Marking 20 years after Guitar Hero hit the market in North America, offering players everywhere the tools to feel like rock legends. Not in reality, but try telling that anyone who has nailed Free Bird’s four-minute instrumental break in front of an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by Harmonix, the game provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to follow on-screen cues moving along the display in time with a song. Each riff corresponded to specific notes, producing the sensation of an authentic live show.
Harmonix had already experimented with rhythm games prior to teaming up with the publisher, later acquired by the gaming giant in 2006. Collaboratively, they established the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar franchise which made a remarkable impact on numerous musicians featured, showcasing decades-old bands to millions of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO from the developer, recalls the early financial challenges of licensing the songs – even though the first two games mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded every song because the cost prohibitive,” he says. “Even with the necessary permissions alone, it proved extremely difficult. We failed to secure bands like the Who – the publisher had virtually no money, and we were fairly certain it would fail. However, when Guitar Hero took off, and record sales airtime were going up, all artists desired to participate.”
He adds: “Among the amazing things was how many mothers and fathers got in touch and thanked us for exposing their children to the songs they adored. It became a multigenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Finds a New Audience
Northern Irish group one featured act included their track in the 2008 release the popular installment. Guitarist Paul Mahon remembers how the series brought classic rock to the forefront: “The game provided a larger, new demographic. Generally this had been considered music that was past it, however when it was featured on the title young people discovered it, abruptly it was cool. That legitimised it, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ label. It gave our catalog a new life.”
At that time, the Answer’s first record was still unreleased in the US, so the game was a key medium of discovery for the band during their a North American tour opening for AC/DC. “Their crew were playing the song on the tour bus, and some of them recognized us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Major Band Spin-offs Enduring Impact
Rock’s heavyweight names soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in dedicated spin-off titles centered around their music collections and associated lore, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly earned the band more money than any of their studio albums. It sold well over half a million copies upon release, while demand for Aerosmith’s music rose of up to 40% at a time as the industry was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire quick-handed fanaticism within the community. Recently, a streamer completed a remarkable feat featuring Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult power-metal song popularized through Guitar Hero – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with similar gameplay but an array of customisation options. The song is difficult even in the hardest setting, let alone played at increased tempo and without missing a single one of its near 4,000 notes. They claimed it took nine months of practice.
“The game is a fun, imaginary experience. Just as with other games, it doesn't imply you ought to pick up a real gun and go to war,” notes DragonForce guitarist the artist.
DragonForce previously wrapped up a successful tour when their hit was featured in the third game, yet he explains it turned them into widely recognized. “I remember our distributors informing us that our selling albums like crazy,” he shares. “It exploded when we next toured, and we were playing right ahead of the headliners at the event.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it risked overshadow everything else accomplishments. Recently, the track was used in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I felt otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “If you only listen to one DragonForce song, that's fine – each person has their own musical journey and I’m glad we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
Enduring Legacy from the Iconic Controller
Top-tier promotion, be it for automobiles, clothes or games, extends beyond than selling something – it inspires a longing. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “Precisely what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of being a rock star on the stage. From day one, the co-founders believed there’s an instinctive urge to make music, and their goal was to use technology to allow people to participate”.
Most of Guitar Hero games were released in just a five-year period between 2005 and 2010, including spin-offs such as DJ Hero, complete with a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. After that, the publisher’s interest on peripherals waned, except for a short-lived revival in 2015.
Games such as the fan project and newer releases have maintained the scene active, with set to be a new product from the founders on the way. Recently formed developers has entered production on their first music game. Original co-founders are participating as special advisers. Is the world ready to embrace another game following Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed those games might become like Madden allowing annual releases,” he remarks. “With abundant fresh tracks it could remain evergreen, thus I remain hopeful. There’s no reason for it to persist for future fans.”
