It has been two decades since the legendary game debuted in North America, providing everyday gamers the means to feel like rock legends. Figuratively speaking, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that someone who has nailed the epic lengthy instrumental break in front of a packed crowd of friends.
Created by Harmonix, the game gave players a guitar-shaped controller to follow on-screen cues scrolling down the display in time with a song. Each riff mimicked particular chords, creating the sensation of an authentic live show.
Harmonix had already experimented in the music genre prior to teaming up with the publisher, which was purchased by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they established the foundations for an unlikely massively profitable franchise which made a significant impact on numerous musicians included, introducing classic groups to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, former COO of Harmonix, remembers the early budgetary hurdles of licensing the songs – despite the fact initial releases primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced all the music since the dollar figure was so high,” he says. “Even with the publishing rights by themselves, it was extremely difficult. We couldn’t get acts such as the Who – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was pretty convinced it would fail. But once the game became a hit, album purchases airtime increased, all artists desired to participate.”
He adds: “Among the remarkable aspects was how many parents got in touch expressing gratitude for exposing their children to the music they adored. It became a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Finds Younger Fans
Northern Irish blues-rock band one featured act had their track on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist Paul Mahon remembers how the series brought classic rock back into vogue: “The game offered a bigger, younger audience. Typically such music was seen as outdated material, however once it got featured on the title young people were finding it, abruptly it was cool. This validated the genre, eliminating the outdated tag. It gave our catalog renewed popularity.”
At that time, the band's first record was still not available stateside, so Guitar Hero served as a primary platform for exposure for the group as they went on a North American tour opening for AC/DC. “Their crew had on Never Too Late on the tour bus, and several knew us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Major Band Titles Enduring Impact
Rock’s heavyweight names quickly capitalised on the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in specialized spin-off titles centered around each band’s catalogue and associated lore, visuals and legendary status. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly earned the band more money than any of their studio albums. It sold well over 500,000 units in its first week, and demand for Aerosmith’s music rose of up to 40% during an era when the music business faced decline.
The series continues to inspire quick-handed fanaticism among its fans. Recently, an online personality achieved a remarkable feat featuring Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough anthem made popular by the game – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with similar gameplay and extensive personalization features. This track is challenging enough on expert mode, let alone performed at double speed while hitting a single one of its near 4,000 notes. They stated it took months of practice of practice.
“Guitar Hero offers a, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you should use a real gun and go to war,” notes DragonForce guitarist the artist.
The band previously completed a profitable run when Through the Fire and Flames appeared on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it turned them into widely recognized. “I remember the record label informing us that we were selling albums like crazy,” he shares. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we were playing right ahead of the headliners at the event.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure via the game was so immense that it has threatened to eclipsing everything else the band has done. Last year, the song featured in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I thought differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “Should you just hear a single track, it’s totally cool – each person has their own musical journey and I’m glad we played a role in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Impact from the Iconic Controller
Top-tier promotion, be it for cars, apparel or video games, goes further than selling something – it evokes a desire. Was the game able to tap into that? “Precisely what our team aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a music icon on the stage. Since the beginning, the creators believed humans have a natural human desire to create songs, and they wanted to leverage innovation to enable everyone to participate”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games came out over a mere half-decade between 2005 and 2010, featuring spin-offs such as the DJ version, complete with a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. After that, corporate focus on peripherals died down, aside from a short-lived revival in 2015.
Titles such as the fan project and Fortnite Festival have maintained the community active, and there’s set to be something from the original publisher in development. Recently formed developers has entered production on its debut music game. The initial creators are both involved in advisory roles. Is the world prepared to welcome a new entry in the spirit of the classic?
“Our team believed those games might become like Madden where you can update every year,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant new music it could remain evergreen, thus I remain hopeful. It's entirely possible why it can’t persist for future fans.”
