Marking two decades after Guitar Hero first launched in North America, providing everyday gamers the means to feel like rock legends. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing anyone who has mastered the epic lengthy instrumental break in front of an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Developed by the developers, Guitar Hero gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to match on-screen cues scrolling down the screen in time with the music. Every sequence corresponded to particular chords, producing the sensation of an authentic performance.
Harmonix previously experimented in the music genre before partnering with RedOctane, which was acquired by Activision in 2006. Together, they established the groundwork for a surprising massively profitable series which made a remarkable influence for many musicians featured, introducing classic groups to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO from the developer, remembers the initial financial challenges of licensing the recordings – even though initial releases primarily featured cover versions.
“We rerecorded every song because the dollar figure was so high,” he says. “Even with the publishing rights by themselves, it was nearly impossible. We couldn’t get acts such as legendary groups – the publisher had virtually no money, and we were pretty convinced it would fail. But once the game became a hit, and record sales airtime were going up, all artists desired to be in.”
He continues: “Among the remarkable aspects was how many mothers and fathers got in touch and thanked us for introducing their children to the music they loved. It became a multigenerational thing.”
Timeless Music Finds a New Audience
Irish group the Answer had Never Too Late on the 2008 game the popular installment. Lead musician the artist recalls the way the game brought classic rock back into vogue: “Guitar Hero offered a bigger, younger audience. Typically such music was seen as outdated material, but then once it got included in the title and teenagers were finding it, suddenly it was cool. That legitimised it, eliminating the outdated label. It provided our catalog a new life.”
In 2008, the Answer’s first record remained unreleased stateside, meaning the game was a key medium for exposure for the band during their a North American tour supporting the rock giants. “Their crew were playing Never Too Late on the tour bus, and several knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Major Band Titles and Lasting Impact
Music's heavyweight names quickly took advantage of the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in dedicated spin-off titles centered around their music collections and related lore, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly to have made the group greater revenue than any of their records. It moved well over 500,000 copies upon release, and demand for Aerosmith’s music rose significantly during an era when the music business was already collapsing.
The series still motivates nimble-fingered fanaticism among its fans. Earlier this year, an online personality achieved an impressive attempt featuring the challenging track – an infamously tough anthem made popular by the game – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical mechanics but an array of personalization features. The song is difficult even in the hardest setting, let alone performed at double speed and without missing every one of the thousands of cues. They stated requiring nine months to accomplish.
“The game is a fun, fantasy thing. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to use a real gun and enlist,” notes musician Herman Li.
DragonForce had already completed a profitable run before Through the Fire and Flames was featured in the third game, but Li says it turned them into widely recognized. “I remember the record label informing us that we were records were moving like crazy,” he shares. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we were playing right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero was so immense that it risked overshadow all other accomplishments. Last year, the track was used in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I felt differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “If you only hear one DragonForce song, that's fine – everyone’s got their own path in music and I'm pleased we played a role of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Impact from the Plastic Guitar
The best promotion, be it for cars, apparel or games, goes further than selling something – it evokes a desire. Was the game able to harness this? “Precisely what our team trying to create,” he confirms. “The excitement of being a music icon on the stage. From day one, the creators felt that there’s an instinctive human desire to create songs, and their goal was to use technology to allow people to do it”.
The majority installments were released in just a half-decade from 2005 to 2010, including spin-offs such as the DJ version, including a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. After that, the publisher’s interest on peripherals waned, aside from a brief comeback several years later.
Titles like Clone Hero and newer releases have maintained the scene active, and there’s set to be something from the original publisher on the way. Recently formed developers has entered production on its debut rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are participating as special advisers. Are gamers prepared to welcome another game following the classic?
“We thought those games could be similar to sports games allowing annual releases,” he remarks. “There’s so much new music it could remain evergreen, thus I remain optimistic. It's entirely possible why it can’t continue with new generations.”
