The Iconic Game Turns 20 – The Plastic Guitar That United the Gap Between Music Generations

Marking 20 years after Guitar Hero first launched in North America, giving everyday gamers the means to feel like rock legends. Figuratively speaking, but try convincing someone who has mastered the epic lengthy guitar solo before an enthusiastic crowd of friends.

Developed by the developers, the game gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to follow on-screen cues moving along the screen synchronized to a song. Every sequence corresponded to particular chords, producing the feel of an authentic performance.

The studio had already tried its hand in the music genre prior to teaming up with the publisher, which was acquired by Activision in 2006. Collaboratively, they established the foundations for a surprising massively profitable series which made a significant impact on numerous of the artists featured, showcasing classic bands to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.

Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, remembers the initial financial challenges of licensing the recordings – despite the fact the first two games primarily featured cover versions.

“We rerecorded all the music because the cost prohibitive,” he explains. “Even with the necessary permissions by themselves, it proved nearly impossible. We failed to secure bands like the Who – the publisher had virtually no money, and our team was pretty convinced the project would flop. However, when the game took off, album purchases airtime were going up, everyone wanted to participate.”

He continues: “Among the amazing things was how many parents got in touch and thanked us for exposing their kids to the songs they loved. It became an intergenerational phenomenon.”

Classic Rock Finds a New Audience

Irish group the Answer had Never Too Late on the 2008 game the popular installment. Guitarist Paul Mahon remembers the way the game brought older hits to the forefront: “Guitar Hero provided a larger, younger audience. Typically this had been seen as outdated material, but then once it got included in the game young people were finding it, suddenly it was cool. This validated it, and got rid of the outdated tag. It gave our catalog renewed popularity.”

At that time, the band's debut album was still unreleased stateside, meaning Guitar Hero was a key medium of discovery for the group during their US tour supporting the rock giants. “Their crew were playing Never Too Late during travel, and several recognized us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.

Major Band Titles Enduring Impact

Rock’s biggest acts quickly capitalised on the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in specialized game editions centered around their music collections and related lore, visuals and legendary status. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly earned the band more money than any of their records. It moved more than 500,000 units in its first week, while demand for their songs saw an increase significantly at a time as the industry was already collapsing.

Guitar Hero continues to inspire quick-handed dedication within the community. Earlier this year, an online personality achieved an impressive attempt featuring Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough anthem popularized through the game – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with similar gameplay and extensive personalization features. The song is challenging even in the hardest setting, let alone played at increased tempo and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. They claimed it took months of practice of practice.

“The game is a fun, imaginary experience. If you play Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you should pick up actual weapons and enlist,” notes DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.

The band had already wrapped up a profitable run before their hit was featured in the third game, yet he explains it turned them into widely recognized. “I recall our distributors calling to tell me that our selling albums rapidly,” he says. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we performed just before top acts on the Mayhem festival.”

In fact, the band's visibility via the game was so immense that it has risked overshadow everything else the band has done. Recently, the song was used in a trailer for a major film. “Previously I felt differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “Should you just listen to one DragonForce song, that's fine – everyone’s got a unique musical journey and I’m glad we played a role in fans' experiences”.

The Lasting Impact of a Plastic Guitar

Top-tier marketing, whether it’s for cars, clothes or video games, extends beyond than selling something – it inspires a longing. Was the game able to tap into that? “Precisely what our team aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a music icon on the stage. Since the beginning, the creators felt that humans have a natural urge to create songs, and they wanted to use technology to enable everyone to do it”.

The majority installments were released over a mere five-year period between 2005 and 2010, including spin-offs like the DJ version, complete with a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest on peripherals waned, aside from a short-lived revival several years later.

Games such as Clone Hero and newer releases have kept the scene alive, with expectations of something from the founders on the way. A new studio has begun production on its debut music game. The initial creators are both involved in advisory roles. Are gamers ready to embrace a new entry following the classic?

“We thought such titles might become similar to sports games where you can update every year,” he remarks. “There’s so much new music it could remain perennially popular, thus I remain hopeful. There’s no reason for it to persist with new generations.”