Marking two decades after the legendary game hit the market across the Atlantic, giving everyday gamers the tools to feel like rock legends. Not literally, but try convincing anyone who's mastered Free Bird’s four-minute instrumental break before an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by the developers, the game provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to match on-screen cues scrolling down the screen synchronized to the music. Each riff corresponded to specific notes, producing the feel of a genuine live show.
Harmonix previously experimented with rhythm games before partnering with RedOctane, which was acquired by Activision in 2006. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for an unlikely massively profitable series which made a remarkable impact on numerous of the artists included, introducing decades-old bands to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, former COO from the developer, remembers the early financial challenges of licensing the recordings – even though the first two games mostly used cover versions.
“We reproduced all the music because the dollar figure prohibitive,” he says. “Even with the necessary permissions by themselves, it was extremely difficult. We failed to secure bands like legendary groups – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, 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 how many parents reached out expressing gratitude for introducing their children to the music they adored. It became an intergenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Finds Younger Fans
Northern Irish group one featured act had Never Too Late in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician Paul Mahon recalls the way the game revived classic rock back into vogue: “Guitar Hero provided a larger, new demographic. Generally this had been considered music that was past it, but then when it was featured on the game and teenagers were finding it, suddenly it was cool. This validated it, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It provided all our music renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the band's first record was still unreleased stateside, meaning the game served as a primary platform for exposure for the group as they went on a North American tour supporting the rock giants. “Their crew were playing the song on the tour bus, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Major Band Spin-offs and Lasting Influence
Rock’s biggest acts quickly capitalised on the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in dedicated game editions that focused on their music collections and related lore, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly earned the band more money than any of their studio albums. It sold more than 500,000 copies upon release, and demand for Aerosmith’s music saw an increase significantly at a time as the industry was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero 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 anthem popularized through Guitar Hero – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with similar gameplay and extensive customisation options. The song is challenging enough on the hardest setting, not to mention performed at double speed while hitting a single one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer stated requiring months of practice to accomplish.
“The game offers a, imaginary experience. Just as with Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you should pick up a real gun and go to war,” says DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
The band previously completed a successful tour before their hit appeared in the third game, but Li says it made them widely recognized. “I recall the record label calling to tell me that our selling albums like crazy,” he says. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we performed just before the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, the band's visibility via the game was so immense that it risked overshadow all other the band has done. Last year, the song was used in a trailer for a major film. “In the past I thought otherwise, but now I accept it,” Li says. “If you only hear one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – each person has their own path in music and I’m glad we played a role of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Legacy from the Plastic Guitar
The best marketing, whether it’s for automobiles, clothes or video games, extends beyond mere transactions – it inspires a desire. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “Precisely what our team trying to create,” he confirms. “The excitement of being a rock star on the stage. Since the beginning, the creators felt that there’s an instinctive urge to create songs, and their goal was to leverage innovation to enable everyone to participate”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games were released in just a five-year period between 2005 and 2010, including derivative titles such as DJ Hero, including a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments died down, aside from a short-lived revival several years later.
Games like Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have maintained the community alive, and there’s set to be something from the original publisher on the way. Recently formed developers has entered work on its debut rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are both involved in advisory roles. Is the world prepared to welcome a new entry following the classic?
“We thought such titles could be similar to sports games allowing annual update every year,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant fresh tracks it could remain evergreen, thus I remain optimistic. It's entirely possible for it to continue for future fans.”
