It has been 20 years since Guitar Hero hit the market in North America, offering everyday gamers the means to feel like rock legends. Not literally, but try telling that someone who's mastered Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo before an enthusiastic crowd of friends.
Created by the developers, Guitar Hero gave players a guitar-shaped controller to follow coloured notes scrolling down the screen synchronized to the music. Every sequence corresponded to specific notes, producing the feel of a genuine performance.
The studio previously tried its hand with rhythm games prior to teaming up with RedOctane, which was acquired by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they established the groundwork for a surprising massively profitable series that had a remarkable impact for many musicians included, introducing classic bands to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, former COO from the developer, remembers the initial budgetary hurdles in securing the recordings – even though initial releases primarily featured cover versions.
“We reproduced every song since the dollar figure prohibitive,” he explains. “Even with the necessary permissions by themselves, it proved nearly impossible. We failed to secure acts such as the Who – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was pretty convinced the project would flop. But once the game took off, album purchases airtime were going up, all artists desired to participate.”
He continues: “One of the remarkable aspects was the number of parents reached out and thanked us for exposing their kids to the songs they loved. It evolved into a multigenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Gains Younger Fans
Irish blues-rock band the Answer included Never Too Late in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician the artist recalls the way the game revived classic rock back into vogue: “The game offered a larger, younger audience. Generally such music was considered music that was past it, but then when it was featured on the game young people were finding it, abruptly it became trendy. This validated the genre, eliminating the outdated label. It gave all our music renewed popularity.”
At that time, the Answer’s first record remained not available stateside, meaning the game served as a primary platform of discovery for the group during their a North American tour opening for the rock giants. “The roadies were playing the song during travel, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Major Band Titles and Lasting Impact
Rock’s heavyweight names soon took advantage of the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in specialized spin-off titles centered around their music collections and associated stories, imagery and legendary status. For example, the Aerosmith edition, it was said to have made the group greater revenue than any of their records. It moved well over half a million copies upon release, while sales of Aerosmith’s music saw an increase of up to 40% at a time when the music business was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero still motivates nimble-fingered dedication 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 Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with almost identical gameplay but an array of customisation options. The song is challenging enough on expert mode, not to mention played at double speed and without missing every one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer claimed it took months of practice to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero offers a, imaginary experience. Just as with Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you ought to pick up a real gun and enlist,” notes DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
The band had already completed a profitable run when their hit was featured in the third game, but Li says it turned them into a household name. “I recall our distributors informing us that we were selling albums rapidly,” he shares. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we performed just before top acts at the event.”
In fact, 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 a major film. “Previously I felt otherwise, but now I accept 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”.
Enduring Impact of a Plastic Guitar
Top-tier promotion, be it for automobiles, clothes or games, extends beyond than selling something – it evokes a longing. Was the game able to harness this? “Precisely what our team aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “The excitement of performing as a music icon on the stage. Since the beginning, the co-founders believed humans have a natural urge to create songs, and their goal was to leverage innovation to enable everyone to do it”.
The majority installments were released over a mere five-year period between 2005 and 2010, including spin-offs such as DJ Hero, complete with a spinning deck, and Band Hero. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments died down, except for a brief comeback several years later.
Games such as the fan project and Fortnite Festival have kept the community active, and there’s expectations of a new product from the original publisher on the way. A new studio has entered work on its debut music game. The initial creators are both involved as special advisers. Is the world ready to embrace a new entry following Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed such titles might become similar to sports games allowing annual releases,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant fresh tracks that it could be evergreen, thus I remain optimistic. There’s no reason why it can’t continue for future fans.”
