Marking 20 years since Guitar Hero debuted in North America, providing everyday gamers the opportunity to become a rock star. Not in reality, but try convincing someone who's nailed the epic lengthy instrumental break in front of a packed living-room audience.
Developed by Harmonix, the game gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to match coloured notes scrolling down the display in time with a song. Each riff mimicked specific notes, producing the feel of an authentic performance.
The studio had already tried its hand in the music genre prior to teaming up with RedOctane, which was purchased by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Together, they laid the groundwork for an unlikely massively profitable franchise that had a significant impact for many of the artists included, introducing classic groups to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO of Harmonix, remembers the initial financial challenges in securing the recordings – despite the fact the first two games primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced all the music since the dollar figure was so high,” he explains. “Despite having the necessary permissions alone, it was nearly impossible. We couldn’t get bands like legendary groups – RedOctane had virtually no money, and we were fairly certain the project would flop. However, when the game took off, album purchases airtime increased, all artists desired to participate.”
He continues: “Among the remarkable aspects was the number of mothers and fathers reached out and thanked us for exposing their children to the music they loved. It evolved into a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Gains a New Audience
Northern Irish group one featured act included their track on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist Paul Mahon recalls the way the game revived classic rock back into vogue: “The game provided a bigger, new demographic. Typically this had been seen as outdated material, but then when it was featured on the game and teenagers were finding it, suddenly it was cool. This validated the genre, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ label. It gave all our music renewed popularity.”
At that time, the band's debut album remained not available in the US, so the game served as a primary platform for exposure for the group during their US tour opening for AC/DC. “The roadies were playing the song on the tour bus, and several recognized us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.
Major Band Titles and Lasting Influence
Music's heavyweight names quickly took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in dedicated spin-off titles that focused on their music collections and related lore, visuals and legendary status. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly to have made the band more money than any of their studio albums. It moved well over 500,000 units upon release, and sales of their songs rose significantly at a time when the music business 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 Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult anthem made popular by Guitar Hero – using a fan-made version, a no-cost alternative with almost identical gameplay but an array of customisation options. This track is difficult even in the hardest setting, not to mention played at double speed and without missing a single one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer stated it took months of practice of practice.
“The game is a fun, fantasy thing. Just as with Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you should use a real gun and go to war,” notes DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
The band had already completed a profitable run before Through the Fire and Flames appeared in the third game, but Li says it turned them into a household name. “I remember our distributors calling to tell me that we were selling albums like crazy,” he says. “It exploded when we next toured, and we were playing just before top acts at the event.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero was so immense that it risked eclipsing 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,” he admits. “Should you just listen to one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got a unique path in music and I’m glad we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Legacy of a Plastic Guitar
Top-tier marketing, be it for cars, apparel or video games, goes further mere transactions – it inspires a desire. Was the game able to harness this? “Precisely what we were aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “That thrill of performing as a rock star on the stage. From day one, the co-founders felt that there’s an instinctive human desire to create songs, and they wanted to use technology to enable everyone to do it”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games were released in just a five-year period from 2005 to 2010, featuring spin-offs like DJ Hero, complete with a spinning deck, and Band Hero. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments waned, aside from a brief comeback several years later.
Games like Clone Hero and newer releases have maintained the scene alive, and there’s set to be something from the original publisher in development. A new studio has entered work on their first rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are participating in advisory roles. Is the world ready to embrace another game following the classic?
“Our team believed those games could be similar to sports games where you can update every year,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much fresh tracks that it could be perennially popular, thus I remain hopeful. There’s no reason why it can’t continue with new generations.”
