Guitar Hero at 20 – How a Plastic Axe Bridged the Gap Between Rock Fans

It has been 20 years after Guitar Hero debuted in North America, offering players everywhere the tools to feel like rock legends. Figuratively speaking, but try telling that anyone who's nailed Free Bird’s lengthy instrumental break before an enthusiastic crowd of friends.

Created by Harmonix, Guitar Hero provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to match on-screen cues scrolling down the display in time with the music. Every sequence corresponded to specific notes, creating the sensation of an authentic performance.

Harmonix previously experimented in the music genre before partnering with the publisher, which was acquired by Activision during the mid-2000s. Together, they laid the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar franchise which made a remarkable impact for many of the artists featured, showcasing decades-old groups to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.

Michael Dornbrook, former COO from the developer, recalls the initial financial challenges of licensing the recordings – even though initial releases mostly used rerecorded tracks.

“We rerecorded all the music since the dollar figure was so high,” he says. “Despite having the publishing rights alone, it was extremely difficult. We failed to secure bands like legendary groups – RedOctane had virtually no money, and our team was fairly certain it would fail. However, when the game became a hit, and record sales airtime were going up, everyone wanted to be in.”

He adds: “One of the remarkable aspects was how many mothers and fathers got in touch and thanked us for exposing their kids to the music they adored. It became a multigenerational thing.”

Classic Rock Gains a New Audience

Irish group the Answer included their track in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist the artist remembers how the series revived classic rock back into vogue: “Guitar Hero offered a larger, younger audience. Typically such music was considered outdated material, but then when it was featured on the game and teenagers discovered it, suddenly it became trendy. That legitimised the genre, and got rid of the outdated tag. It gave all our music a new life.”

In 2008, the band's first record was still unreleased stateside, so Guitar Hero was a key medium of discovery for the band during their a North American tour opening for AC/DC. “Their crew had on Never Too Late on the tour bus, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.

Major Band Titles Enduring Impact

Rock’s biggest acts quickly capitalised on the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in dedicated spin-off titles that focused on each band’s catalogue and related lore, imagery and legendary status. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said earned the group greater revenue than any of their studio albums. It moved more than 500,000 units upon release, and sales of their songs saw an increase significantly at a time as the industry was already collapsing.

The series continues to inspire quick-handed fanaticism within the community. Earlier this year, a streamer achieved a remarkable feat featuring Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough power-metal song popularized through Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with similar mechanics and extensive customisation options. The song is challenging enough on the hardest setting, let alone played at increased tempo and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. They stated it took months of practice to accomplish.

“Guitar Hero offers a, imaginary experience. Just as with other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to use a real gun and enlist,” notes DragonForce guitarist the artist.

The band had already completed a profitable run when their hit appeared in the third game, but Li says it turned them into widely recognized. “I recall the record label calling to tell me that we were selling albums rapidly,” he says. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we performed just before top acts at the event.”

Indeed, the band's visibility via the game was so immense that it threatened to overshadow all other the band has done. Recently, the track featured in promotional material for a major film. “Previously I felt otherwise, but now I accept it,” Li says. “Should you just hear one DragonForce song, that's fine – each person has a unique musical journey and I'm pleased we played a role of people’s lives”.

Enduring Legacy from the Plastic Guitar

The best promotion, be it for cars, clothes or video games, goes further mere transactions – it inspires a desire. Was the game able to harness this? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of being a rock star on the stage. From day one, the creators felt that there’s an instinctive human desire to make music, and their goal was to use technology to allow people to do it”.

Most installments were released over a mere five-year period between 2005 and 2010, including derivative titles like DJ Hero, including a turntable controller, and Band Hero. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest on peripherals died down, except for a short-lived revival several years later.

Games such as the fan project and newer releases have kept the community active, and there’s expectations of something from the founders on the way. Recently formed developers has entered production on their first rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are participating as special advisers. Is the world prepared to welcome a new entry in the spirit of Guitar Hero?

“Our team believed such titles could be similar to sports games allowing annual update every year,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much fresh tracks that it could be evergreen, thus I remain optimistic. There’s no reason for it to continue for future fans.”