It has been two decades since Guitar Hero hit the market across the Atlantic, offering players everywhere the means to become a rock star. Not literally, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that someone who's mastered Free Bird’s four-minute instrumental break before an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Developed by the developers, Guitar Hero provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to match coloured notes scrolling down the display in time with a song. Each riff mimicked particular chords, creating the sensation of an authentic performance.
The studio previously tried its hand in the music genre prior to teaming up with RedOctane, which was purchased by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they established the groundwork for an unlikely massively profitable series that had a significant influence for many of the artists featured, introducing classic bands to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, remembers the initial financial challenges in securing the recordings – despite the fact the first two games primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced all the music since the dollar figure prohibitive,” he explains. “Despite having the necessary permissions by themselves, it proved nearly impossible. We couldn’t get bands like legendary groups – RedOctane had virtually no money, and we were fairly certain it would fail. But once the game took off, and record sales and radio play were going up, all artists desired to be in.”
He continues: “Among the remarkable aspects was the number of mothers and fathers reached out expressing gratitude for exposing their children to the songs they loved. It became an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Gains a New Audience
Northern Irish blues-rock band the Answer included Never Too Late on the 2008 game the popular installment. Guitarist Paul Mahon remembers the way the game revived older hits back into vogue: “The game provided a bigger, younger audience. Typically such music was seen as music that was past it, however once it got featured on the game and teenagers discovered it, suddenly it became trendy. That legitimised it, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ label. It provided all our music a new life.”
In 2008, the band's debut album was still not available stateside, meaning the game served as a primary platform for exposure for the group during their a North American tour opening for the rock giants. “Their crew had on Never Too Late during travel, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Major Band Spin-offs and Lasting Influence
Music's heavyweight names quickly capitalised on the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in specialized game editions that focused on their music collections and related lore, visuals and legendary status. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly earned the band greater revenue than any of their records. It sold more than 500,000 units upon release, and demand for Aerosmith’s music rose significantly at a time as the industry faced decline.
The series still motivates nimble-fingered fanaticism within the community. Earlier this year, an online personality achieved a remarkable feat featuring the challenging track – a notoriously difficult anthem popularized through the game – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with almost identical mechanics but an array of customisation options. The song is challenging even in expert mode, not to mention played at increased tempo and without missing every one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer claimed it took months of practice of practice.
“The game is a fun, fantasy thing. Just as with Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you ought to pick up actual weapons and go to war,” says DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
The band had already wrapped up a profitable run when Through the Fire and Flames appeared on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it turned them into widely recognized. “I recall our distributors calling to tell me that we were records were moving like crazy,” he shares. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we were playing just before the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero was so immense that it has risked overshadow all other the band has done. Recently, the song featured in promotional material for a major film. “In the past I felt otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “If you only listen to a single track, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got a unique musical journey and I'm pleased we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
Enduring Impact from the Plastic Guitar
Top-tier marketing, be it for cars, clothes or video games, goes further mere transactions – it evokes a longing. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “That’s exactly what our team aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a rock star in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the co-founders felt that humans have a natural urge to create songs, and their goal was to leverage innovation to allow people to do it”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games were released over a mere half-decade between 2005 and 2010, including spin-offs like the DJ version, complete with a turntable controller, 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 newer releases have maintained the scene active, with expectations of something from the founders in development. A new studio has begun production on their first rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are both involved in advisory roles. Is the world prepared to welcome another game following the classic?
“We thought such titles could be like Madden where you can releases,” he remarks. “With abundant fresh tracks that it could be evergreen, thus I remain optimistic. There’s no reason for it to persist with new generations.”
