Marking 20 years since the legendary game hit the market in North America, giving everyday gamers the means to become a rock star. Not literally, but try telling that anyone who has nailed Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo before a packed crowd of friends.
Created by the developers, the game gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to match on-screen cues scrolling down the screen synchronized to the music. Every sequence mimicked particular chords, producing the feel of a genuine live show.
The studio previously experimented with rhythm games before partnering with RedOctane, later purchased by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they established the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar franchise which made a significant impact on numerous of the artists featured, showcasing decades-old groups to millions of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, former COO of Harmonix, remembers the initial budgetary hurdles in securing the songs – despite the fact the first two games primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded all the music because the cost prohibitive,” he says. “Despite having the publishing rights alone, it was extremely difficult. We failed to secure bands like legendary groups – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was pretty convinced the project would flop. But once the game became a hit, and record sales airtime increased, all artists desired to participate.”
He adds: “Among the remarkable aspects was the number of mothers and fathers reached out and thanked us for introducing their children to the music they adored. It evolved into an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Finds Younger Fans
Irish blues-rock band the Answer had their track on the 2008 game the popular installment. Lead musician Paul Mahon remembers the way the game brought older hits to the forefront: “Guitar Hero offered a bigger, younger audience. Typically such music was seen as outdated material, however once it got featured on the game and teenagers were finding it, suddenly it became trendy. That legitimised it, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ tag. It gave our catalog renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the band's debut album was still unreleased stateside, meaning Guitar Hero served as a primary platform of discovery for the band as they went on a North American tour supporting the rock giants. “The roadies were playing the song during travel, and some of them recognized us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Major Band Titles Enduring Influence
Rock’s heavyweight names soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in specialized spin-off titles centered around each band’s catalogue and related lore, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said to have made the band more money compared to their records. It sold more than 500,000 copies upon release, and 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 dedication among its fans. Earlier this year, an online personality completed a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s the challenging track – a notoriously difficult anthem made popular by the game – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with similar gameplay and extensive customisation options. This track is challenging enough on the hardest setting, let alone played at double speed while hitting a single one of the thousands of cues. They stated requiring months of practice to accomplish.
“The game is a fun, imaginary experience. If you play Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you should use actual weapons and go to war,” notes musician the artist.
DragonForce had already completed a successful tour before Through the Fire and Flames was featured in the third game, yet he explains it turned them into widely recognized. “I remember our distributors informing us that we were selling albums rapidly,” he shares. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we were playing right ahead of the headliners at the event.”
In fact, the band's visibility via the game proved so vast that it has risked overshadow all other accomplishments. Last year, the track featured in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I thought differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “If you only listen to 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 Impact of a Plastic Guitar
Top-tier promotion, whether it’s for cars, clothes or video games, extends beyond than selling something – it evokes a longing. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “That thrill of performing as a music icon in the spotlight. From day one, the co-founders believed humans have a natural urge to make music, and they wanted to leverage innovation to allow people to participate”.
The majority installments were released over a mere half-decade between 2005 and 2010, featuring spin-offs such as the DJ version, including a turntable controller, and Band Hero. After that, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments died down, aside from a brief comeback several years later.
Games like the fan project and Fortnite Festival have kept the scene active, and there’s expectations of something from the original publisher on the way. Recently formed developers has begun work on their first music game. Original co-founders are participating as special advisers. Is the world prepared to welcome another game following the classic?
“We thought those games could be like Madden where you can releases,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much new music that it could be evergreen, so I’ve always been optimistic. There’s no reason why it can’t continue with new generations.”
