Marking two decades after the legendary game first launched in North America, offering players everywhere the means to feel like a rock star. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing someone who's mastered Free Bird’s four-minute 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 synchronized to the music. Each riff corresponded to particular chords, producing the sensation of a genuine performance.
Harmonix had already tried its hand with rhythm games before partnering with the publisher, which was purchased by Activision in 2006. Together, they laid the foundations for a surprising billion-dollar series that had a remarkable influence for many of the artists featured, introducing classic groups to millions of younger players.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, remembers the initial budgetary hurdles of licensing the recordings – even though initial releases primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced every song because the dollar figure was so high,” he says. “Even with the necessary permissions by themselves, it was extremely difficult. We couldn’t get bands like the Who – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were fairly certain the project would flop. But once the game took off, and record sales and radio play increased, everyone wanted to participate.”
He adds: “One of the remarkable aspects was the number of parents reached out expressing gratitude for introducing their children to the music they loved. It became 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 brought classic rock to the forefront: “Guitar Hero offered a bigger, younger audience. Generally such music was seen as outdated material, but then once it got included in the title young people discovered it, abruptly it became trendy. This validated the genre, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ tag. It provided all our music a new life.”
At that time, the band's first record remained not available stateside, meaning Guitar Hero served as a primary platform for exposure for the group as they went on US tour opening for the rock giants. “Their crew were playing the song on the tour bus, and some of them knew us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles Enduring Influence
Rock’s heavyweight names soon capitalised on the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in dedicated spin-off titles centered around each band’s catalogue and associated stories, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, it was said earned the group more money compared to their records. It sold more than half a million units upon release, and sales of their songs saw an increase of up to 40% during an era as the industry faced decline.
The series continues to inspire nimble-fingered fanaticism among its fans. Earlier this year, a streamer completed an impressive attempt featuring Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough power-metal song popularized through the game – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with almost identical mechanics but an array of personalization features. The song is difficult enough on the hardest setting, let alone performed at increased tempo and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. They claimed requiring nine months of practice.
“Guitar Hero offers a, fantasy thing. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to use a real gun and go to war,” notes musician Herman Li.
The band had already completed a successful tour when their hit was featured in the third game, but Li says it turned them into a household name. “I recall the record label informing us that our records were moving rapidly,” he shares. “It exploded when we next toured, and we were playing just before the headliners at the event.”
In fact, the band's visibility via the game proved so vast that it risked overshadow everything else accomplishments. Recently, the song featured in a trailer for a major film. “In the past I felt differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “Should you just hear a single track, that's fine – each person has a unique path in music and I’m glad we played a role in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Impact of a Plastic Guitar
The best promotion, whether it’s for cars, apparel or video games, extends beyond than selling something – it evokes a longing. Was the game able to tap into that? “Precisely what we were aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “That thrill of performing as a rock star on the stage. From day one, the co-founders believed there’s an instinctive human desire to create songs, and their goal was to leverage innovation to allow people to do it”.
Most installments came out in just a half-decade from 2005 to 2010, including derivative titles like the DJ version, including a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, corporate focus in plastic instruments waned, aside from a brief comeback in 2015.
Titles such as the fan project and Fortnite Festival have kept the scene alive, with set to be something from the founders on the way. A new studio has begun work on its debut rhythm-based title. The initial creators are both involved in advisory roles. Is the world prepared to welcome another game following Guitar Hero?
“We thought such titles could be similar to sports games where you can releases,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much fresh tracks it could remain perennially popular, thus I remain hopeful. There’s no reason why it can’t continue for future fans.”
