It has been 20 years after the legendary game debuted across the Atlantic, giving everyday gamers the opportunity to feel like a rock star. Not literally, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that anyone who has mastered the epic lengthy instrumental break before a packed crowd of friends.
Developed by the developers, the game provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to match on-screen cues moving along the display synchronized to a song. Each riff corresponded to particular chords, creating the feel of an authentic live show.
The studio previously experimented in the music genre before partnering with RedOctane, later purchased by Activision in 2006. Together, they established the groundwork for a surprising massively profitable series that had a significant impact on numerous of the artists featured, showcasing classic groups to a new generation of younger players.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, recalls the early budgetary hurdles of licensing the songs – even though the first two games mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded every song because the dollar figure prohibitive,” he explains. “Even with the necessary permissions alone, it proved extremely difficult. We couldn’t get acts such as the Who – the publisher had virtually no money, and our team was fairly certain it would fail. However, when the game took off, and record sales and radio play were going up, all artists desired 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 loved. It became a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Gains a New Audience
Northern Irish blues-rock band the Answer had their track on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist the artist recalls how the series revived older hits to the forefront: “The game offered a larger, younger audience. Typically this had been seen as outdated material, however once it got included in the game young people were finding it, suddenly it was cool. This validated it, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ label. It provided all our music a new life.”
In 2008, the band's debut album was still not available in the US, so Guitar Hero served as a primary platform of discovery for the group during their a North American tour supporting AC/DC. “Their crew were playing the song during travel, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Major Band Titles and Lasting Impact
Music's heavyweight names soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in dedicated game editions centered around each band’s catalogue and related stories, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly earned the group more money than any of their studio albums. It sold more than 500,000 copies upon release, while demand for Aerosmith’s music rose of up to 40% at a time as the industry faced decline.
Guitar Hero still motivates quick-handed dedication within the community. Earlier this year, an online personality completed an impressive attempt featuring Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult power-metal song made popular by the game – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with almost identical gameplay and extensive personalization features. The song is challenging enough on expert mode, let alone performed at increased tempo and without missing every one of the thousands of cues. They stated it took nine months to accomplish.
“The game is a fun, fantasy thing. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to pick up actual weapons and go to war,” says DragonForce guitarist the artist.
The band previously completed a successful tour before Through the Fire and Flames was featured in the third game, yet he explains it made them a household name. “I remember the record label informing us that our selling albums rapidly,” he shares. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we performed just before the headliners at the event.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it has threatened to overshadow all other the band has done. Recently, the song featured in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I felt otherwise, but now I accept it,” he admits. “Should you just hear one DragonForce song, that's fine – each person has a unique musical journey and I’m glad we played a role of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Impact of a Iconic Controller
Top-tier marketing, be it for automobiles, apparel or games, goes further mere transactions – 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 rock star in the spotlight. From day one, the co-founders felt that humans have a natural urge to create songs, and their goal was to use technology to enable everyone to participate”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games came out over a mere five-year period from 2005 to 2010, featuring spin-offs such as the DJ version, including a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments died down, aside from a brief comeback several years later.
Titles such as the fan project and newer releases have kept the scene active, with expectations of something from the founders on the way. A new studio has entered work on their first rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are participating as special advisers. Is the world ready to embrace a new entry in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed such titles might become similar to sports games where you can update every year,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much fresh tracks it could remain evergreen, so I’ve always been optimistic. It's entirely possible why it can’t continue for future fans.”
