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Guitar Hero II Announced
Gamespot reports on the official announcement of an encore to the extremely popular Guitar Hero title from Harmonix. From the article: "RedOctane today confirmed the band was indeed getting back together, as it announced that Guitar Hero II would arrive on the PlayStation 2 this November. While the song list hasn't been announced yet, the publisher confirmed that there would be more than 55 tracks in dire need of shredding. There's also a multiplayer co-op mode that will let players collaborate, each playing lead, rhythm, or bass guitar portions." IGN is running an interview with the gents behind the game, giving us heads up on their plans for the sequel. Rock on!
My only complaint with Guitar Hero is that the song list is devoted half to the 80's, a little from the 70's and still a little less from 2000-present with one song from the 90's (by Helmet). If they're going to keep the same band (who did phenomenal work), they shouldn't do the same stuff. Why do we need more hair band metal when a good portion of the original IS hair band metal?
-- Political fascism requires a Fuhrer.
Actually, I do own an acoustic guitar. I have fun with it. (Granted, my first love is percussion and yes, I do own a drumset.)
However, I still have lots of fun playing Guitar Hero. Why? Because Guitar Hero isn't about playing guitar. It simulates performing for a crowd. I, sadly, do not have the time right now to join a rock band and put in the time I'd really want to in order to sound good to perform at large venues. Guitar Hero simulates performing on stage to an extent. Plucking on my guitar in my living room doesn't simulate playing in front of a crowd.
It's kind of funny that several elitist musicians bash on the game because it's a "cheap plastic toy", and that people should, instead, buy real instruments. However, I have known two people personally (which is not by any stretch a large number) who got Guitar Hero, enjoyed it so much, that they then went out and bought their first guitar and started to learn how to play one legitemately.
I would think ANY musician would agree that something that gets more people into playing music is a GOOD thing, and that they should embrace something like Guitar Hero not as a replacement for guitar playing, but rather an entry point for new guitar players.
(And in fact, one of my friends who enjoys Guitar Hero the most is also an amazing classical guitar player. If he can get over the fact that he's playing a plastic toy, I think anyone can.)
I'll tell you why. I've been playing guitar for close to 15 years. I own an accoustic, two electrics, a couple of amps, a few effects pedals.
And yet, I still love Guitar Hero. Why?
It's the same reason I enjoyed Gran Turismo, despite the fact that I own a real car. I can do things in Guitar Hero that I can't do in real life. I can sit down and instantly start playing a song just like the original guitarist. I can crank up the difficulty if I want more of a challenge and to get more of a "I'm really playing a guitar" feel, or I can dial it back and jam with my wife who can't even play an E chord on a real guitar.
I can do it in front of an audience that roars its approval on a massive shredding solo, without the grueling practice, coordination, and drama of a real band.
And just like Gran Turismo encouraged me to drive my car a little faster than I should, Guitar Hero has encouraged me to sit down and learn to play some of the songs on my real guitars. But like all good video games, it's there when I want a quick, easy, enjoyable experience.
The main think I want is a tournament ladder, for parties.
I mean, we've got two controllers tops, right? What if six people want to play against each other?
Yeah, people can mill about and yell out "I have winsies" and stuff, but IMHO it would be nice if the game could say "okay, the next match will be Kevin against Milicent", and keep track of scores and so forth, and end up telling you who won.
What's so special?
It was actually released in the US and contained a large list of songs people in the US recognized. Two things Konami never did.
I love all my Bemani games, don't get me wrong (I've spent thousands of dollars importing IIDX, Pop'n, and Drummania) but Red Octane and Harmonix did what Konami wouldn't do. Konami is very dead set on their Japanese roots, and most people won't play guitar games with songs they don't recognize here in the US.
So, the difference is...Guitar Hero is marketed towards Americans. Guitar Freaks is marketed towards Japanese. That's not to say Americans wouldn't enjoy Guitar Freaks, but that's not their target audience. Especially since I don't believe Guitar Freaks ever got any release outside of Japan.
My plan is to just get a used/price-reduced PS2 this fall when the PS3 finally comes out. I'm not a big fan of Sony either, but if I can get the game system cheap enough, I don't think I'll feel bad about buying it for just one game :)
It always puzzles me when fellow "guitarists" act sort of snobbish towards Guitar Hero. These same people have no problem playing games like NBA Street and Burnout, but suddenly, when the game is about guitar, the utmost realism is demanded. Dude, being a good guitarist, like being a good race car driver or sports player, is hard and requires time, skill and motivation, and often times this is very frustrating and intimidating to newcomers. I've not spent a lot of time in demographic research, but something tells me most people wouldn't find that a fun idea for a game.
I'm a guitarist, and I like Guitar Hero. It's obviously very unrealistic, but I don't want that kind of realism in my games. I already spend many of my waking hours in that kind of realism, and if I ever want to spend more time in it, I can walk over, pick up one of my guitars and dive right back in. But if I want some instant gratification, entertaining, DDR-style gameplay with a novelty twist (say, a plastic guitar), Guitar Hero fits the bill.
"You and your third dimension."