Guitar Hero at 20 – The Plastic Guitar That Connected Generations Between Music Fans
Marking two decades since the legendary game debuted across the Atlantic, offering everyday gamers the opportunity to feel like rock legends. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that anyone who has mastered Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo in front of a packed living-room audience.
Developed by the developers, Guitar Hero gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to match coloured notes moving along the display in time with a song. Each riff mimicked specific notes, creating the sensation of a genuine live show.
Harmonix previously experimented with rhythm games prior to teaming up with RedOctane, which was acquired by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Together, they laid the foundations for a surprising massively profitable franchise which made a remarkable impact on numerous of the artists featured, introducing classic bands to millions of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, recalls the initial budgetary hurdles in securing the songs – despite the fact initial releases mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced all the music since the cost was so high,” he explains. “Even with the publishing rights by themselves, it proved extremely difficult. We failed to secure bands like the Who – RedOctane had virtually no money, and we were pretty convinced it would fail. However, when the game took off, album purchases and radio play were going up, everyone wanted to be in.”
He continues: “One of the amazing things was how many parents reached out and thanked us for exposing their children to the music they adored. It evolved into an intergenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Finds Younger Fans
Northern Irish group one featured act included Never Too Late on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician the artist recalls how the series brought classic rock back into vogue: “Guitar Hero provided a larger, younger audience. Generally such music was considered music that was past it, but then when it was included in the title young people were finding it, suddenly it became trendy. This validated it, eliminating the outdated label. It gave our catalog a new life.”
At that time, the band's first record was still not available in the US, meaning the game was a key medium for exposure for the group as they went on US tour supporting the rock giants. “Their crew had on the song during travel, and some of them knew us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Major Band Titles Enduring Influence
Rock’s biggest acts quickly capitalised on the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in dedicated spin-off titles centered around their music collections and related stories, visuals and legendary status. For example, the Aerosmith edition, it was said earned the band more money than any of their records. It sold well over 500,000 units upon release, and sales of Aerosmith’s music saw an increase significantly at a time as the industry was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero still motivates quick-handed dedication within the community. Recently, a streamer completed an impressive attempt featuring the challenging track – a notoriously difficult power-metal song popularized through the game – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with almost identical mechanics but an array of personalization features. The song is difficult enough on the hardest setting, let alone performed at double speed while hitting a single one of its near 4,000 notes. They claimed it took months of practice of practice.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, fantasy thing. Just as with other games, that doesn’t mean you should use actual weapons and enlist,” notes musician Herman Li.
DragonForce had already completed a successful tour before Through the Fire and Flames was featured on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it made them a household name. “I recall our distributors calling to tell me that we were records were moving like crazy,” he says. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we were playing right ahead of top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure via the game was so immense that it risked overshadow all other accomplishments. Recently, the track was used in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I felt otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “If you only listen to a single track, that's fine – each person has their own musical journey and I'm pleased we played a role in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Legacy from the Iconic Controller
The best marketing, whether it’s for automobiles, clothes or video games, goes further than selling something – it inspires a desire. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “Precisely what our team trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a rock star in the spotlight. From day one, the creators felt that humans have a natural human desire to create songs, and their goal was to use technology to enable everyone to participate”.
The majority installments were released over a mere five-year period from 2005 to 2010, featuring spin-offs such as DJ Hero, including a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. After that, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments died down, except for a brief comeback in 2015.
Titles like Clone Hero and newer releases have kept the community alive, and there’s expectations of a new product from the original publisher on the way. A new studio has begun work on their first rhythm-based title. The initial creators are both involved in advisory roles. Is the world prepared to welcome a new entry following the classic?
“Our team believed those games might become like Madden allowing annual releases,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much fresh tracks it could remain evergreen, thus I remain hopeful. There’s no reason for it to continue for future fans.”