Marking 20 years after the legendary game debuted in North America, offering players everywhere the tools to become rock legends. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that anyone who's mastered the epic lengthy instrumental break in front of a packed living-room audience.
Created by the developers, Guitar Hero gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to match coloured notes moving along the screen in time with the music. Every sequence corresponded to particular chords, producing the sensation of a genuine live show.
The studio had already experimented with rhythm games before partnering with the publisher, which was acquired by the gaming giant in 2006. Together, they established the groundwork for a surprising billion-dollar franchise that had a significant influence on numerous musicians featured, showcasing decades-old groups to millions of younger players.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, recalls the early budgetary hurdles in securing the songs – even though initial releases mostly used cover versions.
“We rerecorded every song because the cost prohibitive,” he says. “Even with the necessary permissions alone, it proved nearly impossible. We couldn’t get acts such as legendary groups – RedOctane had virtually no money, and our team was fairly certain it would fail. But once the game became a hit, and record sales airtime were going up, all artists desired to be in.”
He adds: “One of the amazing things was the number of parents reached out and thanked us for exposing their children to the songs they adored. It evolved into a multigenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Finds Younger Fans
Northern Irish blues-rock band the Answer included Never Too Late on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician the artist remembers the way the game revived classic rock back into vogue: “Guitar Hero offered a bigger, younger audience. Generally this had been considered music that was past it, but then when it was included in the game and teenagers were finding it, suddenly it was cool. This validated it, and got rid of the outdated label. It gave our catalog a new life.”
At that time, the Answer’s debut album remained not available stateside, so Guitar Hero was a key medium of discovery for the band during their a North American tour opening for the rock giants. “The roadies were playing Never Too Late during travel, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Major Band Titles and Lasting Impact
Music's biggest acts soon capitalised on the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in dedicated game editions centered around their music collections and associated lore, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, it was said to have made the band greater revenue than any of their studio albums. It sold well over half a million copies upon release, and sales of their songs saw an increase of up to 40% during an era as the industry was already collapsing.
The series continues to inspire quick-handed fanaticism within the community. Earlier this year, an online personality completed a remarkable feat featuring the challenging track – a notoriously difficult power-metal song made popular by Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical mechanics but an array of personalization features. This track is challenging even in expert mode, not to mention played at double speed while hitting a single one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer stated requiring nine months of practice.
“The game offers a, fantasy thing. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you should pick up a real gun and go to war,” says DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
The band previously wrapped up a profitable run when their hit was featured in the third game, yet he explains it made them a household name. “I remember our distributors informing us that our records were moving rapidly,” he says. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we were playing just before top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, the band's visibility via the game proved so vast that it has threatened to overshadow all other the band has done. Last year, the song featured in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I thought otherwise, but now I accept it,” Li says. “If you only listen to one DragonForce song, that's fine – everyone’s got their own path in music and I'm pleased we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
Enduring Impact of a Plastic Guitar
Top-tier promotion, whether it’s for automobiles, clothes or video games, extends beyond than selling something – it inspires a desire. Was the game able to harness this? “Precisely what we were trying to create,” he confirms. “The excitement of performing as a rock star on the stage. Since the beginning, the co-founders believed humans have a natural urge to make music, and their goal was to leverage innovation to allow people to participate”.
The majority installments were released over a mere half-decade between 2005 and 2010, including spin-offs such as DJ Hero, including a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest on peripherals died down, aside from a brief comeback several years later.
Games such as Clone Hero and newer releases have kept the community active, with expectations of something from the original publisher in development. Recently formed developers has begun production on their first music game. The initial creators are both involved in advisory roles. Is the world ready to embrace a new entry following the classic?
“We thought such titles might become like Madden allowing annual update every year,” he remarks. “With abundant fresh tracks it could remain perennially popular, thus I remain hopeful. It's entirely possible for it to persist for future fans.”
