It has been 20 years since Guitar Hero debuted in North America, offering players everywhere the opportunity to feel like rock legends. Figuratively speaking, but try telling that someone who's mastered Free Bird’s lengthy guitar solo before a packed crowd of friends.
Developed by the developers, Guitar Hero provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to match on-screen cues moving along the display synchronized to a song. Every sequence corresponded to specific notes, creating the sensation of an authentic performance.
The studio previously experimented with rhythm games before partnering with the publisher, later purchased by the gaming giant in 2006. Together, they laid the foundations for an unlikely massively profitable series that had a significant influence on numerous of the artists included, introducing decades-old bands to millions of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO from the developer, remembers the early budgetary hurdles of licensing the recordings – despite the fact initial releases mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced all the music because the cost prohibitive,” he explains. “Despite having the necessary permissions by themselves, it was nearly impossible. We couldn’t get bands like legendary groups – the publisher had virtually no money, and our team was pretty convinced it would fail. However, when the game took off, and record sales and radio play increased, all artists desired to participate.”
He adds: “Among the remarkable aspects was the number of parents reached out expressing gratitude for exposing their children to the music they adored. It became a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Gains Younger Fans
Northern Irish blues-rock band the Answer included their track on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist the artist remembers how the series brought older hits back into vogue: “The game provided a bigger, new demographic. Typically this had been seen as outdated material, however when it was featured on the game young people discovered it, abruptly it was cool. This validated it, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It gave all our music a new life.”
At that time, the Answer’s debut album remained not available stateside, so the game served as a primary platform of discovery for the group during their a North American tour supporting AC/DC. “Their crew were playing Never Too Late during travel, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Major Band Titles Enduring Impact
Rock’s heavyweight names soon capitalised on the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in specialized game editions that focused on their music collections and associated stories, imagery and legendary status. For example, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly earned the band greater revenue compared to their records. It sold well over 500,000 copies upon release, and sales of Aerosmith’s music rose significantly at a time as the industry was already collapsing.
The series continues to inspire nimble-fingered dedication within the community. Earlier this year, an online personality completed an impressive attempt featuring the challenging track – a notoriously difficult power-metal song made popular by Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with similar mechanics and extensive personalization features. This track is difficult enough on the hardest setting, not to mention performed at increased tempo while hitting every one of the thousands of cues. They stated it took nine months to accomplish.
“The game offers a, imaginary experience. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to use a real gun and enlist,” notes DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
DragonForce had already wrapped up a profitable run when their hit was featured on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it turned them into widely recognized. “I remember our distributors calling to tell me that our selling albums like crazy,” he shares. “It exploded when we next toured, and we performed just before top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it has risked eclipsing everything else the band has done. Recently, the track featured in a trailer for a major film. “In the past I thought otherwise, but now I accept it,” he admits. “Should you just listen to one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got their own path in music and I’m glad we played a role in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Impact of a Iconic Controller
The best marketing, whether it’s for cars, apparel or video games, extends beyond mere transactions – it inspires a desire. Was the game able to harness this? “Precisely what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of being a music icon in the spotlight. From day one, the co-founders believed there’s an instinctive human desire to make music, and they wanted to leverage innovation to enable everyone to participate”.
Most installments were released over a mere five-year period between 2005 and 2010, including derivative titles like DJ Hero, complete with a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, corporate focus on peripherals died down, aside from a short-lived revival several years later.
Games such as Clone Hero and newer releases have kept the community alive, and there’s set to be a new product from the original publisher in development. Recently formed developers has entered production on their first music game. Original co-founders are both involved in advisory roles. Are gamers prepared to welcome a new entry in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“We thought such titles could be like Madden where you can update every year,” he remarks. “With abundant fresh tracks that it could be evergreen, so I’ve always been hopeful. It's entirely possible for it to persist for future fans.”
