It has been 20 years after Guitar Hero debuted across the Atlantic, providing players everywhere the tools to feel like rock legends. Not in reality, but try telling that someone who has mastered the epic lengthy guitar solo in front of an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Developed by the developers, the game provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to follow on-screen cues moving along the screen in time with a song. Each riff mimicked particular chords, creating the sensation of an authentic live show.
The studio previously tried its hand with rhythm games before partnering with the publisher, which was purchased by Activision in 2006. Collaboratively, they established the groundwork for a surprising billion-dollar franchise which made a remarkable influence for many musicians featured, introducing decades-old groups to millions of younger players.
A former executive, former COO of Harmonix, remembers the early financial challenges of licensing the recordings – even though the first two games primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced every song because the cost was so high,” he explains. “Despite having the necessary permissions by themselves, it proved nearly impossible. We couldn’t get acts such as 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, everyone wanted to be in.”
He adds: “One of the amazing things was the number of mothers and fathers reached out and thanked us for exposing their kids to the music they adored. It became an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Finds a New Audience
Irish blues-rock band the Answer included Never Too Late in the 2008 release the popular installment. Guitarist Paul Mahon remembers how the series brought older hits to the forefront: “The game provided a bigger, younger audience. Generally this had been considered music that was past it, but then once it got included in the game young people discovered it, abruptly it was cool. This validated it, eliminating the outdated tag. It provided our catalog renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the Answer’s first record remained not available stateside, so Guitar Hero served as a primary platform of discovery for the group as they went on a North American tour supporting AC/DC. “The roadies had on Never Too Late on the tour bus, and several recognized us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Major Band Titles Enduring Influence
Rock’s heavyweight names quickly capitalised on the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in dedicated game editions centered around their music collections and related stories, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly to have made the group greater revenue compared to their records. It moved well over half a million units in its first week, while demand for Aerosmith’s music rose of up to 40% at a time as the industry faced decline.
The series continues to inspire nimble-fingered fanaticism among its fans. Earlier this year, an online personality achieved a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s the challenging track – a notoriously difficult power-metal song made popular by the game – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical mechanics and extensive customisation options. This track is difficult even in expert mode, not to mention performed at increased tempo while hitting every one of the thousands of cues. They stated requiring nine months of practice.
“The game is a fun, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you ought to pick up a real gun and go to war,” says musician Herman Li.
DragonForce previously completed a profitable run when their hit appeared in the third game, yet he explains it turned them into a household name. “I remember our distributors informing us that our selling albums rapidly,” he says. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we were playing right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, the band's visibility via the game proved so vast that it risked overshadow all other accomplishments. Recently, the song featured in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I felt differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “Should you just hear a single track, that's fine – everyone’s got a unique musical journey and I'm pleased we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Impact from the Plastic Guitar
The best marketing, be it for automobiles, apparel or games, extends beyond than selling something – it inspires a longing. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “That thrill of being a music icon on the stage. Since the beginning, the creators felt that humans have a natural urge to make music, and they wanted to leverage innovation to allow people to do it”.
Most of Guitar Hero games came out in just a half-decade between 2005 and 2010, featuring spin-offs like DJ Hero, complete with a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. After that, corporate focus on peripherals died down, aside from a brief comeback in 2015.
Games such as the fan project and newer releases have kept the community active, and there’s set to be a new product from the original publisher in development. A new studio has entered work on its debut music game. Original co-founders are participating as special advisers. Are gamers ready to embrace a new entry following Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed such titles might become like Madden where you can update every year,” 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.”
