“Say no more. Take all my money. Just release a new Guitar Hero game to the series already!”
For a Guitar Hero fan, this does not seem far from what is running through our minds with the news of a possible addition to the Guitar Hero franchise.
After six years of waiting, this news sprung joy to lots of fans and non-fans alike. Let us kick this article off with the details of this ray of hope while providing you more information about the popular Guitar Hero game.
- The Guitar Hero Game
- The Popularity Of The Game
- More On The Discontinuation Of The Series
- 50:50 Odds
- How The Game Is Played
- Other Influences By The Game
The Guitar Hero Game
Guitar Hero is one of those games legendary games in our minds. The game formed part of the fast-growing gaming world in the early twentieth century. In this game, you learn to play the guitar, have fun with it, and if you are really good, you might be on your way to being famous.
The original Guitar Hero, the first in the series, was released in 2005 on the PlayStation 2. Lots of series were released after it as the popularity of the game continued to increase. You needed a guitar controller instead of a gamepad to play the game, making it more realistic.
Guitar Hero 2 was released a year later in 2006, and little by little, the game expanded to other gaming platforms such as the Xbox gaming consoles, Microsoft Windows, and Mac OS. Ten years after its first game got released, it acquired a total of 25 series.
What The Game Is About
The game allows players to use a guitar-shaped game controller to simulate playing a real guitar. YOu can choose to play a lead guitar or a bass guitar, and you would have to play the guitar normally across various songs by matching notes as shown on the screen.
By doing so, not only do you hear the sweet melody of how good you play, but you also score points and keep the virtual audience cheering. A lot of the games in the series allow a Career mode where you can play through all the songs in the game, advancing through difficulty levels and multiplayer modes.
The Guitar Hero World Tour, released in 2008, supported a four-player band. The range of songs to simulate is verse, varying from songs created by WaveGroup Sound to master recordings, special re-recordings, and downloadable new songs of choice.
The Popularity Of The Game
First off, the game added 25 series to the franchise in just ten years. That already speaks a lot about how much millions of people around the world loved it. The series so far has sold more than 25 million copies worldwide.
It has earned over $2 billion at retail and is considered by many people to compete with big popular franchises like Mario and Madden NFL franchises.
The third title of the series, Guitar Hero III, was stated by Activision to be the first single video game, to surpass $1 billion in sales.
It is so popular that the first release, Guitar Hero, was considered by several journalists to be one of the most influential video games in the early part of the 21st century. The fame helped the initial owners to sell the game to RedOctane and Harmonix by Activision.
Why Did The Series Stop?
That is a good question. Why was the series stopped if it had such great fame, selling millions of copies, and generating large revenue for its owners? History and projection tell us that the opposite should be the case, and the continuity would lead to more success.
Despite all the fame the game series had, a negative trend in sales began in 2009. From 2011 they halted the production of the seventh series that was being developed, and since then, you would feel a change in events in its releases already.
The seventh series was later canceled, and a chain of decline began to follow. Activision gave the reason for "continued declines in the music genre" to the cancellation of the seventh series.
More On The Discontinuation Of The Series
Following the first hiatus in 2011, then Activision's vice president Dan Winters said that the company was "just putting Guitar Hero on hiatus" and the company was "just not making a new game for the next year, that's all." No one expected the hiatus to last five years after this statement, but it did.
The wait ended in 2015 when Activision announced a new title to the series, Guitar Hero Live. Activision laid off many of the game's developers, selling the studio to Ubisoft following a not-so-impressive reception and sales.
In 2020 online servers for all Guitar Hero games were shut down on PS3 and Wii. Later on, the game's streaming service, DLC, was shut down, making fans lose all hope for the game’s renewal. Currently, the games are now only playable online on Xbox 360.
Is A New Guitar Hero Game In The Works?
It wasn't been until 2019 when another ray of hope was reignited about the closedown of the second hiatus; we all thought that the series was finally over. Activision filed a new patent in 2019 for what seemingly looks to be a new Guitar Hero game.
What fueled this speculation was the guitar image found alongside the patent, which states, “A music-based video game provides a user-directed sound generation feature. In some embodiments, the user is provided a video game controller simulating a musical instrument…” till the end of it.
What else could that mean?
50:50 Odds
Looking at all the odds, the chances still stand at 50:50. That is because Activision did not specifically mention the name Guitar Hero, and it can mean another game entirely. The similarity is seen in Warframe, which allows players to engage in Guitar Hero-style gameplay.
It could be something that the publishers have in mind or not. Regardless, it is a good teaser. Overall, looking at the end of the first hiatus in 2015 that led to poor sales in comparison to previous sales, there are doubts about it as well.
Regardless, Activision would be more careful this time to increase their sales, and one thing they can be sure of is the raving fans like us waiting to hear the confirming news of a new series.
Gameplay Of The Game
The gameplay is dynamic as the game allows several features to make it feel like you are really playing guitar. A console controller can also be used to play the game, but clearly, the guitar controller is recommended.
You would have options to play the Career mode, which is the main mode, where you would unlock more songs to use throughout the game. Other modes like Multiplayer modes, Cooperative mode, Competitive face-off, and Wuest mode were added in the sixth series, Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock.
You can pick from a set of characters and stars who would display on the screen, and the option of creating your avatar was included later on in the series. There are tons of soundtrack to pick and unlock from the 1960s to present-day rock music from many different artists and groups.
How The Game Is Played
First, you have to know how to play. Even though the mini-guitar controller does not have all the features of a real guitar, knowing all the bars and practicing the notes is a good way to get the hang of this new guitar.
Then, try out an easy to medium level. From there, advanced techniques can be tried out by successfully completing a set of notes which would be shown on the screen. Overall, playing the game is similar to playing a real guitar and its features.
Why The Game Is Loved
Who would not love being the center of attention playing the guitar while a million raging fans you on? It combines learning, fun, thrill, the music and wraps it up in a unique game.
It was basic in form but had uniqueness everywhere. From the guitar controller to the expansion in features, soundtracks, and realistic feel, there is so much to love and talk about.
Other Influences By The Game
The game initiated many other similarities in the genre—sort of like how you have Spiderman, then Iron man.
What it meant was that lots of competition were started, and Guitar Hero caused it. Games like DJ Hero, Rock Band, Band Hero, and Dance Dance Revolution. The fun fact is that somehow, as Guitar Hero ended, the rise of these other competitions vanished as well.
More reasons why the game should be continued, don’t you think?
Conclusion
Even though the release of a new guitar game is not as clear as the sky, the game is noteworthy, and anticipating a new series is worth it. While there are still uncertainties, there is hope from the patent released by Activision of a new game in the works.
This blog post aimed to detail the good news and walk down memory lane as you learned how great the Guitar Hero game franchise was.
