Guitar
The best promotion, whether it’s for cars, apparel or video games, goes further than selling something – it evokes a longing. Was the game able to tap into that? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “The excitement of performing as a music icon in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the co-founders felt that there’s an instinctive human desire to create songs, and their goal was to use technology to enable everyone to participate”.
Most of Guitar Hero games came out in just a half-decade between 2005 and 2010, including derivative titles such as the DJ version, including a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments waned, aside from a brief comeback several years later.
Games such as the fan project and newer releases have maintained the community alive, and there’s expectations of a new product from the original publisher on the way. Recently formed developers has begun work on its debut rhythm-based title. The initial creators are both involved in advisory roles. Is the world prepared to welcome another game in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed those games might become like Madden allowing annual update every year,” he remarks. “With abundant fresh tracks it could remain evergreen, so I’ve always been hopeful. It's entirely possible for it to continue for future fans.”
