Marking 20 years after the legendary game first launched in North America, offering players everywhere the opportunity to feel like rock legends. Figuratively speaking, but try telling that someone who's mastered Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo before a packed living-room audience.
Created by Harmonix, the game provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to follow on-screen cues scrolling down the screen synchronized to the music. Each riff mimicked specific notes, producing the sensation of an authentic performance.
The studio previously experimented with rhythm games before partnering with the publisher, which was purchased by the gaming giant in 2006. Collaboratively, they laid the groundwork for an unlikely massively profitable series which made a significant impact on numerous of the artists featured, introducing classic bands to a new generation of younger players.
A former executive, former COO of Harmonix, recalls the early budgetary hurdles in securing the recordings – despite the fact initial releases primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded all the music because the cost was so high,” he says. “Despite having the publishing rights by themselves, it proved nearly impossible. We failed to secure acts such as the Who – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was pretty convinced it would fail. However, when Guitar Hero became a hit, album purchases and radio play were going up, all artists desired to participate.”
He continues: “Among the remarkable aspects was the number of parents reached out and thanked us for introducing their children to the songs they adored. It evolved into an intergenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Gains Younger Fans
Northern Irish group one featured act included their track on the 2008 game the popular installment. Lead musician Paul Mahon remembers the way the game brought older hits to the forefront: “The game provided a larger, younger audience. Generally this had been considered music that was past it, however when it was featured on the game and teenagers were finding it, abruptly it was cool. That legitimised it, and got rid of the outdated label. It gave our catalog renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the Answer’s first record remained unreleased stateside, meaning the game was a key medium for exposure for the band during their US tour supporting the rock giants. “The roadies were playing the song on the tour bus, and several knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs and Lasting Impact
Rock’s biggest acts soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in dedicated game editions that focused on their music collections and related stories, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said earned the group greater revenue compared to their studio albums. It moved more than 500,000 units in its first week, and demand for Aerosmith’s music saw an increase of up to 40% during an era as the industry faced decline.
Guitar Hero still motivates nimble-fingered dedication among its fans. Earlier this year, a streamer completed an impressive attempt featuring the challenging track – an infamously tough anthem made popular by the game – using a fan-made version, a no-cost alternative with almost identical mechanics but an array of customisation options. This track is challenging even in the hardest setting, let alone performed at increased tempo while hitting a single one of its near 4,000 notes. They claimed requiring nine months to accomplish.
“The game offers a, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you should pick up a real gun and go to war,” notes DragonForce guitarist the artist.
DragonForce had already wrapped up a successful tour when their hit was featured in the third game, but Li says it made them widely recognized. “I remember our distributors calling to tell me that we were selling albums rapidly,” he says. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we performed right ahead of the headliners at the event.”
In fact, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it threatened to eclipsing everything else the band has done. Last year, the song was used in a trailer for a major film. “In the past I felt differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “If you only listen to a single track, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got a unique musical journey and I'm pleased we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Legacy from the Plastic Guitar
The best marketing, be it for cars, clothes or video games, goes further than selling something – it evokes a longing. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “Precisely what our team trying to create,” he confirms. “The excitement of performing as a rock star in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the co-founders believed there’s an instinctive human desire to create songs, and their goal was to leverage innovation to allow people to do it”.
The majority installments came out in just a half-decade from 2005 to 2010, including spin-offs such as DJ Hero, complete with a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, corporate focus in plastic instruments died down, except for a brief comeback in 2015.
Games such as the fan project and newer releases have kept the community alive, and there’s set to be something from the founders in development. A new studio has entered production on their first rhythm-based title. The initial creators are participating as special advisers. Is the world ready to embrace another game following the classic?
“Our team believed those games could be like Madden where you can update every year,” he remarks. “There’s so much fresh tracks that it could be perennially popular, thus I remain optimistic. There’s no reason why it can’t persist with new generations.”
