The Iconic Game at 20 – How a Plastic Axe United Generations Among Rock Generations

Marking two decades since the legendary game debuted in North America, providing everyday gamers the opportunity to feel like a rock star. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that someone who's nailed Free Bird’s lengthy guitar solo before an enthusiastic crowd of friends.

Created by the developers, the game gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to match on-screen cues scrolling down the screen synchronized to the music. Each riff corresponded to specific notes, producing the sensation of an authentic performance.

The studio previously experimented with rhythm games prior to teaming up with the publisher, later purchased by the gaming giant in 2006. Collaboratively, they laid the groundwork for an unlikely massively profitable franchise that had a significant influence on numerous musicians featured, introducing classic groups to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.

Michael Dornbrook, former COO from the developer, remembers the initial financial challenges in securing the recordings – despite the fact initial releases primarily featured cover versions.

“We rerecorded all the music since the dollar figure was so high,” he says. “Even with the publishing rights alone, it was nearly impossible. We couldn’t get acts such as legendary groups – the publisher had virtually no money, and we were fairly certain it would fail. But once Guitar Hero took off, album purchases airtime were going up, everyone wanted to be in.”

He adds: “Among the amazing things was the number of parents got in touch and thanked us for exposing their children to the music they loved. It became an intergenerational phenomenon.”

Classic Rock Gains a New Audience

Irish group one featured act included their track on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician Paul Mahon recalls the way the game revived older hits back into vogue: “The game offered a bigger, younger audience. Typically this had been seen as outdated material, however when it was featured on the game young people discovered it, abruptly it became trendy. This validated it, eliminating the outdated label. It gave all our music a new life.”

At that time, the band's first record was still not available stateside, meaning Guitar Hero was a key medium of discovery for the band as they went on US tour opening for AC/DC. “The roadies had on Never Too Late during travel, and some of them recognized us thanks to the game,” he notes.

Major Band Spin-offs and Lasting Influence

Music's heavyweight names quickly took advantage of the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in specialized game editions that focused on their music collections and related lore, imagery and legendary status. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said earned the band more money than any of their records. It sold more than half a million units upon release, and sales of Aerosmith’s music saw an increase significantly at a time as the industry faced decline.

The series still motivates nimble-fingered fanaticism among its fans. Recently, an online personality completed a remarkable feat featuring the challenging track – a notoriously difficult power-metal song made popular by Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with almost identical mechanics but an array of customisation options. The song is challenging enough on expert mode, not to mention played at increased tempo and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. The streamer claimed requiring months of practice to accomplish.

“Guitar Hero offers a, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you ought to use actual weapons and enlist,” notes musician the artist.

The band previously completed a successful tour before their hit was featured on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it turned them into widely recognized. “I recall the record label informing us that we were selling albums rapidly,” he shares. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we were playing just before top acts on the Mayhem festival.”

In fact, the band's visibility via the game proved so vast that it has threatened to overshadow all other accomplishments. Last year, the track was used in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I felt differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “Should you just hear one DragonForce song, that's fine – everyone’s got a unique path in music and I’m glad we’ve been part of people’s lives”.

The Lasting Impact from the Plastic Guitar

The best promotion, be it for automobiles, clothes or video games, goes further mere transactions – it inspires a desire. Was the game able to tap into that? “Precisely what our team aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “The excitement of being a rock star on the stage. From day one, the co-founders felt that humans have a natural human desire to create songs, and they wanted to leverage innovation to enable everyone to participate”.

Most installments were released in just a half-decade between 2005 and 2010, including spin-offs like DJ Hero, complete with a turntable controller, and Band Hero. After that, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments died down, except for a short-lived revival in 2015.

Titles like Clone Hero and newer releases have kept the scene active, and there’s expectations of something from the founders in development. Recently formed developers has begun work on their first rhythm-based title. The initial creators are participating in advisory roles. Are gamers prepared to welcome a new entry in the spirit of the classic?

“Our team believed those games might become similar to sports games where you can releases,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant new music that it could be perennially popular, thus I remain optimistic. There’s no reason for it to persist for future fans.”