This is a story I can relate with – According to Wired’s Game|Life blog, downloads of DragonForce’s track “Through the Fire and Flames” increased by 183% the week Guitar Hero III was released. The track is featured as a bonus song in the game; when you complete the game (at any difficulty) you get to play the song as the credits roll. Not only is it a great song (I guess it can be described as an epic melodic heavy metal track with synth and video game influences and INSANE dual-guitar solos) but ASTOUNDINGLY difficult.
Because the song fits well to the demographic of Guitar Hero players, DragonForce is seeing increased sales – I personally checked out their other CD’s after beating the game (on Medium – I suck). Have you started following bands after playing their music in GH? Is it just newer music, or do you start following older bands that you might have missed the first time? I think we’ll be seeing more artists attempt to use video games as a promotional tool, if this is any indication.
By the way, you can download the song for free from DragonForce’s official site (here’s a direct link).