Guitar Hero at 20 – The Plastic Guitar That Bridged the Gap Between Music Generations

Marking 20 years after the legendary game debuted in North America, giving everyday gamers the means to feel like rock legends. Figuratively speaking, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing someone who has mastered Free Bird’s lengthy instrumental break in front of an enthusiastic crowd of friends.

Created by Harmonix, Guitar Hero gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to match coloured notes scrolling down the screen synchronized to a song. Every sequence corresponded to particular chords, producing the feel of a genuine performance.

The studio previously experimented in the music genre prior to teaming up with the publisher, later acquired by the gaming giant in 2006. Collaboratively, they established the groundwork for a surprising massively profitable series which made a remarkable influence on numerous of the artists included, introducing decades-old groups to a new generation of younger players.

Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, recalls the early financial challenges of licensing the recordings – despite the fact the first two games primarily featured cover versions.

“We rerecorded every song because the dollar figure prohibitive,” he says. “Even with the publishing rights by themselves, it proved extremely difficult. We failed to secure bands like legendary groups – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was pretty convinced the project would flop. But once Guitar Hero became a hit, album purchases airtime increased, everyone wanted to participate.”

He adds: “One of the amazing things was how many parents got in touch and thanked us for exposing their children to the songs they adored. It evolved into an intergenerational thing.”

Classic Rock Finds a New Audience

Irish blues-rock band the Answer included Never Too Late on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist Paul Mahon remembers how the series brought older hits to the forefront: “The game provided a bigger, new demographic. Typically this had been seen as outdated material, but then when it was included in the title and teenagers were finding it, abruptly it became trendy. This validated the genre, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ tag. It gave our catalog a new life.”

At that time, the Answer’s debut album was still not available stateside, so the game served as a primary platform for exposure for the group as they went on a North American tour supporting the rock giants. “The roadies were playing Never Too Late on the tour bus, and several recognized us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.

Rock’s Heavyweight Titles Enduring Influence

Music's biggest acts soon capitalised on the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in dedicated game editions centered around each band’s catalogue and related stories, imagery and legendary status. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said to have made the band more money compared to their studio albums. It moved more than 500,000 units in its first week, while demand for their songs saw an increase 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 of DragonForce’s the challenging track – an infamously tough anthem made popular by the game – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical mechanics and extensive customisation options. This track is difficult even in the hardest setting, let alone played at increased tempo and without missing every one of the thousands of cues. The streamer stated it took months of practice of practice.

“The game offers a, fantasy thing. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you should use a real gun and enlist,” notes musician Herman Li.

The band had already wrapped up a successful tour before their hit was featured in the third game, but Li says it made them widely recognized. “I remember our distributors informing us that our selling albums rapidly,” he says. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we performed just before top acts on the Mayhem festival.”

In fact, the band's visibility via the game proved so vast that it has risked eclipsing everything else accomplishments. Last year, the track featured in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I felt differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “If you only hear one DragonForce song, that's fine – everyone’s got their own path in music and I’m glad we played a role of people’s lives”.

Enduring Impact from the Iconic Controller

The best marketing, be it for cars, clothes or video games, extends beyond mere transactions – it evokes a longing. Was the game able to harness this? “Precisely what our team trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a music icon on the stage. Since the beginning, the co-founders believed there’s an instinctive urge to create songs, and they wanted to use technology to enable everyone to participate”.

The majority of Guitar Hero games came out over a mere five-year period between 2005 and 2010, featuring spin-offs like DJ Hero, complete with a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. After that, the publisher’s interest on peripherals waned, aside from a short-lived revival in 2015.

Games such as the fan project and newer releases have maintained the community alive, with expectations of a new product from the original publisher in development. Recently formed developers has begun work on their first rhythm-based title. The initial creators are both involved in advisory roles. Are gamers prepared to welcome a new entry in the spirit of Guitar Hero?

“We thought those games could be similar to sports games where you can releases,” he remarks. “There’s so much new music it could remain evergreen, so I’ve always been hopeful. There’s no reason for it to continue with new generations.”