It has been 20 years since Guitar Hero hit the market across the Atlantic, giving players everywhere the means to feel like a rock star. Not literally, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that anyone who's mastered the epic lengthy guitar solo in front of an enthusiastic crowd of friends.
Created by the developers, the game gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to match coloured notes moving along the screen in time with a song. Each riff mimicked specific notes, producing the feel of an authentic live show.
The studio previously tried its hand with rhythm games before partnering with RedOctane, which was purchased by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they established the groundwork for a surprising massively profitable franchise which made a remarkable influence for many musicians featured, introducing classic groups to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, former COO from the developer, remembers the early financial challenges of licensing the recordings – even though the first two games mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded every song since the dollar figure was so high,” he says. “Even with the necessary permissions by themselves, it proved nearly impossible. We failed to secure bands like legendary groups – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were fairly certain the project would flop. But once Guitar Hero took off, and record sales airtime increased, all artists desired to be in.”
He adds: “Among the remarkable aspects was how many mothers and fathers reached out and thanked us for exposing their kids to the music they adored. It became an intergenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Gains Younger Fans
Northern Irish group one featured act had Never Too Late in the 2008 release the popular installment. Guitarist Paul Mahon remembers how the series brought classic rock back into vogue: “Guitar Hero provided a larger, younger audience. Generally this had been seen as music that was past it, but then when it was included in the game young people discovered it, abruptly it was cool. This validated it, eliminating the outdated label. It provided all our music a new life.”
In 2008, the band's debut album remained not available stateside, so the game served as a primary platform of discovery for the group during their US tour supporting AC/DC. “Their crew were playing Never Too Late on the tour bus, and several knew us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles and Lasting Impact
Music's heavyweight names quickly capitalised on the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in dedicated spin-off titles that focused on their music collections and related lore, visuals and legendary status. For example, the Aerosmith edition, it was said to have made the band greater revenue than any of their studio albums. It sold more than 500,000 units in its first week, while sales of Aerosmith’s music rose of up to 40% during an era when the music business faced decline.
The series continues to inspire nimble-fingered fanaticism within the community. Earlier this year, an online personality achieved a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s the challenging track – a notoriously difficult power-metal song made popular by the game – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with similar gameplay but an array of personalization features. This track is difficult even in expert mode, not to mention played at increased tempo and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. The streamer stated requiring nine months of practice.
“Guitar Hero offers a, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you ought to pick up a real gun and go to war,” notes DragonForce guitarist the artist.
DragonForce had already completed a successful tour when Through the Fire and Flames was featured on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it turned them into widely recognized. “I recall the record label informing us that we were selling albums like crazy,” he shares. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we performed just before the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero was so immense that it risked overshadow everything else the band has done. Recently, the song was used in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I felt differently, but now I accept it,” Li says. “Should you just listen to one DragonForce song, that's fine – everyone’s got their own musical journey and I’m glad we played a role of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Legacy from the Plastic Guitar
Top-tier promotion, be it for automobiles, apparel or video games, extends beyond mere transactions – it evokes a desire. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “That’s exactly what we were trying to create,” he confirms. “The excitement of being a music icon in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the co-founders believed humans have a natural human desire to create songs, and their goal was to use technology to enable everyone to participate”.
The majority installments were released over a mere half-decade between 2005 and 2010, including derivative titles like DJ Hero, complete with a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. After that, corporate focus on peripherals waned, aside from a brief comeback in 2015.
Titles like the fan project and newer releases have kept the community alive, with set to be something from the founders on the way. A new studio has entered production on their first music game. Original co-founders are both involved in advisory roles. Is the world prepared to welcome another game in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“We thought such titles could be similar to sports games where you can releases,” he remarks. “There’s so much fresh tracks it could remain perennially popular, so I’ve always been hopeful. It's entirely possible why it can’t continue for future fans.”
