It has been two decades after Guitar Hero hit the market across the Atlantic, providing players everywhere the opportunity to become rock legends. Not literally, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing someone who's nailed the epic four-minute guitar solo before an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Developed by Harmonix, the game gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to follow on-screen cues moving along the display synchronized to the music. Each riff corresponded to specific notes, creating the sensation of a genuine performance.
Harmonix had already experimented with rhythm games prior to teaming up with RedOctane, which was purchased by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for a surprising billion-dollar series that had a significant influence on numerous of the artists featured, showcasing classic groups to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, remembers the initial budgetary hurdles in securing the recordings – despite the fact the first two games mostly used cover versions.
“We reproduced every song since the dollar figure prohibitive,” he explains. “Despite having the necessary permissions by themselves, it proved extremely difficult. We couldn’t get acts such as the Who – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was fairly certain it would fail. However, when the game took off, album purchases and radio play increased, all artists desired to participate.”
He adds: “Among the amazing things was how many parents got in touch and thanked us for introducing their kids to the songs they adored. It became a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Gains Younger Fans
Northern Irish group the Answer included their track in the 2008 release the popular installment. Guitarist Paul Mahon remembers how the series revived classic rock back into vogue: “Guitar Hero offered a bigger, younger audience. Generally this had been seen as outdated material, but then when it was included in the title young people discovered it, suddenly it became trendy. This validated it, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It gave all our music a new life.”
At that time, the Answer’s first record remained not available in the US, meaning Guitar Hero served as a primary platform for exposure for the band as they went on a North American tour opening for AC/DC. “The roadies were playing Never Too Late during travel, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs Enduring Influence
Music's biggest acts quickly took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in dedicated game editions that focused on their music collections and related lore, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, the Aerosmith edition, it was said earned the band greater revenue than any of their studio albums. It moved well over 500,000 copies in its first week, while sales of Aerosmith’s music saw an increase significantly at a time as the industry faced decline.
The series still motivates nimble-fingered dedication within the community. Recently, a streamer completed a remarkable feat featuring the challenging track – an infamously tough power-metal song popularized through Guitar Hero – using a fan-made version, a no-cost alternative with similar mechanics but an array of customisation options. The song is challenging even in the hardest setting, let alone performed at double speed and without missing every one of its near 4,000 notes. They stated it took nine months to accomplish.
“The game is a fun, imaginary experience. Just as with other games, it doesn't imply you ought to pick up actual weapons and enlist,” says musician Herman Li.
The band had already wrapped up a profitable run when their hit appeared on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it turned them into widely recognized. “I remember the record label informing us that our selling albums like crazy,” he says. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we performed just before top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, the band's visibility via the game was so immense that it risked overshadow everything else accomplishments. Last year, the track featured in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I thought otherwise, but now I accept it,” Li says. “If you only listen to a single track, it’s totally cool – each person has a unique musical journey and I’m glad we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Impact from the Plastic Guitar
Top-tier promotion, be it for cars, clothes or games, extends beyond than selling something – it evokes a longing. Was the game able to harness this? “That’s exactly what we were trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a music icon in the spotlight. From day one, the co-founders felt that humans have a natural urge to create songs, and they wanted to leverage innovation to allow people to do it”.
The majority installments came out in just a half-decade between 2005 and 2010, including spin-offs such as DJ Hero, complete with a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, corporate focus on peripherals waned, except for a short-lived revival several years later.
Games like the fan project and Fortnite Festival have kept the community alive, and there’s expectations of something from the original publisher on the way. Recently formed developers has entered work on their first music game. The initial creators are participating as special advisers. Is the world ready to embrace a new entry following Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed those games could be like Madden where you can releases,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much fresh tracks that it could be evergreen, thus I remain hopeful. It's entirely possible for it to continue for future fans.”
