It has been 20 years since Guitar Hero debuted in North America, providing everyday gamers the opportunity to feel like rock legends. Figuratively speaking, but try telling that anyone who has nailed Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo in front of a packed living-room audience.
Created by the developers, the game gave players a guitar-shaped controller to follow on-screen cues scrolling down the screen in time with the music. Every sequence mimicked specific notes, creating the feel of an authentic live show.
The studio had already experimented in the music genre prior to teaming up with RedOctane, which was purchased by the gaming giant in 2006. Collaboratively, they laid the groundwork for an unlikely billion-dollar franchise which made a remarkable influence for many musicians included, introducing decades-old bands to millions of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO from the developer, recalls the early financial challenges 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. “Even with the publishing rights by themselves, it proved extremely difficult. We failed to secure bands like legendary groups – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were fairly certain it would fail. But once Guitar Hero became a hit, and record sales airtime were going up, all artists desired to be in.”
He adds: “Among the remarkable aspects was the number of parents reached out and thanked us for exposing their children to the music they adored. It became a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Finds a New Audience
Northern Irish blues-rock band one featured act had their track in the 2008 release the popular installment. Lead musician the artist remembers how the series brought classic rock to the forefront: “The game offered a larger, younger audience. Generally such music was seen as outdated material, however when it was featured on the title and teenagers were finding it, suddenly it was cool. This validated the genre, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ label. It gave our catalog renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the band's debut album remained not available stateside, so the game was a key medium of discovery for the group as they went on a North American tour opening for the rock giants. “Their crew were playing Never Too Late during travel, and several knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Major Band Spin-offs Enduring Impact
Music's heavyweight names soon capitalised on the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in dedicated spin-off titles that focused on their music collections and associated stories, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly to have made the group more money than any of their records. It sold more than 500,000 copies in its first week, and sales of their songs rose significantly at a time when the music business faced decline.
Guitar Hero still motivates nimble-fingered fanaticism within the community. Earlier this year, an online personality completed an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s the challenging track – a notoriously difficult power-metal song made popular by Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical gameplay and extensive customisation options. This track is difficult enough on expert mode, not to mention played at increased tempo while hitting every one of the thousands of cues. They claimed requiring months of practice to accomplish.
“The game offers a, fantasy thing. Just as with Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you ought to use a real gun and go to war,” says DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
The band had already completed a successful tour when their hit appeared on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it turned them into a household name. “I remember our distributors informing us that our records were moving like crazy,” he says. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we were playing just before top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it has threatened to overshadow everything else accomplishments. Recently, the track was used in a trailer for a major film. “Previously I felt otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “Should you just hear a single track, that's fine – each person has their own musical journey and I’m glad we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Impact of a Iconic Controller
Top-tier promotion, whether it’s for cars, apparel or video games, extends beyond than selling something – it evokes a longing. Was the game able to tap into that? “Precisely what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of being a rock star in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the co-founders believed humans have a natural human desire to create songs, and they wanted to leverage innovation to allow people to do it”.
The majority installments were released in just a half-decade between 2005 and 2010, featuring derivative titles like the DJ version, complete with a spinning deck, and Band Hero. After that, the publisher’s interest on peripherals died down, aside from a brief comeback several years later.
Titles such as Clone Hero and newer releases have kept the scene alive, and there’s set to be a new product from the original publisher in development. A new studio has begun work on its debut rhythm-based title. The initial creators are both involved in advisory roles. Is the world prepared to welcome a new entry following Guitar Hero?
“We thought such titles might become like Madden allowing annual update every year,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant fresh tracks it could remain perennially popular, thus I remain hopeful. It's entirely possible for it to continue with new generations.”
