It has been 20 years after the legendary game hit the market in North America, giving players everywhere the means to become a rock star. Figuratively speaking, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing someone who's nailed Free Bird’s lengthy instrumental break before a packed crowd of friends.
Developed by the developers, Guitar Hero gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to follow coloured notes moving along the screen synchronized to the music. Every sequence corresponded to particular chords, producing the sensation of a genuine performance.
Harmonix previously experimented with rhythm games prior to teaming up with RedOctane, which was acquired by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Together, they laid the groundwork for a surprising massively profitable franchise which made a significant influence on numerous musicians featured, showcasing decades-old bands to millions of gaming enthusiasts.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO of Harmonix, recalls the initial budgetary hurdles in securing the songs – even though initial releases primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced all the music since the dollar figure was so high,” he says. “Even with the publishing rights alone, it proved nearly impossible. We couldn’t get acts such as the Who – RedOctane had virtually no money, and our team was fairly certain it would fail. However, when Guitar Hero took off, album purchases and radio play were going up, all artists desired to participate.”
He adds: “Among the amazing things was how many mothers and fathers got in touch expressing gratitude for introducing their children to the songs they loved. It evolved into a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Finds a New Audience
Northern Irish group the Answer had Never Too Late on the 2008 game the popular installment. Guitarist Paul Mahon recalls the way the game brought older hits back into vogue: “Guitar Hero provided a bigger, younger audience. Generally such music was seen as outdated material, but then when it was included in the title and teenagers discovered it, abruptly it became trendy. This validated the genre, and got rid of the outdated tag. It gave all our music renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the band's debut album remained not available stateside, so Guitar Hero was a key medium of discovery for the band during their US tour supporting AC/DC. “The roadies had on Never Too Late during travel, and several knew us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles Enduring Impact
Music's biggest acts quickly capitalised on the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in specialized game editions centered around each band’s catalogue and associated lore, visuals and legendary status. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly to have made the group more money compared to their records. It moved well over 500,000 copies upon release, while demand for their songs rose of up to 40% at a time as the industry was already collapsing.
The series continues to inspire nimble-fingered fanaticism within the community. Recently, an online personality achieved a remarkable feat featuring the challenging track – an infamously tough anthem popularized through the game – using a fan-made version, a no-cost alternative with almost identical gameplay but an array of personalization features. The song is challenging even in expert mode, not to mention performed at double speed and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. The streamer claimed requiring months of practice of practice.
“The game offers a, imaginary experience. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to pick up actual weapons and go to war,” says DragonForce guitarist the artist.
The band previously wrapped up a successful tour when Through the Fire and Flames appeared in the third game, yet he explains it turned them into a household name. “I recall our distributors calling to tell me that our selling albums like crazy,” he says. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we were playing right ahead of top acts at the event.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it risked overshadow everything else the band has done. Last year, the song was used in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I thought otherwise, but now I accept it,” he admits. “If you only listen to a single track, that's fine – everyone’s got their own path in music and I’m glad we played a role of people’s lives”.
Enduring Impact of a Iconic Controller
Top-tier marketing, be it for cars, apparel or games, goes further mere transactions – it inspires a desire. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “The excitement of being a rock star in the spotlight. From day one, the co-founders felt that there’s an instinctive urge to create songs, and they wanted to use technology to enable everyone to participate”.
Most installments came out over a mere five-year period between 2005 and 2010, featuring spin-offs such as DJ Hero, including a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. After that, the publisher’s interest on peripherals died down, aside from a brief comeback in 2015.
Titles like Clone Hero and newer releases have kept the community alive, with set to be something from the original publisher in development. A new studio has entered work on its debut music game. The initial creators are both involved in advisory roles. Is the world prepared to welcome another game following the classic?
“Our team believed such titles could be like Madden allowing annual update every year,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much fresh tracks that it could be perennially popular, thus I remain hopeful. There’s no reason for it to continue with new generations.”
