It has been 20 years after the legendary game first launched in North America, providing everyday gamers the means to become rock legends. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing anyone who has nailed Free Bird’s lengthy guitar solo in front of an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by the developers, the game provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to match coloured notes moving along the display synchronized to a song. Each riff corresponded to specific notes, producing the feel of an authentic live show.
The studio had already tried its hand in the music genre prior to teaming up with the publisher, which was purchased by the gaming giant in 2006. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for an unlikely massively profitable series that had a significant impact for many of the artists included, showcasing classic groups to millions of gaming enthusiasts.
Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, remembers the early budgetary hurdles of licensing the recordings – even though initial releases mostly used cover versions.
“We reproduced every song since the dollar figure prohibitive,” he says. “Despite having the necessary permissions by themselves, it was extremely difficult. We failed to secure acts such as the Who – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were fairly certain it would fail. However, when Guitar Hero became a hit, and record sales and radio play were going up, everyone wanted to participate.”
He continues: “One of the amazing things was the number of parents got in touch and thanked us for introducing their children to the songs they adored. It evolved into an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Finds a New Audience
Irish blues-rock band the Answer had their track on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist Paul Mahon recalls the way the game revived older hits to the forefront: “The game provided a larger, younger audience. Generally this had been considered outdated material, but then once it got featured on the title young people were finding it, suddenly it became trendy. That legitimised it, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ tag. It provided all our music renewed popularity.”
At that time, the band's debut album was still unreleased stateside, so the game was a key medium for exposure for the band during their US tour supporting AC/DC. “The roadies had on the song during travel, and several knew us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Major Band Titles and Lasting Influence
Rock’s biggest acts soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in dedicated game editions centered around their music collections and related lore, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly to have made the group greater revenue than any of their studio albums. It moved well over 500,000 units upon release, while sales of their songs rose significantly at a time as the industry faced decline.
The series continues to inspire quick-handed fanaticism among its fans. Recently, an online personality achieved an impressive attempt featuring Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult anthem made popular by the game – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with similar gameplay but an array of customisation options. This track is challenging even in the hardest setting, let alone performed at double speed and without missing every one of its near 4,000 notes. They stated it took months of practice of practice.
“The game is a fun, fantasy thing. Just as with other games, that doesn’t mean you should use a real gun and go to war,” notes DragonForce guitarist the artist.
DragonForce had already wrapped up a profitable run before Through the Fire and Flames appeared on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it turned them into widely recognized. “I recall our distributors calling to tell me that our records were moving rapidly,” he says. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we performed right ahead of top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero was so immense that it risked overshadow all other accomplishments. Last year, the track featured in a trailer for a major film. “In the past I felt differently, but now I accept it,” he admits. “If you only listen to one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – each person has their own musical journey and I'm pleased we played a role of people’s lives”.
Enduring Impact of a Iconic Controller
The best promotion, whether it’s for automobiles, clothes or games, goes further mere transactions – it inspires a longing. Was the game able to harness this? “That’s exactly what our team trying to create,” he confirms. “That thrill of being a rock star on the stage. From day one, the co-founders believed there’s an instinctive human desire to create songs, and they wanted to use technology to enable everyone to participate”.
The majority installments came out in just a half-decade between 2005 and 2010, featuring derivative titles like the DJ version, including a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest on peripherals 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 expectations of something from the original publisher on the way. A new studio has entered work on their first music game. Original co-founders are both involved in advisory roles. Are gamers ready to embrace another game following the classic?
“We thought such titles could be similar to sports games where you can update every year,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant fresh tracks it could remain evergreen, thus I remain optimistic. There’s no reason why it can’t persist with new generations.”
