Marking two decades since Guitar Hero hit the market in North America, giving players everywhere the opportunity to become rock legends. Figuratively speaking, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that someone who's nailed Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo in front of an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Developed by the developers, the game provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to match on-screen cues scrolling down the screen in time with a song. Each riff mimicked specific notes, creating the sensation of an authentic performance.
The studio had already tried its hand in the music genre before partnering with the publisher, which was purchased by Activision in 2006. Together, they laid the foundations for a surprising billion-dollar series which made a significant influence for many musicians included, showcasing decades-old bands to millions of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, former COO from the developer, remembers the initial financial challenges in securing the songs – even though initial releases mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced all the music because the dollar figure was so high,” he explains. “Even with the necessary permissions alone, it proved extremely difficult. We failed to secure acts such as legendary groups – the publisher had virtually no money, and our team was pretty convinced the project would flop. But once the game took off, and record sales and radio play were going up, everyone wanted to be in.”
He adds: “Among the remarkable aspects was the number of parents got in touch expressing gratitude for exposing their kids to the songs they loved. It became a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Finds a New Audience
Irish blues-rock band one featured act included Never Too Late in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist the artist recalls the way the game revived classic rock back into vogue: “Guitar Hero provided a bigger, younger audience. Typically such music was considered outdated material, but then when it was featured on the game young people were finding it, suddenly it was cool. That legitimised the genre, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ tag. It provided our catalog a new life.”
At that time, the band's debut album remained unreleased stateside, so the game served as a primary platform of discovery for the band as they went on US tour supporting the rock giants. “Their crew were playing the song on the tour bus, and several knew us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Major Band Titles Enduring Impact
Rock’s heavyweight names soon capitalised on the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in specialized game editions that focused on their music collections and related lore, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, it was said earned the group more money than any of their records. It moved well over 500,000 units upon release, while demand for their songs rose significantly during an era as the industry faced decline.
The series continues to inspire nimble-fingered fanaticism within the community. Earlier this year, a streamer achieved a remarkable feat featuring the challenging track – an infamously tough power-metal song made popular by Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with almost identical gameplay but an array of customisation options. The song is challenging enough on expert mode, let alone performed at double speed and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. They stated requiring nine months to accomplish.
“The game offers a, fantasy thing. If you play other games, it doesn't imply you ought to pick up a real gun and enlist,” notes DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
DragonForce had already wrapped up a profitable run before their hit appeared in the third game, yet he explains it made them a household name. “I remember the record label calling to tell me that our selling albums rapidly,” he shares. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we performed right ahead of top acts at the event.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure via the game was so immense that it threatened to overshadow everything else the band has done. Last year, the song was used in promotional material for a major film. “Previously I thought differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “Should you just hear a single track, that's fine – everyone’s got their own musical journey and I'm pleased we played a role in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Impact of a Iconic Controller
Top-tier promotion, be it for automobiles, clothes or video games, goes further mere transactions – it inspires a desire. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “Precisely what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of being a music icon in the spotlight. From day one, the creators felt that there’s an instinctive urge to make music, and they wanted to use technology to allow people to do it”.
The majority installments came out in just a five-year period from 2005 to 2010, including derivative titles like DJ Hero, complete with a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest on peripherals died down, aside from a short-lived revival several years later.
Titles such as Clone Hero and newer releases have maintained the community alive, with set to be something from the original publisher on the way. A new studio has entered work on their first music game. The initial creators are participating as special advisers. Are gamers prepared to welcome another game following the classic?
“Our team believed those games might become similar to sports games where you can releases,” he remarks. “There’s so much new music that it could be perennially popular, so I’ve always been optimistic. There’s no reason for it to persist for future fans.”
