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Marking 20 years since Guitar Hero debuted in North America, offering everyday gamers the means to feel like a rock star. Figuratively speaking, but try telling that someone who has mastered Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo before an enthusiastic crowd of friends.

Developed by the developers, the game provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to match on-screen cues scrolling down the display in time with a song. Every sequence corresponded to specific notes, creating the feel of a genuine live show.

The studio previously experimented in the music genre prior to teaming up with RedOctane, which was acquired by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they laid the groundwork for an unlikely billion-dollar franchise that had a remarkable influence for many musicians included, introducing classic bands to millions of gaming enthusiasts.

Michael Dornbrook, former COO of Harmonix, recalls the initial budgetary hurdles in securing the recordings – despite the fact the first two games mostly used rerecorded tracks.

“We reproduced every song because the cost was so high,” he says. “Even with the necessary permissions by themselves, it was nearly impossible. We couldn’t get acts such as the Who – the publisher had virtually no money, and our team was fairly certain the project would flop. However, when Guitar Hero took off, and record sales airtime increased, all artists desired to be in.”

He adds: “Among the amazing things was how many mothers and fathers reached out expressing gratitude for exposing their kids to the music they adored. It evolved into a multigenerational phenomenon.”

Timeless Music Finds Younger Fans

Northern Irish group the Answer had their track on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician Paul Mahon recalls the way the game revived classic rock to the forefront: “The game offered a larger, new demographic. Generally such music was seen as outdated material, however once it got featured on the title and teenagers were finding it, abruptly it was cool. That legitimised the genre, and got rid of the outdated label. It gave all our music renewed popularity.”

At that time, the Answer’s debut album was still not available stateside, so Guitar Hero served as a primary platform of discovery for the group as they went on a North American tour supporting the rock giants. “The roadies had on the song on the tour bus, and several recognized us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.

Major Band Titles Enduring Influence

Music's heavyweight names quickly took advantage of the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in specialized game editions centered around their music collections and related stories, imagery and legendary status. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said earned the group greater revenue than any of their studio albums. It sold well over 500,000 copies in its first week, while demand for Aerosmith’s music saw an increase significantly at a time when the music business was already collapsing.

Guitar Hero continues to inspire quick-handed fanaticism among its fans. Recently, an online personality completed an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s the challenging track – a notoriously difficult power-metal song popularized through Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with similar gameplay and extensive personalization features. The song is challenging enough on the hardest setting, let alone performed at double speed and without missing every one of its near 4,000 notes. They claimed it took nine months of practice.

“Guitar Hero offers a, imaginary experience. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to use a real gun and go to war,” says DragonForce guitarist the artist.

DragonForce had already completed a successful tour when Through the Fire and Flames was featured on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it turned them into widely recognized. “I remember the record label informing us that we were selling albums like crazy,” he says. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we performed just before top acts at the event.”

Indeed, the band's visibility via the game proved so vast that it risked eclipsing all other the band has done. Recently, the track featured in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I thought differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “Should you just hear one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got a unique musical journey and I'm pleased we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.

The Lasting Legacy of a Plastic Guitar

Top-tier marketing, whether it’s for automobiles, apparel or video games, goes further than selling something – it inspires a longing. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “Precisely what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of being a rock star on the stage. Since the beginning, the co-founders felt that there’s an instinctive urge to make music, and they wanted to leverage innovation to allow people to do it”.

The majority of Guitar Hero games were released over a mere five-year period between 2005 and 2010, featuring spin-offs like the DJ version, complete with a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. After that, the publisher’s interest on peripherals waned, except for a brief comeback several years later.

Games like the fan project and newer releases have maintained the community active, with expectations of something from the founders in development. Recently formed developers has begun work on its debut music game. The initial creators are participating in advisory roles. Are gamers ready to embrace another game following the classic?

“We thought those games could be like Madden where you can update every year,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant new music it could remain evergreen, so I’ve always been optimistic. It's entirely possible for it to persist for future fans.”