"The 'Guitar Hero' Effect Is Real" Explain Industry Analysts

Posted about 4 years ago

Artist:
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Dragonforce
Album:
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Inhuman Rampage
Track:
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Through The Fire And Flames

Dragonforce guitarist Herman Li and his speed metal bandmates used to play the video game Guitar Hero. Now, fans are flocking to the band after finding their song "Through the Fire and Flames" in the latest installment of the game, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, reports USA Today."Our CD sales have gone up, and we are high up the charts on digital downloads," Li says. "It's great. We don't play commercial music. It took everyone by surprise."

??Herman Li??"Somehow it seems our music really connects with the younger generation, gamers and non-gamers," says Li, 29. "This is a game that is driving music sales when everybody is complaining about the video game industry taking money from movies and music."The Guitar Hero effect is real. DRAGONFORCE saw digital sales of "Through the Fire" rise from *fewer than 2,000 weekly to a high of 37,825* the week ending Dec. 30, a week when many who got the game as a holiday gift were playing it. (Only one GH III song sold more, GUNS N' ROSES' "Welcome to the Jungle" at 38,330.)"More Here":CH[CH]http://www.usatoday.com/tech/gaming/2008-02-14-guitar-hero-effect_N.htm

Comments (16)

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Bartleby says Crikey, wonders never cease. I've got an idea for a new game : Guitar Ghetto -- the game play is quite easy smash everyone with your guitar until you become big boss of LA. It'll be a mix of GH and GTA

Permalink posted 02/15/2008
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Sikke says Totally real, totally true. I've discovered a few bands through GH, or at least a few songs anyway (Muse anyone?) The really funny thing about this game that I have noticed with myself and quite a few friends is that it somehow enables a player to listen to music outside of the game critically. Maybe not critically how the term is used, but at least thinking to themself, "That would make a great GH song!" and actually taking a few seconds to listen to what is going on in the music. All that said, Dragonforce sucks :P :)

Permalink posted 02/15/2008
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earthman says Ive banned the play station from my house, I dont like the concept but Im old school. I guess if the medium can be used to inspire getting off your butt and doin something then I could live with it.

Permalink posted 02/15/2008
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Sturgell says I've still never played GH, I have a sinking feeling that I will someday.

Permalink posted 02/15/2008
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Sam The Artist says yeah that song is ka-razzy on expert. but i saw a video of them playing it live, and quite honestly, it sucked. i think it was partly due to the fact that they were all drinking on stage.

Permalink posted 02/15/2008
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Sturgell says Some people just can't get enough of this stuff!

Permalink posted 02/15/2008
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dansemcabre says strangly those of us who actually play guitar tend to suck at the game. it's really not much at all like actually playing guitar so while it may help record sales it has the effect of produceing gamers who think they are musicians. oh well ina few years the closet classic guitar market will boom because of all the unplayed real guitars that kids will ask their parents for then give up on. Kinda bad and good. As for dragonforce sucking yeah they suck live but it's mostly because alcahol and extremely fast technical playing don't mix at all. Theyre a guitarists band and can only be fully appreciated by guitarists kinda like steve vai and or joe satriani.

Permalink posted 02/15/2008
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ZZTodd says this "effect" is so true. i've had a lot of my friends, who are casual music listeners, talk to me about how much they like a song in the game, and it's a band that they would normally never listen to. i guess its good and bad, like y'all have said

Permalink posted 02/15/2008
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Zeroskilz says I was surprised a couple weeks ago when the son of a friend of mine asked me about Muse. He wanted to know if I'd ever heard of them. After explaining that I loved the band and offering to make him a mix, I asked where he'd heard of them. I forgot the Knights of Cydonia was on GH. I was pretty happy with the mix of songs I saw on GH. If this is how you bring some of the independent bands to a broader audience, I'm in favor of it; even though I could care less about the game itself.

Permalink posted 02/15/2008
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Augusts1 says don't feel bad Sturg, I've not played it myself either but have watched kids play it in the store. that's good enough for me!

Permalink posted 02/15/2008
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Jonh Ingham says It's the new radio.

Permalink posted 02/17/2008
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extraordinarypoems says I need to try Guitar Hero, for a good healthy laugh at myself.

Permalink posted 02/18/2008
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bright strangely says nice post. i love guitar hero, though i've no illusions that i'm talented based off the gameplay. and i've discovered a few new artists. freezepop is great fun. but i wanted to respond to something i'm troubled by, when i see the game getting discussed. one of your comments said: "it's really not much at all like actually playing guitar so while it may help record sales it has the effect of produceing gamers who think they are musicians. oh well ina few years the closet classic guitar market will boom because of all the unplayed real guitars that kids will ask their parents for then give up on. Kinda bad and good. As for dragonforce sucking yeah they suck live but it's mostly because alcahol and extremely fast technical playing don't mix at all. Theyre a guitarists band and can only be fully appreciated by guitarists kinda like steve vai and or joe satriani." what's the point of music? i have played a few musical instruments and can read music, but those are technical skills that i believe are secondary to music making. in a sense, they are barriers that keep the vast majority of us from ever becoming musicians or composers. personally, when playing rock band or guitar hero, i am struck by the intuitiveness. it does convince gamers that they could be musicians. and i don't think that's a bad thing at all. i'd rather play music myself than apologize for drunks who may or may not be technically adept. no offense, dragonforce... i'm going by what your fan here says.

Permalink posted 02/20/2008
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Sturgell says Interesting. thanks for the feedback Bight Strangely!

Permalink posted 02/22/2008
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Lighter Dusk says I have officially played Guitar Hero once and Rock Band once. These games are a lot of fun, but they are absolutely not about training musicians. It's just another hand-eye coordination test with a fancy controller. Having said that, I think that musically, people can start to learn a lot, particularly from Rock Band. It emphasises the importance of each instrument's contribution to a total song and when making mistakes, you can hear what it would sound like without, say, the bass guitar. I like the concept, but am way too poor to spend the kind of money it would cost to get me set up in my home. But hey, anything, and I mean anything that brings more music to the masses is AOK in my world. -Dusk

Permalink posted 02/24/2008
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p-wagz says I have to say that although Guitar Hero doesn't teach you very good technical skills guitar playing-wise, I think that if you wanted to become a musician, it would be a good stepping stone to getting into music. Though the game doesn't teach one how to read music, you can pick up the basic hand-eye coordination that is required for it. As a teacher, you could bridge the idea between the speed of the notes and how they relate to eighth and sixteenth notes to the hatchling musician. That should be simple enough for most to understand. You can also pick up a good sense of rhythm from the game, which, from my experience many people have a difficult time with. Bright Strangely, I agree that you do not need to be a very technical musician to create wonderful music. I myself am not super quick with my soloing, or very good for that matter, though I've been taught that solos from Kirk Hammett and Dave Mustaine are a must for "respected" guitar playing. This is simply not true. I know some people will argue with me, but music isn't all about solos, technique, and speed, however, I won't deny that it sounds awesome if you can kick out a lick quick.

Permalink posted 02/25/2008