It has been 20 years after the legendary game hit the market in North America, providing players everywhere the means to become rock legends. Not in reality, but try telling that someone who has nailed the epic four-minute instrumental break before a packed living-room audience.
Created by the developers, the game provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to follow coloured notes moving along the screen in time with a song. Every sequence corresponded to specific notes, producing the feel of an authentic performance.
The studio had already experimented in the music genre before partnering with the publisher, which was acquired by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for a surprising massively profitable franchise which made a remarkable impact on numerous of the artists included, showcasing decades-old groups to millions of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, recalls the early budgetary hurdles of licensing the songs – even though initial releases primarily featured cover versions.
“We rerecorded every song since the cost prohibitive,” he explains. “Even with the publishing rights alone, it proved extremely difficult. We couldn’t get bands like the Who – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were fairly certain the project would flop. However, when Guitar Hero became a hit, album purchases airtime were going up, everyone wanted to participate.”
He adds: “Among the amazing things was how many parents reached out expressing gratitude for exposing their kids to the music they adored. It evolved into a multigenerational thing.”
Timeless Music Finds Younger Fans
Irish blues-rock band one featured act included Never Too Late on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician Paul Mahon recalls the way the game revived classic rock back into vogue: “The game offered a larger, younger audience. Typically this had been seen as music that was past it, but then once it got included in the title young people were finding it, suddenly it was cool. That legitimised the genre, eliminating the outdated label. It provided our catalog a new life.”
At that time, the band's first record remained unreleased stateside, meaning Guitar Hero served as a primary platform for exposure for the group during their a North American tour opening for the rock giants. “The roadies were playing Never Too Late on the tour bus, and some of them recognized us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.
Major Band Titles and Lasting Influence
Music's biggest acts soon took advantage of the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in specialized game editions centered around their music collections and related stories, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly earned the group more money than any of their studio albums. It moved well over half a million units upon release, while demand for Aerosmith’s music rose of up to 40% at a time when the music business was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire nimble-fingered fanaticism among its fans. Recently, an online personality completed a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s the challenging track – an infamously tough power-metal song made popular by Guitar Hero – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with almost identical mechanics and extensive personalization features. The song is challenging even in the hardest setting, not to mention played at double speed while hitting a single one of its near 4,000 notes. They claimed it took months of practice to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero offers a, fantasy thing. Just as with Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you should use a real gun and enlist,” notes musician the artist.
DragonForce had already wrapped up a successful tour before Through the Fire and Flames appeared on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it turned them into a household name. “I remember the record label calling to tell me that our selling albums like crazy,” he says. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we performed right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it has risked eclipsing all other the band has done. Last year, the track featured in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I thought differently, but now I accept it,” he admits. “If you only hear a single track, that's fine – everyone’s got their own musical journey and I'm pleased we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Legacy of a Iconic Controller
The best promotion, be it for cars, clothes or games, goes further mere transactions – it inspires a longing. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “That’s exactly what our team aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “The excitement of performing as a music icon on the stage. Since the beginning, the co-founders felt that humans have a natural human desire to make music, and their goal was to use technology to enable everyone to participate”.
The majority installments were released over a mere five-year period between 2005 and 2010, including spin-offs like the DJ version, complete with a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. After that, corporate focus on peripherals died down, aside from a brief comeback in 2015.
Games such as the fan project and Fortnite Festival have maintained the community alive, and there’s expectations of something from the original publisher in development. A new studio has begun work on its debut music game. The initial creators are both involved as special advisers. Is the world ready to embrace another game following the classic?
“We thought those games might become similar to sports games where you can update every year,” he remarks. “There’s so much fresh tracks that it could be evergreen, so I’ve always been hopeful. There’s no reason for it to persist for future fans.”
