Marking two decades after Guitar Hero debuted in North America, providing everyday gamers the opportunity to feel like rock legends. Not in reality, but try telling that someone who has mastered Free Bird’s four-minute instrumental break before a packed crowd of friends.
Developed by the developers, the game provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to follow coloured notes scrolling down the display synchronized to the music. Every sequence corresponded to particular chords, creating the sensation of an authentic live show.
The studio previously experimented in the music genre before partnering with RedOctane, later acquired by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they established the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar franchise that had a significant influence for many of the artists included, introducing classic groups to a new generation of younger players.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, recalls the initial budgetary hurdles of licensing the songs – even though initial releases mostly used cover versions.
“We rerecorded every song since the cost was so high,” he says. “Even with the necessary permissions by themselves, it proved nearly impossible. We failed to secure acts such as legendary groups – the publisher had virtually no money, and our team was fairly certain it would fail. However, when Guitar Hero took off, album purchases airtime were going up, all artists desired to participate.”
He continues: “Among the remarkable aspects was how many parents reached out expressing gratitude for introducing their children to the music they loved. It evolved into a multigenerational thing.”
Timeless Music Finds Younger Fans
Northern Irish blues-rock band one featured act included Never Too Late on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist the artist remembers how the series brought older hits back into vogue: “The game offered a larger, younger audience. Generally such music was considered music that was past it, but then once it got featured on the game and teenagers discovered it, suddenly it was cool. This validated it, and got rid of the outdated tag. It gave our catalog renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the Answer’s debut album was still not available stateside, so the game served as a primary platform of discovery for the group during their a North American tour opening for the rock giants. “Their crew were playing the song during travel, and some of them recognized us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs Enduring Influence
Music's biggest acts soon capitalised on the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in dedicated game editions that focused on each band’s catalogue and associated stories, imagery and legendary status. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said earned the band greater revenue than any of their records. It moved more than 500,000 units upon release, while sales of Aerosmith’s music saw an increase significantly during an era as the industry faced decline.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire nimble-fingered fanaticism among its fans. Earlier this year, an online personality completed a remarkable feat featuring the challenging track – a notoriously difficult anthem made popular by Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with similar mechanics but an array of personalization features. The song is difficult enough on the hardest setting, let alone performed at increased tempo and without missing a single one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer claimed requiring nine months to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, imaginary experience. Just as with other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to use actual weapons and go to war,” says DragonForce guitarist the artist.
The band previously completed a profitable run when their hit was featured on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it turned them into a household name. “I remember our distributors calling to tell me that we were selling albums rapidly,” he shares. “It exploded when we next toured, and we performed just before top acts at the event.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure via the game proved so vast that it has threatened to overshadow all other accomplishments. Recently, the song was used in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I felt otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “Should you just hear one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – each person has their own musical journey and I’m glad we played a role of people’s lives”.
Enduring Legacy of a Plastic Guitar
The best marketing, be it for automobiles, apparel or video games, goes further than selling something – it evokes a desire. Was the game able to harness this? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “The excitement of performing as a rock star in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the co-founders believed there’s an instinctive human desire to create songs, and they wanted to use technology to enable everyone to do it”.
Most installments came out in just a half-decade from 2005 to 2010, including derivative titles such as the DJ version, complete with a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. After that, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments died down, except for a brief comeback in 2015.
Titles like the fan project and newer releases have kept the community active, and there’s expectations of a new product from the original publisher on the way. Recently formed developers has entered production on its debut music game. The initial creators are both involved in advisory roles. Are gamers prepared to welcome a new entry in the spirit of the classic?
“Our team believed those games could be similar to sports games where you can update every year,” he remarks. “With abundant fresh tracks that it could be perennially popular, thus I remain hopeful. It's entirely possible for it to persist for future fans.”
