Marking 20 years after Guitar Hero debuted in North America, providing everyday gamers the means to feel like a rock star. Not literally, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that someone who's mastered the epic lengthy guitar solo in front of an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by the developers, the game gave players a guitar-shaped controller to match coloured notes moving along the display synchronized to a song. Every sequence mimicked specific notes, producing the feel of an authentic 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 groundwork for an unlikely billion-dollar franchise which made a remarkable impact on numerous musicians featured, introducing decades-old bands to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, recalls the initial financial challenges in securing the songs – even though initial releases primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded all the music since the cost prohibitive,” he explains. “Even with the necessary permissions by themselves, it proved extremely difficult. We failed to secure acts such as the Who – RedOctane had virtually no money, and our team was fairly certain the project would flop. However, when the game became a hit, album purchases airtime were going up, all artists desired to be in.”
He adds: “Among the amazing things was the number of parents got in touch expressing gratitude for exposing their kids to the songs they adored. It evolved into an intergenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Gains a New Audience
Irish group the Answer included their track on the 2008 game the popular installment. Guitarist Paul Mahon recalls how the series revived classic rock back into vogue: “The game offered a bigger, new demographic. Typically such music was seen as outdated material, however when it was included in the title and teenagers discovered it, suddenly it was cool. This validated it, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It gave all our music a new life.”
In 2008, the Answer’s debut album was still unreleased stateside, meaning the game served as a primary platform of discovery for the band as they went on US tour supporting the rock giants. “The roadies were playing the song during travel, and some of them recognized us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Major Band Titles and Lasting Influence
Music's heavyweight names soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in dedicated game editions that focused on their music collections and associated stories, visuals and legendary status. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly to have made the band more money compared to their studio albums. It moved well over 500,000 units upon release, while sales of their songs saw an increase significantly at a time when the music business faced decline.
Guitar Hero still motivates quick-handed fanaticism among its fans. Earlier this year, an online personality achieved an impressive attempt featuring Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult power-metal song made popular by the game – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with almost identical mechanics but an array of customisation options. This track is challenging enough on expert mode, not to mention performed at increased tempo and without missing a single one of its near 4,000 notes. They claimed it took months of practice of practice.
“The game is a fun, fantasy thing. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to pick up actual weapons and go to war,” notes musician the artist.
The band previously completed a successful tour when Through the Fire and Flames appeared in the third game, but Li says it turned them into widely recognized. “I recall the record label informing us that our records were moving like crazy,” he shares. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we were playing just before top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it has threatened to overshadow everything else the band has done. Last year, the track was used in promotional material for a major film. “In the past I felt otherwise, but now I accept it,” Li says. “Should you just listen to one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – each person has their own musical journey and I’m glad we played a role of people’s lives”.
Enduring Legacy of a Plastic Guitar
The best promotion, be it for automobiles, apparel or video games, extends beyond mere transactions – it inspires a desire. Was the game able to harness this? “That’s exactly what our team aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “The excitement of being a music icon in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the co-founders believed there’s an instinctive human desire to create songs, and they wanted to leverage innovation to enable everyone to participate”.
Most installments came out in just a half-decade from 2005 to 2010, featuring derivative titles like DJ Hero, including a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, corporate focus on peripherals died down, aside from a brief comeback several years later.
Games like Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have maintained the scene alive, with set to be a new product from the founders in development. A new studio has begun production on its debut rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are both involved in advisory roles. Is the world ready to embrace a new entry in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“We thought those games might become like Madden where you can releases,” he remarks. “With abundant new music that it could be perennially popular, so I’ve always been hopeful. There’s no reason for it to persist with new generations.”
