It has been two decades after the legendary game hit the market across the Atlantic, offering players everywhere the tools to become a rock star. Not in reality, but try telling that someone who's nailed the epic four-minute instrumental break in front of a packed crowd of friends.
Created by the developers, the game provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to follow on-screen cues scrolling down the display synchronized to a song. Each riff corresponded to particular chords, producing the sensation of a genuine live show.
Harmonix had already tried its hand in the music genre before partnering with RedOctane, later acquired by Activision in 2006. Collaboratively, they laid the groundwork for a surprising massively profitable series which made a remarkable impact for many of the artists included, showcasing classic bands to a new generation of younger players.
A former executive, former COO from the developer, remembers the early budgetary hurdles in securing the recordings – despite the fact the first two games mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded all the music because the cost was so high,” he says. “Despite having the necessary permissions alone, it proved extremely difficult. We failed to secure acts such as legendary groups – RedOctane had virtually no money, and our team was fairly certain it would fail. But once Guitar Hero became a hit, album purchases and radio play were going up, everyone wanted to be in.”
He continues: “One of the remarkable aspects was the number of parents reached out expressing gratitude for exposing their kids to the songs they adored. It became a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Gains a New Audience
Irish group the Answer included Never Too Late in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician Paul Mahon recalls how the series revived classic rock to the forefront: “The game provided a bigger, younger audience. Typically this had been seen as outdated material, but then once it got included in the game and teenagers discovered it, abruptly it became trendy. This validated the genre, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ label. It provided our catalog a new life.”
In 2008, the Answer’s first record was still unreleased stateside, so the game served as a primary platform for exposure for the group during their a North American tour supporting the rock giants. “The roadies had on Never Too Late on the tour bus, and some of them recognized us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Major Band Spin-offs and Lasting Impact
Music's biggest acts soon capitalised on the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in dedicated game editions that focused on each band’s catalogue and related stories, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said to have made the group more money compared to their studio albums. It moved more than 500,000 units in its first week, while demand for Aerosmith’s music saw an increase significantly at a time as the industry faced decline.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire nimble-fingered dedication among its fans. Recently, a streamer completed an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult power-metal song popularized through Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with similar gameplay and extensive customisation options. The song is challenging even in expert mode, let alone played at increased tempo while hitting a single one of the thousands of cues. They claimed it took months of practice to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you should use a real gun and enlist,” says musician the artist.
The band previously completed a profitable run when Through the Fire and Flames was featured in the third game, but Li says it turned them into a household name. “I recall the record label calling to tell me that our selling albums rapidly,” he says. “It exploded when we next toured, and we performed right ahead of top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it has threatened to overshadow everything else the band has done. Recently, the track was used in promotional material for a major film. “In the past I thought differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “Should you just hear one DragonForce song, that's fine – everyone’s got a unique musical journey and I’m glad we played a role in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Legacy of a Plastic Guitar
Top-tier marketing, be it for automobiles, apparel or games, goes further than selling something – it evokes a desire. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “That’s exactly what our team aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of performing as a music icon on the stage. From day one, the creators felt that humans have a natural urge to create songs, and their goal was to use technology to allow people to participate”.
Most installments came out over a mere five-year period from 2005 to 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, aside from a short-lived revival several years later.
Games like Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have maintained the scene active, with set to be a new product from the original publisher on the way. A new studio has begun work on its debut rhythm-based title. The initial creators are participating as special advisers. Is the world ready to embrace another game following the classic?
“Our team believed those games could be similar to sports games allowing annual releases,” he remarks. “With abundant new music that it could be perennially popular, thus I remain hopeful. It's entirely possible why it can’t continue for future fans.”
