Marking 20 years after the legendary game debuted in North America, providing everyday gamers the tools to become rock legends. Figuratively speaking, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing someone who has nailed Free Bird’s lengthy guitar solo in front of a packed crowd of friends.
Developed by the developers, the game provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to follow on-screen cues scrolling down the display in time with the music. Each riff corresponded to particular chords, creating the feel of an authentic live show.
The studio had already experimented with rhythm games prior to teaming up with the publisher, later acquired by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Together, they established the groundwork for a surprising massively profitable series which made a significant impact for many of the artists featured, introducing classic groups to a new generation of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO of Harmonix, remembers the early budgetary hurdles of licensing the recordings – despite the fact the first two games primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded every song because the dollar figure was so high,” he says. “Even with the necessary permissions alone, it proved extremely difficult. We couldn’t get bands like the Who – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was fairly certain the project would flop. However, when the game took off, and record sales airtime increased, 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 exposing their kids to the songs they adored. It evolved into an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Finds Younger Fans
Northern Irish group one featured act had their track in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist Paul Mahon recalls the way the game brought classic rock to the forefront: “Guitar Hero offered a larger, new demographic. Typically such music was considered outdated material, but then once it got included in the title young people were finding it, suddenly it became trendy. That legitimised it, eliminating the outdated label. It gave our catalog a new life.”
In 2008, the band's first record was still not available in the US, so Guitar Hero served as a primary platform of discovery for the band as they went on a North American tour supporting AC/DC. “Their crew had on the song on the tour bus, and several knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Major Band Titles and Lasting Impact
Rock’s heavyweight names soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in dedicated spin-off titles centered around their music collections and associated stories, imagery and legendary status. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said to have made the group more money compared to their records. It moved more than half a million copies upon release, while demand for their songs 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 an impressive attempt featuring Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult anthem made popular by Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with similar mechanics but an array of customisation options. The song is challenging even in expert mode, let alone performed at double speed while hitting a single one of its near 4,000 notes. They stated requiring nine months to accomplish.
“The game offers a, imaginary experience. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to pick up actual weapons and go to war,” notes DragonForce guitarist the artist.
The band previously wrapped up a profitable run when Through the Fire and Flames was featured in the third game, but Li says it turned them into widely recognized. “I remember our distributors informing us that our records were moving rapidly,” he says. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we were playing right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero was so immense that it has risked overshadow all other accomplishments. Recently, the track featured in promotional material for a major film. “In the past I thought otherwise, but now I accept it,” he admits. “If you only listen to a single track, that's fine – everyone’s got a unique path in music and I’m glad we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Impact of a Plastic Guitar
The best marketing, whether it’s for cars, apparel or video games, goes further than selling something – it inspires a longing. Was the game able to tap into that? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “That thrill of being a music icon on the stage. From day one, the creators believed humans have a natural urge to make music, and they wanted to use technology to allow people to do it”.
Most of Guitar Hero games came out in just a five-year period from 2005 to 2010, featuring spin-offs like DJ Hero, complete with a turntable controller, and Band Hero. After that, corporate focus in plastic instruments died down, except for a short-lived revival in 2015.
Games like the fan project and newer releases have kept the community alive, with expectations of something from the original publisher in development. Recently formed developers has begun production on its debut music game. The initial creators are participating in advisory roles. Is the world 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 new music that it could be evergreen, so I’ve always been hopeful. There’s no reason why it can’t persist for future fans.”
