Marking two decades since the legendary game hit the market in North America, providing players everywhere the opportunity to become a rock star. Figuratively speaking, but try convincing someone who has mastered Free Bird’s four-minute instrumental break before a packed living-room audience.
Developed by the developers, the game gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to match coloured notes scrolling down the screen synchronized to the music. Every sequence mimicked specific notes, creating the sensation of a genuine live show.
The studio previously experimented with rhythm games prior to teaming up with RedOctane, later acquired by the gaming giant in 2006. Together, they laid the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar franchise that had a significant influence for many of the artists featured, showcasing decades-old groups to a new generation of younger players.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, remembers the early budgetary hurdles of licensing the songs – even though the first two games primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced every song since the cost prohibitive,” he says. “Even with the publishing rights by themselves, it proved extremely difficult. We couldn’t get acts such as legendary groups – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were fairly certain it would fail. However, when the game took off, album purchases and radio play increased, everyone wanted to be in.”
He continues: “Among the amazing things was the number of mothers and fathers got in touch and thanked us for introducing their children to the music they adored. It evolved into a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Gains a New Audience
Northern Irish group the Answer included Never Too Late in the 2008 release the popular installment. Guitarist the artist recalls the way the game brought classic rock back into vogue: “The game provided a bigger, new demographic. Generally this had been seen as music that was past it, however once it got featured on the game and teenagers were finding it, abruptly it became trendy. This validated it, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ tag. It provided our catalog renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the Answer’s first record remained not available stateside, meaning Guitar Hero was a key medium of discovery for the group as they went on a North American tour opening for AC/DC. “Their crew had on the song during travel, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs and Lasting Influence
Music's biggest acts quickly capitalised on the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in dedicated spin-off titles that focused on their music collections and associated lore, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said to have made the group greater revenue compared to their studio albums. It moved more than half a million units in its first week, while sales of their songs saw an increase of up to 40% at a time as the industry faced decline.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire quick-handed fanaticism among its fans. Earlier this year, an online personality completed a remarkable feat featuring the challenging track – a notoriously difficult anthem made popular by the game – using a fan-made version, a no-cost alternative with similar gameplay but an array of customisation options. The song is challenging even in the hardest setting, not to mention played at double speed while hitting a single one of the thousands of cues. The streamer claimed requiring nine months of practice.
“Guitar Hero offers a, imaginary experience. Just as with Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you should use actual weapons and go to war,” says DragonForce guitarist the artist.
The band had already completed a profitable run when their hit was featured on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it made them widely recognized. “I remember our distributors informing us that we were records were moving 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 was so immense that it risked overshadow everything else accomplishments. Last year, the song featured in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I thought otherwise, but now I accept it,” Li says. “If you only listen to a single track, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got their own musical journey and I’m glad we played a role of people’s lives”.
Enduring Legacy from the Plastic Guitar
Top-tier promotion, whether it’s for automobiles, apparel or video games, goes further than selling something – it evokes a desire. Was the game able to harness this? “That’s exactly what our team trying to create,” he confirms. “That thrill of performing as a music icon in the spotlight. From day one, the creators felt that there’s an instinctive human desire to create songs, and they wanted to use technology to enable everyone to participate”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games were released over a mere half-decade from 2005 to 2010, featuring derivative titles like the DJ version, complete with a spinning deck, and Band Hero. After that, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments waned, aside from a brief comeback several years later.
Titles such as the fan project and Fortnite Festival have kept the scene alive, and there’s expectations of a new product from the original publisher on the way. A new studio has entered work on their first rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are participating in advisory roles. Are gamers prepared to welcome a new entry following Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed those games could be similar to sports games allowing annual releases,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant fresh tracks it could remain evergreen, thus I remain optimistic. It's entirely possible for it to persist with new generations.”
