My first experience with Guitar Hero/Rock Band games

[Scooter]

I've never played any of these games, I really thought I would hate them. They strike me as a reason to sell overpriced "required to play the game" peripherals (and I'm a peripheral freak) and not much else.

Well, I went to see my best buddy for our monthly all-day gaming extraveganza and he had just bought his family Rock Band. We created a character for me and we formed a band. My buddy was on guitar, I played base and his daughter was the drummer. He was playing at medium, the kid was changing between medium and hard and I stayed on easy though I tried two songs after medium after a while and got booed off stage one of those times so I went back to easy.

It was actually pretty darn fun. I don't know if I could play this game over and over unless I had more music to choose from and could choose more music with which I am familiar (older stuff) but I certainly didn't hate playing. We earned a van so we could tour other cities at least and I didn't entirely embarrass myself as you can sometimes do when learning a new game.

Still, I don't think I'll be rushing out to get Guitar Hero anytime soon, I have way too many other styles of games I do enjoy. I just started Headhunter on my Dreamcast yesterday, and THAT is a genre of game I can really get into though I would very much like to strangle the person responsible for designing the camera controls in that game! Or more accurately, the LACK of camera controls in that game.

[RadarScope1]

GH 1 and 2 are sweet. Haven't played the third one, but it looks to me like they broke the game by trying to make it like Mario Kart with the powerups and bosses and what have you.

I'm looking into getting Rock Band now that wireless controllers are available for 360. I refuse to play modern consoles tethered to a wire.

[glynnahab]

This is going to be my second consecutive negative post today, but oh well...

The Guitar Hero games always bothered me. Having played music all my life and studied music theory in depth, it annoys me to see people playing this game when they could actually play a real guitar. The reason I say this is because - being the gaming nerd I was as a kid - I would have never learned to play guitar if a game like this existed.

To me, it just seems like the time spent learning and mastering this game could be used to actually learn an instrument. The only counter-argument I can think of is, "Hey, it's just fun." But playing a real instrument is also fun and much more rewarding.

[lordofduct]

Why play an RPG when you could read a real adventure book? Why play a FPS when you could join the Army? Why play a flight sim or a golf game, or any other sports game at that, when you could learn to do them in real life?

Playing Guitar Hero is NOTHING like playing a real guitar. Now I've meet lots of people who play guitar, and are really good at it, and the skill of guitar playing crosses into Guitar Hero. But, playing the game won't teach you to play guitar (and I assume you definitely don't think this either). It is just for fun as you say...

I can pick up the stupid thing, play air guitar like the next retard in the shower, hear a song come out the other end, and have a good ol' drunken time with my buddies or family. No real skill required, the game takes only a couple rounds to master... most my friends hit hard by the 5th time we played. I don't think this game was meant to be played every day until mastered, but a casual "hey let's be stupid" kinda game. Like Karaoke...



We all don't have the time, skill, passion, or desire to have the 'rewarding' feeling playing an instrument gives. Just like an instrument player doesn't have the time, skill, passion or desire to do the stuff I do for fun (integrate multi-variable equations and repair televisions). And if they came out with a game that did the things I like to do... I'd say, "Yeah, it ain't the real thing... but shit is it not fun!?" (well... actually, it wouldn't be much fun for most. My hobbies are kinda boring to most).




Now this might come off as snide and rude. But really it is cynical instead. I'm just saying, why would you let it bother you that people pretend to do the thing you can actually do? It's kinda pretentious, wouldn't ya say? That's like saying it's dumb for children to play cops and robbers, firemen, or house.

anyways, like we need any more of you stinken guitarists stealin' all the ladies from us regular joes!

[glynnahab]

I think my main problem with it is that a kid like me would have never gone through the trouble I did to learn the real thing if I could have picked up the game back then. I'm sure it's a lot more fun to play Guitar Hero than it was for me to teach myself to play. And I know I wouldn't have fought with the actual instrument with something around that is as instantly gratifying as a video game about playing an instrument.

For example, playing sports games as a pre-teen are one of the reasons I have always sucked at sports. I never went outside and played them.

And for the record, being a musician never helped me with the ladies anyway. Instrumental post-rock bands don't really interest women. We always had a hardcore drum-corp-nerd following instead. The only guy to ever get laid through the band was the married one.

[nightwalker]

Why play an RPG when you could read a real adventure book? Why play a FPS when you could join the Army? Why play a flight sim or a golf game, or any other sports game at that, when you could learn to do them in real life?

Playing Guitar Hero is NOTHING like playing a real guitar. Now I've meet lots of people who play guitar, and are really good at it, and the skill of guitar playing crosses into Guitar Hero. But, playing the game won't teach you to play guitar (and I assume you definitely don't think this either). It is just for fun as you say...

I can pick up the stupid thing, play air guitar like the next retard in the shower, hear a song come out the other end, and have a good ol' drunken time with my buddies or family. No real skill required, the game takes only a couple rounds to master... most my friends hit hard by the 5th time we played. I don't think this game was meant to be played every day until mastered, but a casual "hey let's be stupid" kinda game. Like Karaoke...



We all don't have the time, skill, passion, or desire to have the 'rewarding' feeling playing an instrument gives. Just like an instrument player doesn't have the time, skill, passion or desire to do the stuff I do for fun (integrate multi-variable equations and repair televisions). And if they came out with a game that did the things I like to do... I'd say, "Yeah, it ain't the real thing... but shit is it not fun!?" (well... actually, it wouldn't be much fun for most. My hobbies are kinda boring to most).




Now this might come off as snide and rude. But really it is cynical instead. I'm just saying, why would you let it bother you that people pretend to do the thing you can actually do? It's kinda pretentious, wouldn't ya say? That's like saying it's dumb for children to play cops and robbers, firemen, or house.

anyways, like we need any more of you stinken guitarists stealin' all the ladies from us regular joes!

^What he said

[corn619]

Rock Band is a great game and makes for a great time with friends. It does exactly what its designed to do, bring joy, peace and togetherness.

[aaron]

the skill of guitar playing crosses into Guitar Hero.

FALSE.

[Doctor Fugue]

the skill of guitar playing crosses into Guitar Hero.

FALSE.

I beg to differ, kind sir. I have seen several guitarists who are not gamers pick up GH and after 5 minutes they are ready for the medium-hard level. Obviously they are different but there are similarities. People who have never picked up a real guitar are generally much slower at remembering to hold down a button and then flick the lever at the same time to make the sounds.

[lordofduct]

the skill of guitar playing crosses into Guitar Hero.

FALSE.

I beg to differ, kind sir. I have seen several guitarists who are not gamers pick up GH and after 5 minutes they are ready for the medium-hard level. Obviously they are different but there are similarities. People who have never picked up a real guitar are generally much slower at remembering to hold down a button and then flick the lever at the same time to make the sounds.

agreed.

This isn't a fluke once or twice. This is like EVERY guitarist I know can blow through the game. Like the bassist and the guitarist from my buddy Pate's band, they can play Freebird with their eyes closed on expert with out even trying (they do NOT waste their time practicing Guitar Hero, they've got better things to do like play real guitars). Same goes with my buddies Justin, Marcus, Lauren (a girl who never plays any video game), ed, wong... etc.

But as I said, this is one of those mono-directional assumptions. Most guitarists tend to be good at Guitar Hero (not all, of course), but most good Guitar Hero players that aren't guitarists can't just pick up a the real thing and go.


For instance, I am really good at Guitar Hero, and my buddy Adny sucks big fat testy bonkers at it. But Wong began teaching him to play guitar a few months back and in one day he learned more then I ever could in my life with all the unnecessary lessons from my friends.