Marking two decades since Guitar Hero hit the market across the Atlantic, giving players everywhere the opportunity to feel like a rock star. Not literally, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing anyone who has nailed the epic lengthy instrumental break in front of a packed living-room audience.
Developed by Harmonix, the game provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to follow coloured notes moving along the display synchronized to the music. Each riff mimicked particular chords, producing the feel of an authentic live show.
The studio previously tried its hand with rhythm games before partnering with the publisher, which was purchased by the gaming giant in 2006. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for a surprising massively profitable series that had a remarkable impact for many of the artists included, introducing classic bands to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, remembers the early budgetary hurdles of licensing the recordings – even though initial releases mostly used cover versions.
“We rerecorded all the music because the cost prohibitive,” he explains. “Even with the necessary permissions alone, it was 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. However, when the game took off, and record sales and radio play increased, all artists desired to be in.”
He adds: “One of the amazing things was the number of parents reached out expressing gratitude for exposing their children to the songs they adored. It evolved into a multigenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Finds a New Audience
Irish group the Answer had their track in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist the artist remembers the way the game brought older hits back into vogue: “The game provided a larger, younger audience. Typically this had been considered outdated material, however when it was included in the title young people were finding it, abruptly it was cool. This validated the genre, eliminating the outdated tag. It provided our catalog a new life.”
At that time, the Answer’s debut album was still not available stateside, meaning the game served as a primary platform for exposure for the band as they went on US tour supporting the rock giants. “Their crew were playing Never Too Late during travel, and several recognized us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Major Band Titles and Lasting Influence
Rock’s heavyweight names soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in dedicated spin-off titles centered around their music collections and associated stories, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, the Aerosmith edition, it was said earned the group greater revenue compared to their records. It moved more than 500,000 copies in its first week, while sales of their songs rose significantly during an era as the industry faced decline.
The series still motivates quick-handed dedication within the community. Earlier this year, an online personality completed a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s the challenging track – a notoriously difficult anthem popularized through the game – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with similar mechanics but an array of personalization features. The song is difficult enough on the hardest setting, not to mention performed at double speed and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. They claimed requiring months of practice of practice.
“The game is a fun, imaginary experience. If you play other games, it doesn't imply you ought to pick up actual weapons and go to war,” notes DragonForce guitarist the artist.
The band previously completed a profitable run before their hit was featured in the third game, yet he explains it turned them into widely recognized. “I remember our distributors calling to tell me that our selling albums like crazy,” he shares. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we performed right ahead of top acts at the event.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure via the game proved so vast that it risked eclipsing all other the band has done. Recently, the track was used in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I thought otherwise, but now I accept it,” Li says. “Should you just hear a single track, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got their own path in music and I'm pleased we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Legacy from the Iconic Controller
Top-tier promotion, be it for cars, clothes or games, goes further mere transactions – it evokes a longing. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “The excitement of performing as a music icon in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the co-founders believed there’s an instinctive urge to create songs, and their goal was to leverage innovation to enable everyone to participate”.
The majority installments were released over a mere half-decade from 2005 to 2010, featuring spin-offs such as DJ Hero, complete with a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, corporate focus in plastic instruments waned, aside from a short-lived revival in 2015.
Titles such as Clone Hero and newer releases have maintained the scene alive, and there’s expectations of something from the founders on the way. Recently formed developers has begun work on its debut music game. Original co-founders are both involved as special advisers. Is the world ready to embrace another game in the spirit of the classic?
“We thought such titles might become like Madden allowing annual update every year,” he remarks. “There’s so much fresh tracks it could remain evergreen, so I’ve always been optimistic. It's entirely possible why it can’t continue with new generations.”
