Guitar Hero Is Big Hit With Bands

Carl Bialik from WSJ writes "An unlikely but growing group of rock stars are also avid players of Guitar Hero, a PlayStation title that uses a miniature plastic guitar to let gamers pretend to be, well, rock stars, the Wall Street Journal reports. From the article: 'Michael Einziger, the 30-year-old guitarist for the hard-rock band Incubus, says he was "shocked at how hard it was" to play the videogame's version of his song "Stellar." He admits he was handily beaten by his then-14-year-old sister, Ruby Aldridge, when the two of them squared off earlier this year. "It doesn't have anything to do with playing guitar," Mr. Einziger says. "It's all rhythmic." When the four members of the punk-pop band the Donnas got together to play Guitar Hero last week, guitarist Allison Robertson took some good-natured ribbing from her bandmates, says drummer Torry Castellano. That's because Ms. Robertson had a hard time playing along with the band's own song "Take It Off." "Expectations for her are pretty high because she's the guitar player and because she's so good at videogames in general," says Ms. Castellano.'"

Comments

I Don't Understand

[eldavojohn]

I'm an electric bassist and personally, I care not for Guitar Hero.

I mean, I've got a freaking bass & a computer with Linux & audacity in my living room ... why play guitar hero? To play with the bands? If I want to do that, I strip the low end out of an MP3 on my computer and just play along with it.

I find it odd that someone who probably has their pick of basses/guitars & effect pedals would prefer the not as rewarding feeling of playing Guitar Hero. Well, to each their own I guess. I think the guitarist of Korn should go buy some Rickenbacker guitars ... I can't imagine ever getting tired of those.

The funniest thing is that my friend wants to play guitar ... so he buys Guitar Hero. Which provides you with no guitar skills whatsoever. This summary hits it right on the head that it improves your rhythm but does nothing for your melody or style of playing.

PS2 + Guitar Hero = $300. Decent acoustic starter Yamaha guitar is about the same. Take your choice. I suspect Guitar Hero would be a great toy for working on your sense of tempo ... but it's still a far cry from the coordination to play any other instrument.

Re:I Don't Understand

[Nos.]

Yup, it would be like learning to race by playing video games, or thinking you should be on the anti-terrorist teams because of your K:D ratio in Counter-Strike. Games are just that, entertainment. You may learn somethings, but its no substitute for real life.

Re:I Don't Understand

[OptimusPaul]

Guitar Hero is totaly fun to play, that's why you play it. I think that anyone who plays it because they want to learn to play guitar a deluding themselves, It's a game, nothing more. It's kind of like playing DDR to learn to waltz, just not going to happen.

Re:I Don't Understand

[twistedsymphony]

The point isn't to play along with the band, the point is to play along with your friends and have a good time. If you have friends who are musicians then you could probably all get together and have fun playing real music. Otherwise I think the majority of people (who are most likely not very musical) would prefer the video game version. Also I think it's a bit easier having one person carrying a slim PS2 and a couple of fake plastic guitars to your friends house then everyone hauling around heavy equipment... and then worrying that the neighbors will complain.

Re:I Don't Understand

[Xzzy]

why play guitar hero?

Because it's a fun game? Rhythm games are popular for a reason, because it's an extremely easy concept to grasp but can be extremely hard to pull off perfectly. Doesn't matter if you're a musician or a mill worker, if it's fun, there's no reason not to play it.

It in no way threatans or diminishes "real" music production, it's simply binding together two popular activities: Being a rock star, and playing video games.

Re:I Don't Understand

[focitrixilous P]

It's like saying you could go out dancing, so why play Dance Dance revolution? It's fun for completely different reasons then actually dancing. The same thing applies to Guitar Hero, it's almost completely different from actually playing guitar, but it's still fun for some people.

Re:I Don't Understand

[Dr Faustus 60]

I agree. It's like when I bought DDR to learn to dance. No chicks come flocking when I bust my moves on the real dance floor, but I score 100% every time. Weird.

Re:I Don't Understand

[tatonca]

"Which provides you with no guitar skills whatsoever. This summary hits it right on the head that it improves your rhythm..."

So either it does do something to improve playing skills (rhythm) or you don't believe rhythm is important to learning to play guitar. So which is it?

The number of guitar 'players' out there that have no rhythm at all is astounding. They play a collection of notes at random velocity - impressive when you're drunk or stoned at a party, but not terribly entertaining otherwise, and certainly very annoying to any one who has to play with them.

My daughter is new to playing guitar (I have been playing twenty years) and was having a very hard time relating the timing and rhythms required to play exercises and peices of music. As a learning tool for the raw bigger, it provides an alternate method of relating what you hear and what you are expected to play in a way that requires no knowledge of how to read music. Similar to tab, the interface for guitar hero provides an allegory of sight for the velocities of the notes you hear, and gives you a paradigm for fitting the two together. With additional input from myself, within the span of about 2 weeks, my daughter was able to better discern the relationships of the various note velocities. It was a break through for her that otherwise could have been very frustrating, but within the context of the game was nothing but fun.

Re:I Don't Understand

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm guessing you are 13 or 14. Am I right?

You don't load Quake to learn to become a marksman, nor do marksman consider firing weapons the same thing as playing a game...duh.

Re:I Don't Understand

[AcidLacedPenguiN]

I too am an electric bassist, and I think you're missing the point. For most people, the learning curve to be relative good at Guitar Hero is at most a handful of hours, but the learning curve to playing a real guitar (well enough to be fun) is around the handful of months mark (and that's with a lot of hard work and dedication) How many people do you know who have mastered the solo to Symphony of Destruction within 12 hours of picking up a guitar for the first time? Also, even if you do pick up a guitar and learn to play, how fun is it going to be if none of your friends can play any instruments? I suppose friends are the key here, if you have any you get some good times out of buying Guitar Hero. If you don't have any, I suppose audacity and low-stripped MP3s could be a suitable replacement.

Re:I Don't Understand

[ProppaT]

Asking why you would play guitar hero when you could play a regular guitar instead is kinda stupid.

That's like asking "why masturbate when you can have sex?" Masturbation is easier, cheaper, less time consuming, and addictive. Plus, this is slashdot. Having sex would require effort, something very few of us around here care for.

Re:I Don't Understand

[Ackmo]

Tell that to Denny Hamlin...

Re:I Don't Understand

[mobby_6kl]

Of course the games aren't a substitute for real life, but while you would be learning close to nothing about racing from the latest NFS, or about flying from Crimson Skies, you could learn a lot of relevant information from GTR2 and Falcon 4. Now, GH is completly different from the above two categories because it's just fucking retarded - you're pressing the buttons as they light up on screen! Wow, what a novel concept, and about as fun as the dancing minigames in Larry, Pirates!, Stubbs, and a shitload of other games.

Re:I Don't Understand

[eldavojohn]

Because it's a fun game? Rhythm games are popular for a reason, because it's an extremely easy concept to grasp but can be extremely hard to pull off perfectly. Doesn't matter if you're a musician or a mill worker, if it's fun, there's no reason not to play it. It in no way threatans or diminishes "real" music production, it's simply binding together two popular activities: Being a rock star, and playing video games.

Good answer! Seriously, for the average person, this is a great game. But this article is talking about real musicians (whose music just happens to be in the game). Sounds really stupid to me. Sounds like these musicians are just promoting it because they get a dime for every copy sold. I hate to be cynical but that's why my initial post apparently made me sound like an ass.

Once again, I wasn't saying no one should play this game, I was just confused why a musician with unlimited resources would play it.

Honestly, if you love guitar hero, I don't know why you would be crazy for playing a real guitar. That's just my opinion, mod me as flamebait if you want ...

Re:I Don't Understand

[Anonymous Coward]

"This summary hits it right on the head that it improves your rhythm but does nothing for your melody or style of playing."

You think this is bad, I have a friend that is on the DDR 360 soundtrack and watching her dance makes me want to claw my eyes out. It makes the Elaine Dance on Seinfeld look sexy.

M$ gave her one of the professional setups when the system launched, and I absolutely refuse to visit her unless I know she has the system put away. No rhythm at all, odd moves that the game in no way endorses, and watching her make my pee-pee go inside.

It has made me hate Microsoft even more than I have in the past. Where is that anymouse button?

Re:I Don't Understand

[Alzheimers]

I'm an Air Guitarist and personally, I care greatly for Guitar Hero.

I mean, I've already got a PS2 and a HDTV in my living room ... so why play guitar hero? To play with the bands! I want to do that, while jumping off my sofa and falling to my knees like I do when listening to Van Halen MP3s through Winamp.

I find it odd that someone who has an appreciation for powerful guitar music would not enjoy to play an adrenalin-pumping video game. Well, to each their own, I guess. I think amateur guitarists would rather just sit in an empty room playing with themselves than dream of being in a big-name band like Korn...I can't imagine ever getting tired of that.

The funniest thing is, I've got several family members who play guitar. They've tried to teach me, but I have no guitar skills whatsoever. This summary hits it right on the head that you can still feel like a rock god and skip the blisters and the arthritic knuckles and angry neighboors.

Fender Strat = 1399. PS2 + Guitar Hero + 40" DLP HDTV is about the same. Take your choice. I suspect a real Stratocaster would be a great chick magnet ... but it's a far cry from the thrill of finishing Crossroads on expert.

Re:I Don't Understand

[Knara]

I play electric guitar, electric bass, and drums. I love guitar hero. Why? Because it's fun to play. It's skillset is also wildy divergent from the skillset required for actual guitar work (because, well, it's a rhythm game for your fingers, not a melodic instrument). Some songs are indeed much harder to play in GH than in real life (mostly due to the fact that you can't move vertically from string to string and all chording is lateral).

Whenever there's a GH post anywhere, there's always some pretentious moron who has to point out that he plays guitar/bass/kazoo in real life, and that people who play GH are wasting their time. I dunno what motivates their need to do this, but it always happens.

Re:I Don't Understand

[Harlockjds]

>PS2 + Guitar Hero = $300.

129.99 (ps2 price) +79.99(gh2 with controller) =209.99

where the heck is your extra 90 bucks coming from?

Re:I Don't Understand

[iceph03nix]

dear god i hope you meant that as sarcasm :P

Re:I Don't Understand

[Anonymous Coward]

Whenever there's a GH post anywhere, there's always some pretentious moron who has to point out that he plays guitar/bass/kazoo in real life, and that people who play GH are wasting their time. I dunno what motivates their need to do this, but it always happens.

It's because they aren't very good at either one. They are the real life version of Squidward (yes, I have a 2 year old child).

Re:I Don't Understand

[revlayle]

Dude.... CANADIAN dollars!

Re:I Don't Understand

[Harlockjds]

what is this moon money you speak of...

Re:I Don't Understand

[Dr Faustus 60]

Maybe he bought some Guitar Hero lessons. >>PS2 + Guitar Hero = $300. >129.99 (ps2 price) +79.99(gh2 with controller) =209.99 >where the heck is your extra 90 bucks coming from?

Re:I Don't Understand

[Senjutsu]

I'm pretty sure $134.99 + $89.99 doesn't add up to $300, either. Even in Canada.

Re:I Don't Understand

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, when it was retail, he bought it for $200 USD + $80 USD plus memory card and nice component cables.

Either way, a starter guitar is still comparable.

Re:I Don't Understand

[davebo357]

I had a ton of fun with the first Guitar Hero, and after a while I figured rather than keep playing these same levels over and over to get good enough to handle the "Hard" levels (forget about expert!) I figured I'd be better off just learning bass guitar since it was always a passing interest for me. Well that and a girl I liked started dating a drummer. Anyway I'm not much good at GH or bass, but they're both a fun way to kill some time in the evenings, and I already picked up GH2 so I don't intend to put in much practice time on bass the next few weeks. Frankly I hope they don't do the expansion pack idea or I'll never get better at bass guitar.

Re:I Don't Understand

[Anonymous Coward]

yes indeed, why play guitar hero and shell out the ~$300 when you can play frets on fire for free on your computer?

http://louhi.kempele.fi/~skyostil/uv/fretsonfire/

im not affiliated, its just a much better option than shelling out for ps2, guitar controller and game.

Re:I Don't Understand

[C0rinthian]

DDR is hilarious when alcohol is involved.

Re:I Don't Understand

[rickatnight11]

Could just spend $0 and download Frets on Fire the free PC version. I play guitar and know full-well that it's nothing like playing for real (especially when you're instrument is a $10 white keyboard :-D ) but I still think it's fun, especially with other people. I think a big thrill is being able to FEEL like you are pulling of a sweet riff to a beat when you aren't a guitarist to know the difference.

Re:I Don't Understand

[Andrewkov]

You've obviously never filed taxes here.

Re:I Don't Understand

[drinkypoo]

Yup, it would be like learning to race by playing video games

If you knew anything about driving you would know that this is a completely valid strategy. Most people, even people who own and operate a car, really don't know shit about driving, so this isn't much of a surprise.

My driving skills - street driving skills - were greatly enhanced by playing the Gran Turismo series of games. Reading through the "driving school" data in the handbook and putting those skills to use in the video game taught me a lot about how cars behave - and not every car in the game is a supercar, either. It's not strictly true to life but the cars do behave in a quite realistic manner (aside from a lack of damage) and you can learn a lot from a racing game with good physics.

Every day I see people who clearly don't know how to drive. They're jerking their car around turns (or slamming on the brakes before a turn) because they have no idea what a proper line through a corner looks like. I frequently end up gaining on people with cars which are capable of handling vastly better than mine simply because I don't have to slow down [as much] for a corner because I know what I'm doing. The same technique, by the way, can be employed to keep your speed up to something reasonable without throwing your passengers all over your car, so it's not all about making the best speed. You can use the same skill to limit your maximum G force.

If that weren't enough, driving simulated cars is now S.O.P. for racing teams of all types. It lets you get a feel for the track, where the turns are, and so on, without spending costly track time. It's not exactly a substitute for the real thing, but it is training for the real thing, and moreover, it has been proven to be useful.

Re:I Don't Understand

[arnie_apesacrappin]

Alzheimers (467217)

Take your choice. I suspect a real Stratocaster would be a great chick magnet ... but it's a far cry from the thrill of finishing Crossroads on expert.

Actually, the Les Paul seems to win over more chicks than the Strat. I've got 2 Strats, a Tele, a Jaguar, 2 Mustangs, a Jag-stang and a Coronado II from Fender, but the one that wows them is the Les Paul.

Re:I Don't Understand

[JakiChan]

While a racing game may not teach you car control I know that many road course drivers, including many young F1 drivers, use video games to learn tracks they may not have been too. So yes, you may not have raced at Monza but if you spend enough time playing a game that simulates Monza pretty closely then you may have a leg up.

Re:I Don't Understand

[onco_p53]

To play with the bands? If I want to do that, I strip the low end out of an MP3 on my computer and just play along with it.

I have just started to learn bass. How can I strip out the low end in audacity?

Re:I Don't Understand

[heinousjay]

I frequently end up gaining on people with cars which are capable of handling vastly better than mine simply because I don't have to slow down [as much] for a corner because I know what I'm doing.

It may just be possible that they aren't treating the street like a road race.

Only a guess on my part, however.

Re:I Don't Understand

[stunt_penguin]

And this is precisely the point. FFS not even the article mentioned any link between *actual* guitar skills and playing the game, yet the first post is someone bitching about how people are linking guitar playing and guitar hero.

The article is news precisely because you'd never expect someone who plays the guitar for real (and in front of thousands of people) would ever appreciate the supposedly amateur/stupid thrills of Guitar Hero. They do though, and it highlights one important thing; games are above all fun, and in a good game that shines though as much as it does with Guitar Hero.

Re:I Don't Understand

[suggsjc]

Have you played guitar hero? It can sound pretty bad when you aren't hitting the notes. Crank it up enough and the neighbors are going to complain even if you nail Cowboys From Hell on expert.

Re:I Don't Understand

[stunt_penguin]

sponnngeBOB! For crying out loud you've been playing Smoke on the Water repeatedly for 2 hours straight, give it a rest!

Re:I Don't Understand

[stunt_penguin]

What i've been looking for for a good while is for a way to access the Windows Joystick properties or keystrokes in Actionscript or Flash - that way I could create a Flash based game that works with the PS2 Guitar Hero controller. A killer idea of mine smothered at birth, I'm afraid.

Re:I Don't Understand

[Nos.]

There's a big difference between learning to drive and learning a track.

Re:I Don't Understand

[Nos.]

As far as learning how a car behaves, a video game (not simulator, I'm talking video games) don't give realistic feedback. Pressing A for gas is a little different than accelerating away from a light. Video games tend to be all on or off. Yes, having a steering wheel setup helps, but still doesn't come close to real world. You don't get the feedback from the car that you get in the real world. Do you actually feel your backend slip in GT as you go over a patch of ice? Do you shoulder check and signal in GT? Are there lights and turning lanes, and other drivers that may or may not respect the rules of the road?

If that weren't enough, driving simulated cars is now S.O.P. for racing teams of all types. It lets you get a feel for the track, where the turns are, and so on, without spending costly track time.
There's a big difference between learning a track and learning to drive

Re:I Don't Understand

[Anonymous Coward]

Plus, sometimes your guitar is out of town, or on the rag.

Re:I Don't Understand

[Jesterboy]

You're missing the point: these bands need the practice.

*ba-da-bump, psssh!*

Thank you, thank you! I'll be here all day!

Re:I Don't Understand

[Thorkytel Ant-Head]

Did you actually read the article? It mentions some musicians who have songs in the game, but also other musicians who are not affiliated with it whatsoever, and they are all obsessed with the game. I'm sure that your $300 starter guitar won't sound anything like Black Sabbath, even if you did take years practicing Iron Man. With Guitar Hero, you can spend a short amount of time practicing, and feel like a lead guitarist on tons of classic songs. Maybe I don't want to spend years learning to master the guitar. Maybe I just want to play for a while, feel like a lead guitarist, and then get back to my life. What's wrong with that? As to why a real guitarist would play this game, it's the same reason why my pilot friend plays flight-simulator games in his spare time: because it's fun. You might as well ask why someone would play a fighting game, instead of studying martial arts and becoming a black belt, or play a first-person shooter, instead of learning to operate a real firearm. No matter how long I practice, I will never fight hordes of enemies in hand-to-hand combat, single-handedly repel an alien invasion, or flawlessly play the entire solo to Free Bird in front of a packed arena audience. But like many others, I play video games as an escape, to do things I could never do in real life. And apparently, even Real Musicians agree with me.

Re:I Don't Understand

[Thorkytel Ant-Head]

How about: because holding a plastic guitar is infinitely cooler than holding a keyboard and pretending it's a guitar?

(Sheesh...some people do not get the whole point of Guitar Hero!)

Re:I Don't Understand

[TheCabal]

To each his own I guess.

I'm a bass and rhythm guitar player, and I enjoy the hell out of playing Guitar Hero. Is it the same as playing live in front of a real audience? No. But it's a fun game. I have my little SG sitting right next to my Carvin and my Ibanez downstairs. I've played guitar for years, but playing Guitar Hero is definitely a challenge... The riffs to Iron Man were some of the first things I learned, but playing it on Guitar Hero is a definite challenge because it's played so differently. I actually look forward to playing GH2 because now I will be able to play bass as well.

Re:I Don't Understand

[Thorkytel Ant-Head]

You obviously haven't played the game. You do not press the buttons as they light up on the screen; you hold the buttons, and then strum the strum bar at the appropriate time. There are also notes that you hit by pressing or releasing buttons at the appropriate time, known as hammer-ons and pull-offs. All of those techniques are roughly equivalent to learning to play a guitar (although one with only one string, natch).

In other words: Know what you're talking about before you criticize it.

Re:I Don't Understand

[Anonymous Coward]

Why? Because it's fun to play.

I like how you throw that "Why?" in there as if the reader was speaking to you. In reality, as I was reading it, that "Why?" actually made me wince with pain. It was the exact opposite of what I was thinking, "I don't care".

Re:I Don't Understand

[idobi]

Once again, I wasn't saying no one should play this game, I was just confused why a musician with unlimited resources would play it.

Because no matter what your resources are, it's pretty hard to get 3000 people to come to your living on a whim so you can play rock star.

Re:I Don't Understand

[Mortanius]

But, and bear in mind this is coming from a guy who's lived in New England all his life, in certain weather conditions at least, they should.

Say you're driving on a snow-covered road with, potentially, an ice base beneath it. Traction is going to be reduced, due to the surface, meaning that as you make a turn, you need to be more mindful of the lateral forces on the car, and reduce them to keep the car's tires gripping solid surfaces.

This can be done in two ways; you can either slow down to a slight crawl as you make your turn, although slow down too much and you may become mired anyway, as traction is reduced when you try to turn hard from a stop.

Or

You can slow to a moderate speed, take the turn from the outside, hit the apex and then back out to the outside (assuming it is safe to do so with traffic and such), and still get through the turn pretty well. Having some degree of experience with countering lost traction is always good too, although the real experience has to come from real-life situations, as it's an entirely different sensation when failure to regain control of the car threatens your life and tens of thousands of your own dollars.

Mind you, very few people will probably see the game in this way. But that's just me.

Re:I Don't Understand

[lotsotech]

Most guitarists would make the same comment about bassists.

Re:I Don't Understand

[evansky]

my brother is the GH king. truly a master. he's of the mind that GH could teach one the basic skills for real guitar. and, while there may be some hand-eye coordination skills to be gathered from GH, this is obviously just not true, as any musician knows. but, GH is one the the funnest games i've played. seriously, it freakin' awesome! chill out, dude. it's a game. it's for fun. and it definitely delivers. G-A-M-E, period.

Re:I Don't Understand

[drinkypoo]

All that is irrelevant since I only said it would help people understand how the car behaves, not that it would help them understand how to navigate through traffic. Why people constantly attack things I haven't even said is well beyond me... well, no it isn't. I do already know that most people are idiots.

Most of what I learned from Gran Turismo, I learned while playing just with the good old dual shock, which yes, has proportional throttle and brake. Actually, if you use the proportional throttle in pre-GT3 games you HAVE to use the stick and you can not brake and accelerate at the same time. This is just fine though, because my foot without the shoe is over twelve inches long, and I do not have room for heel-toe braking. I learned not just about apexing, but also about suspension preloading which is immensely useful on twisty roads :)

The simple fact is that while it does not completely replace seat time, time playing a video game with decent physics can make you a better driver, and nothing you have said and none of your objections really counters this statement in any way.

Re:I Don't Understand

[Nos.]

The simple fact is that while it does not completely replace seat time, time playing a video game with decent physics can make you a better driver,
You've basically just restated my original position: You may learn somethings, but its no substitute for real life.

Re:I Don't Understand

[eldavojohn]

have just started to learn bass. How can I strip out the low end in audacity?

Well, honestly, it's a bit tricky to do in Audacity. If you're using Linux, an easier way to do it is to just open up the mixer in XMMS and fiddle with the low end until the bass is pretty well hidden. You lose some of the bass drums and sometimes it's tough to do but it suits me just fine. There's also plug-ins that help you achieve this.

If you're using Windows, Winamp will do the same thing and when I was in high school, there were some plugins that would slow down the tune without distorting the pitch (though it would click a bit) and I heavily recommend that for learning the bass line.

Enjoy it and have fun, don't be afraid to ask people questions, I'm entirely self taught on bass and have enjoyed it to no end! What's your system setup so I can offer you some free apps to play with?

Re:I Don't Understand

[prockcore]

Sounds like these musicians are just promoting it because they get a dime for every copy sold.

Except that Korn isn't in guitar hero.

Re:I Don't Understand

[element-o.p.]

I think amateur guitarists would rather just sit in an empty room playing with themselves than dream of being in a big-name band like Korn

Eh...no. As an amateur musician (guitar, bass, and sometimes vocals) I'd rather polish my skills so I can move closer to the reality of being in a big-name band like Korn. Even if it never happens, my personal choice is that it's better to have tried and failed than to wonder "what if?" for the rest of my life. If you believe otherwise, that's cool, too.

Fender Strat = 1399. PS2 + Guitar Hero + 40" DLP HDTV is about the same. Take your choice.

Where did you come up with $1399? Sure, the Eric Clapton signature Strat I've drooled over for years is something like that, but I've got two Fender Strats (and no, I don't mean "Squire by Fender"), the most expensive of which was only $450 http://www.zzounds.com/item--FEN130169. Granted, one was made in Japan, the other was made in Mexico, so they aren't the premium "American Series" strats, but they are still really nice guitars, and I can always install American Series pickups to make them even nicer (in fact, I *did* in the Japanese Strat). So, given the choice of a real-world Strat for under $500 or a video game for $1399, I'll take the Strat. YMMV, though.

Re:I Don't Understand

[WilliamSChips]

If you die in Canada, you die in REAL LIFE!

Re:I Don't Understand

[ShawnMcCool42]

Let me preface by saying i play guitar with my roommates/friends and we have a great time damn near daily with it.

However, we bought guitar hero and an extra guitar (2 total).. It's a BLAST for us.. The memorization and trial/error is pretty fun.. And I gotta tell you... Playing some of those songs on expert mode is really a ton of fun.

The easier difficulty levels are well.. BORING AND SEEM TO RELATE MINIMALLY TO THE MUSIC. I HATE THEM.

The game is only fun on hard or above.. It takes a while to get good at them but just skip the medium levels altogether and save yourself some time.

Plus, my non musician friends who play it have a hell of a time playing by watching.. It takes them all a while to play by LISTENING instead of with their eyes.

I'd have to say there's some redeeming qualities that could cross over to playing actual music. Sense of rhythm, coordination (using 1 finger per fret instead of moving your hand all over the place to play something that'd be simple if you'd just train your pinkie)...

All in all though it's just a fun game.

P.S. - If you don't own a musical instrument or sing and are a human... I don't care what you say.. You are missing out. 15 minutes every few days is all it takes. After a bit of elbow grease you'll get to the point where you can just start screwing around. Learn a single scale and play around with it making little melodies. Sooner or later you'll understand what it means to MAKE music and not just passively listen to music and your world will change.

Re:I Don't Understand

[JohnnyComeLately]

"Why mast when you can have sex?" Bwaahahahahahahaha...that's the best laugh I've had in awhile. You did forget one thing, you can't get anything from yourself. Same with GH. No blisters on your fingers from actually playing.

Re:I Don't Understand

[jayabalard]

PS2 (129.99) + guitar hero (69.99) =$200

Plus, chances are that someone who buys guitar hero is going to either already own a PS2, or is going to get other games for it, not just play guitar hero on it.

So $300 is a bit of an exageration on the cost involved.

Re:I Don't Understand

[rAiNsT0rm]

Well, Mr. la-de-freakin-da-know-it-all, I am a world class Jazz Kazooist, have been for the past 62 years, and I for one find Guitar Hero to be complete and utter crap!

The skills and nuances of the Kazoo are leaps and bounds above a silly plastic guitar. I mean when you have the stage lights on you, and the upright bass and cow bell are hitting that sweet spot that makes the ladies swoon, THAT is what it's all about. Not strumming a chintzy red toy!

Get a clue!

Re:I Don't Understand

[jayabalard]

http://www.bradcoleman.us/headlines.html#NASCARusa today

Are you so sure noone would ever learn to race by playing video games.

Re:I Don't Understand

[dangitman]

Cowboy Neal has one of his songs on Guitar Hero? That's interesting, I thought he only played jug.

Re:I Don't Understand

[damiangerous]

Those are metric dollars. Or Celsius. Or Tire Money.

Re:I Don't Understand

[justinlee37]

Games are just that, entertainment. You may learn somethings, but its no substitute for real life.

No substitute for real life!? Oh fuck, I wish someone had told me this earlier. And to think of all the time that I've wasted.

Re:I Don't Understand

[Lacrymator]

"With Guitar Hero, you can spend a short amount of time practicing, and feel like a lead guitarist on tons of classic songs. Maybe I don't want to spend years learning to master the guitar. Maybe I just want to play for a while, feel like a lead guitarist, and then get back to my life. What's wrong with that?" Nothing is wrong with that. It is in fact your life. If you make it to the very end of said life never strumming a string, then great! However, that feeling "like a lead guitarist on tons of classic songs" is self-delusion. Having no idea how it feels you confused reality with delusion. Please allow me to clear the air for you. Reality : Guitar hero is fun, entertaining, and enjoyable. (for you) and you are just ripping through a song perfectly, you fuel a reaction. The next thing you know, you've found it, that feeling. That feeling is(IMO) second to only one other. Lac

Re:I Don't Understand

[onco_p53]

Thanks, I'm on windows now, havent tried a linux distro in a few years (apart from data recovery boot cds).
I have a Cort Action bass, with an Ibanez SW20 amp.

I found that Audacity can reduce tempo without changing pitch, but it "sounds weird" to me somehow, not just slower.

I appreciate the help.

Re:I Don't Understand

[Anonymous Coward]

I thought the same thing, then I actually tried the game.

Its easy to talk bad about a game without playing it.

It has nothing to do with being musical, or playing with the band. Its just fun.

Re:I Don't Understand

[mrpostal]

I shelled out for a ps2 just for this game. guitar hero and singstar rocks are the only games I own.

I saw frets on fire first, and that prompted me to get guitar hero. playing it on a keyboard is crappy to begin with, half the fun is grappling over the largish (in comparison to most games) silly coloured buttons. I've finished guitar hero on every difficulty except expert (GARRRRR cowboys from hell and bark at the moon at the ~80% mark!)

Last night I managed to get frets on fire to work with my macbook pro and guitar hero controller.

the two are inseparable and act completely differently than using the keyboard, even when you're doing essentially the EXACT same thing

I'm definitely getting guitar hero II. I too play bass and leccy guitar, they're nothing like playing the game. I hate DDR, love guitar hero, apart from requiring rhythm and a bit of finger dexterity on the later levels (which most people don't seem to have) it's not like playing an instrument at all, it's still craploads of fun. Afterwards I often find myself on my real guitar playing the same song I just played.

stop reading so much into an awesome game.

frets on fire is probably harder to get used to than guitar hero first, but they're both awesome, so if you have some disposable income, I'd recommend guitar hero. and if you want to mod and have some fun on your computer, I'd do frets on fire.

Re:I Don't Understand

[Inks]

The funniest thing is that my friend wants to play guitar ... so he buys Guitar Hero. Which provides you with no guitar skills whatsoever.

Is he serious about wanting to play guitar? A lot of people think they want to learn it and inevitably giving up after the first hurdle, when really all they wanted was that "rock star" feeling. This game might be the answer for those people!

Re:I Don't Understand

[Knara]

And me without mod points as a reward. Alas.

Though you forgot to call me an insensitive clod.

Re:I Don't Understand

[drinkypoo]

You've basically just restated my original position: You may learn somethings, but its no substitute for real life.

My point was that I never said otherwise - there is a difference between the video game and the real thing - and so you are wasting a lot of time saying that I did.

At the same time, it often is a substitute for real life in some cases:

At least one team has developed the concept with a simulator that is so good that they apply different car set-ups to it and translate that to the race track on GP weekends.

(http://www.itv-f1.com/Feature.aspx?Type=Ask_The_T eam&PO_ID=37758)

I've been looking for about five minutes now for an article on some racing game heroes taking their skills to the track. Some of them actually did pretty well, in spite of several of them never having driven anything more powerful than a civic. I can't remember which racing game it is, though. I might remember if I'd ever cared about anything other than Gran Turismo, but I'm going to have to start caring about another series soon since I'm giving up on Sony.

It certainly provides a benefit, which even you are not arguing against. This is all I said in the first place. The fact remains that someone COULD in fact learn how to drive a car around a race track with no help other than video games. Would they perform as well as they do in the game? Probably not. Driving in real life doesn't prepare you for the video games, either; I personally own a 1989 Nissan 240SX with almost fully-pumped suspension (the only things missing for race-level handling are adjustable rear A-arms, rear pillow ball upper mounts, and new rear subframe bushings) and if I put similar equipment on the 240SX in the game, I can still do better in the real world! I figure this is because in real life you have the butt-o-meter and no amount of driving a simulator can model that because we can't simulate those forces [yet?]

Hell, back when the Amiga was king of PC games, Indianapolis 500 was receiving acclaim from people who are actually in racing because of its realistic physics. That was on a sub-8-MHz CPU, too.

Finally, if you drive within the speed limits, take your acceleration easy and all that, driving a real car really isn't much different from playing a video game, except for the stakes involved. It's only during performance driving that the car's behavior departs substantially from the computer model. Even then the models are getting pretty good.

Re:I Don't Understand

[drinkypoo]

I frequently end up gaining on people with cars which are capable of handling vastly better than mine simply because I don't have to slow down [as much] for a corner because I know what I'm doing.

It may just be possible that they aren't treating the street like a road race. Only a guess on my part, however.

Yes, a completely wrong guess. These are the same people who are running it up to 10 MPH over on the straightaways (where the passing lanes are) and then they drop down to 10 MPH under the caution sign speed limit (the yellow one) when they go around a turn. Usually old people. They want to drive fast, but they don't know how, so they content themselves with going fast on the straightaways. Even though I rarely go over the speed limit (or at least rarely go more than 5 MPH over) my average speed would be better than theirs on many roads, because of the high turn count, but I can't get past them because I drive a car that weighs 2750 lb and has 110 horsepower and the only way I can pass anyone is if it's downhill and I have a tail wind, and they're not trying to stop me.

A lot of these people are actually squealing tires around turns; they could go the same speed and not squeal them if they knew how to drive.

Re:I Don't Understand

[not4me]

My husband is an awesome bassist and old friends with Rodney, the First Runner-Up from 2005's Guitar Hero contest. He too had the same elitist attitude until I bought Guitar Hero for myself.

While I too am a musician (a girl-type bassist with a passion for funk, a rhythm guitarist and classically trained as a violinist and cellist), I do not play the electric guitar, nor do I enjoy the music featured yet I am able to see that PS2's Guitar Hero for what it is - a game. I bought it on a whim and after spending 4 years in Japan was admittedly disappointed when I opened the box and realized how similar it is to the hundreds of similar games littering Japan's flashy, smoke-filled arcades. While "playing" along with the first song I understood its appeal and quickly realized that in order to target a wide demographic range, its keep-it-simple-stupid neck was a necessity.

My husband, you know the type - the one with 6 basses and scores of pedals and amps, has since loosened up and takes turns playing this game with me. Despite his natural talent I often kick his butt in-game and he jokes how certain songs in the hard and expert mode are easier-played on a real guitar. Indeed.

Eldavojohn, while you find it odd, "...that someone who probably has their pick of basses/guitars & effect pedals would prefer the not as rewarding feeling of playing Guitar Hero, "I find your defensiveness odd. It is, after all, just a game.

Re:I Don't Understand

[redwoodtree]

I get to 98% on bark on the moon on expert... it's killing me. Frets on fire sounds like a blast. How did you get the guitar hero connected to your macbook, just and adaptor?

Re:I Don't Understand

[tcc3]

Hey, FYI since youre giving up Sony:

Forza Motorsports for the Xbox was an excellent sim. Forza 2 will be out next year for the 360.

Happy racing.

Re:I Don't Understand

[kevinadi]

It's more than that. GH requires you to react to the screen, while generally you don't play guitar by looking at your drummer. This is more difficult for me just because my reaction is so slow visually.

The real instrument is more difficult than GH in a sense that you have to hit each note accurately, cleanly, and without too much force otherwise you'll tire yourself mid-song and it'll sound bad.

GH is actually quite fun to play, but since I really suck at it, it's good for a laugh. I prefer my Jem any day.

On a side note, my drummer tried to play the drum game and gave up halfway through. My little brother can beat him on any song any time on that machine.

Re:I Don't Understand

[mrpostal]

a PS2 > USB adapter I picked up from ebay and a preference HID plugin called GamePad Companion. google it. although it SEEMS like there's a slight delay between pressing the button and the 'fret' registering. I don't know if it's the experimental mac build, the shareware plugin (a preference for key response is greyed out, i don't know why). it's still a crapload of fun.

Bark at the moon is a bastard. I save up all my star power until right at the end and even that isn't enough :(

MUST FINISH!

Re:I Don't Understand

[Saikik]

Or playing DDR to learn how to dance.

Re:I Don't Understand

[Mordaximus]

Every day I see people who clearly don't know how to drive. They're jerking their car around turns (or slamming on the brakes before a turn) because they have no idea what a proper line through a corner looks like.

Now not that I don't agree with what you're saying. GT 2 and 3 helped me a lot as well. But, a proper line through a corner, as illustrated in the Gran Tourismo 3 manual, puts you in opposing traffic not once, but twice, for a right hand turn (in North America.) You must be very well insured? :)

Re:I Don't Understand

[good soldier svejk]

I'm an electric bassist and personally, I care not for Guitar Hero.

An anthropologist was conducting research in the Lower Congo when, to his delight, he managed to find an obscure, previously unrecorded tribe. One exciting aspect of the tribe's culture was its musical traditions, which included constant drumming from a nearby hilltop.

On his first night in his makeshift camp, he thrilled to the sound of the drums, but didn't manage to sleep a wink. The next evening he went to the tribe's chief and asked when the drumming would stop. "You don't want to hear drums stop," the chief informed him in his click dialect. "After drums stop, something terrible happens."

One week later, crazed by lack of sleep, the anthropologist returned, offering gifts he'd kept for emergencies: a top hat, coloured beads, and a set of cigarette cards. Once again the chief said, "After drums stop, something terrible happens."

Over the next four weeks, the haggard, twitching, anthropologist returned to the chief, offering his Amex gold card, his sister, and his family home if only the drums would stop. Each offer received the same reply.

Finally, convinced that the termination of the drumming must involve a human sacrifice, the anthropologist gave away his possessions, penned his farewell letters, and approached the chief once more. Breaking into tears, he offered his life to the chief, and asked once more what would happen when the drums stopped.

The chief frowned. "When drums stop, bass solo starts."

Re:I Don't Understand

[Listen Up]

While a lot of what you say is true, what you say about braking before turning is not true. I race on a semi-professional and professional level in a variety of real motorsports including Autocross, Road Racing, and Rally (www.rally-america.com). The proper technique when racing around a corner or curve is to brake in a straight line before or into the turn (late braking) if needed to set up the turn, ride into the turn at a constant speed, and then power out of the turn. The most important part is to try to never brake while in a turn (unless Rally hand-braking ;-), as the turning grip of the front tires is reduced by the braking grip. Active differentials/active braking/dynamic vehicle control systems can help to reduce the effects of braking during turning, but proper line braking is very important nonetheless.

Also, Rallyists really love to play Rally video games as much as they can, especially to practice course notes with their Co-Driver :-) The Richard Burns Rally simulator is amazing and the Colin McRae series is absolutely fun to play.

Re:I Don't Understand

[Anonymous Coward]

Good answer! Seriously, for the average person, this is a great game. But this article is talking about real musicians (whose music just happens to be in the game). Sounds really stupid to me. Sounds like these musicians are just promoting it because they get a dime for every copy sold. I hate to be cynical but that's why my initial post apparently made me sound like an ass.

I play electric guitar and I love Guitar Hero. It's absolutely nothing like a real guitar. But it's fun in the same way that car racing games are fun even though they're nothing like real car racing.

Re:I Don't Understand

[Anonymous Coward]

It's a shame they couldn't have designed a game that acutally teaches you to play the guitar. Does such software/hardware exist? Certainly games make learning more fun.

Re:I Don't Understand

[Mirksar]

it improves your rhythm

That's true. I play the flute and after playing Guitar Hero, I can read music at first sight more easily.

Re:I Don't Understand

[Pandaeonium]

*Shrug* I bought GH a few months back. It's fun, and a great party game when people are over. It also reignited my wish to *learn* to play guitar, which I've currently been doing for a couple of months now.

Re:I Don't Understand

[dunkelfalke]

why shouldn't it?
you can get a decent guitar for $300 and iron man is easy enough to get it right in a couple of days.

the difference is, when playing a real guitar you dont feel like a lead guitarist in a couple of songs, you are a lead guitarist in every song you chose to play.

Re:I Don't Understand

[Anonymous Coward]

Just goes to show they know jack shit about guitars. Gibsons are just overpriced overhyped slabs of (not very goood) wood. Gimme a Fender any day. Even the CBS made Fenders, crappy as they were, were miles ahead of anything Gibson had to offer.

Re:I Don't Understand

[Anonymous Coward]

In my very limited experience, current karaoke videogames do not distinguish between singing the song, and playing the singer's line on a kazoo.

(yes, really, I've tried. I can apparently kazoo better than I can sing)

Re:I Don't Understand

[the dark hero]

i think rythm games are fun and all, but playing on that little plastic guitar is uncomfortable. Maybe i'm doing things wrong because i know what a real guitar feels like, but i think the buttons are way too far apart. I actually have an easier time playing the guitar riff for message in a bottle than i do playing guitar hero. seriously, check it out. andy summers hasalien fingers.

Re:I Don't Understand

[drinkypoo]

The proper technique when racing around a corner or curve is to brake in a straight line before or into the turn (late braking) if needed to set up the turn, ride into the turn at a constant speed, and then power out of the turn.

sure, I know. I also know that if you can, you should trail-brake, so that you have an even transfer from braking to accelerating. Unfortunately my feet are too big (my shod foot is about 14" long) so I can't :(

Since I can't trail brake, I have little choice but to preload :(

I do have CMR3 for PC, very slick. I have the logitech driving force wheel but I really want to get the one with the full rotation (over 2 turns lock to lock...)

Re:I Don't Understand

[Cheeko]

I don't think he was speaking for all cases, but by and large he's right I think. First for background, I'm an avid car simulation buff, GT and Forza. I also autocross most weekends during the summer and have taken actual driver instruction.

That being said, driving on the road, and driving on a track are 2 very very very different things. Sure knowing your car and what forces act on it is ALWAYS a good thing, but your approach to driving will change in a track/race setting versus daily driving. The flow of traffic by itself has to be taken into consideration. Additionally you have to be mindful of the flow of traffic. I'm sorry but when I'm commuting to work, I'm not worried about finding the optimal apex of my turns and controling how I accelerate/decelerate into and out of turns. I worry about the drivers around me, and being mindful of where I'm at at all times.

It sounds very much like I should be just as scared of you on the road as I should be of that person flooring it on straights and slowing down incredibly in turns. You're still driving for speed (even if its speed in the sense of shortest path, and sustained velocity).

There is a reason that driver safety courses and a race driving course cover some of the same stuff and some different stuff. They are two seperate things that apply the same underlying vehicle forces.

That being said, learning how to handle a car in a racing situation WILL help you in knowing what actions cause what responses. These can be very useful things to train yourself for emergency situations. Accident avoidance, pour conditions, other eventualities all will benefit from learning this.

That said, I fear anyone who gets their driver solely from a game. Sure its a good practice tool for someone who's already informed, but I wouldn't trust anything I learned in a game without having had real world experience to couple it with.

Re:I Don't Understand

[Anonymous Coward]

Dear fellow linux-using bassist: May I ask what you use if anything to tune your bass? I've found the program gtkguitune (and k3guitune) to be quite good but not very well maintained any more. Just wondering what else is out there.

thanks,
Greg

Re:I Don't Understand

[Anonymous Coward]

Dear fellow linux-using bassist: May I ask what you use if anything to tune your bass? I've found the program gtkguitune (and k3guitune) to be quite good but not very well maintained any more. Just wondering what else is out there.

It's not very well supported but it's called "my ear." :-)

Oftentimes, if I'm playing along with a song, I have to tune to the song anyways since a lot of musicians I listen to didn't really care about A440 and even if they did, temperature can bend the pitch a bit. Try playing along to Battle of Evermore by Led Zeppelin sometime & you'll understand what I mean.

No problem,
eldavojohn

ha, the donnas

[know1]

male guitarist often make jokesabout women not being able to play guitar (we know it's not strictly true, it's just about a one to ten ratio in comparison to males) but the donnas couldn't play that song with real instruments anyway so they were bound to be at a disadvantage. (christ girls, there's more to the guitar than power chords)

Re:ha, the donnas

[UncleJam]

I actually saw the donnas when they came to my university. I expected a media conglomerate created type band, but honestly, they are a really really solid band. They also don't get sloshed drunk and mess up the second part of the set terribly like some other big name bands I have seen. Also I'm not sure how many of their songs you've heard, but that one girl can really shred the shit.

Re:ha, the donnas

[Anonymous Coward]

Your snobbery is a lot more fun than the "I think the guitarist of Korn should go buy some Rickenbacker guitars ... I can't imagine ever getting tired of those" guy's snobbery!

Re:ha, the donnas

[Anonymous Coward]

Robertson is actually a pretty fucking phenomenal guitarist; most male rockers have nothing but the utmost respect for her. The Donnas also toured incessantly for years before they got picked up by a major; they may not be the best band out there, but their lead guitarist rocks and they work hard as hell for what they have.

Re:ha, the donnas

[bunions]

> there's more to the guitar than power chords

that's like saying there's more to a steer than savory, delicious beef - there's also tripe, lips and hooves. I mean, sure it's true, but [i]so what?[/i]

Re:ha, the donnas

[bunions]

Hey, internet guy, you seem kind of angry - maybe you should take a few minutes and just relax for a while. You know, just kick back and mellow out.

Re:ha, the donnas

[TheCabal]

Tell that to the Ramones.

I'd venture a guess and say that their devotion on power chords is doing them quite well. If you want virtuosity, please move on to Dream Theater.

Re:ha, the donnas

[tallguywithglasseson]

You mean they're an actual band? I thought they were full-time, publicity-seeking commentators on VH1!

Re:ha, the donnas

[ndykman]

christ girls, there's more to the guitar than power chords

No, really?

Oh, and just to put my foot in it further, The Donnas are insanely tight live. Straight ahead rock. I saw them before they went major label, it was a small club, and they rocked it nice and hard.

Re:ha, the donnas

[Anonymous Coward]

Not so well, actually -- they got dropped by their record label in March.

Big deal.

[Moderator]

'Michael Einziger, the 30-year-old guitarist for the hard-rock band Incubus, says he was "shocked at how hard it was" to play the videogame's version of his song "Stellar."

In a related story, thirteen year old "Guitar Heroes" are shocked at how hard it is to play Randy Rhoads' "Suicide" solo on a real guitar. Give me a break. When I first heard of this game, I was fascinated at the idea that something so popular might also be educational. I was thinking something along the lines of you plug your guitar into the PS2 and play along, maybe like Guitar Pro. Then I saw that the 'guitar' was really a reshaped video game controller with four buttons. What a waste. Then again, having to learn scales and reading sheet music wouldn't sell now would it?

Hmm

[FirienFirien]

It seems like the implementation might be a bit strange/broken when the person who wrote and played a song can't get a good score. Or is the controller too different from a real guitar?

/wonders whether to suggest being able to plug in a real or midi electric... at the moment my housemate, who is a little tone deaf, is attempting to learn the guitar. Apps on every platform can register a midi signal, and a real signal can be fouriered into played notes. Much of the implementation must be there in the code; would it be difficult to create a more... professional version? I for one would not be averse to my housemate being able to see where and what he was doing wrong!

Re:Hmm

[kitaroh]

Or is the controller too different from a real guitar?

I think so - I'm a pretty competent guitar player, and can play many of the songs in the game in real life - so when I come to play Guitar Hero, I am always reaching for what would be the notes, only they're not in the game, so my score suffers.

Re:Hmm

[poot_rootbeer]

a real signal can be fouriered into played notes

Not so much. A single monophonic melody, perhaps, but we're still yet a long way away from computers being able to transcribe complex, polyphonic, multitimbral music into its component pitches.

Re:Hmm

[brouski]

Guitar Hero is definitely not a tool for learning the guitar. The controller has a lever as a strummer and four buttons that simulate frets. I think there's also a whammy bar just for kicks.

Re:Hmm

[KlomDark]

No, you're wrong. That guy says he does it with his 'electric bass' plugged into his Linux laptop. The rest of us are pathetic fuckers that need to buy Rickenbachers. Jeez, get with the program. :)

Re:Hmm

[TheCabal]

It's a bit of a change from a real guitar. There are 5 "fret" buttons. A lever type control that you strum. A whammy bar that will bend notes, but it's only useful when you hit "star power" notes. As the fret buttons are laid out in a single row, everything is lateral. On a real guitar, you also move vertically. Chords are a bit easier to play on a real guitar, they mind my mind reel when playing them on the GH controller because that kind of fretting wouldn't work in real life.

One of the first songs I ever learned how to play was Iron Man, and I can tell you the first time I played it on GH, the score sucked. I kept trying to fret 5th power chords, and play the actual riffs rather than follow the screen. It took a while to decouple real playing from GH playing.

The only thing I don't like is how they want you to use the whammy. The encourage wanking on the whammy rather than more controlled use of it.

Re:Hmm

[TheCabal]

5 buttons and the whammy is for pulling extra Star Power out of starred notes.

Re:Hmm

[brkello]

It isn't broken at all. It is two different skill sets. The difference is that it is faster to pick up which makes it more accessible to people who wish they could play an instrument but don't have the ability or the training.

Re:Hmm

[Anonymous Coward]

My room-mate, a professional game developer and also studying for (yet another) eventual Masters degree, this time in Game Development at USC, gave a presentation concerning making a "professional" version of Guitar Hero by making use of Line 6's GuitarPort, which works over USB, that would both be a fun game to play and teach you guitar at the same time. She is proposing a prototype version as her Master's project.

Re:Hmm

[businessnerd]

Another thing to keep in mind here, is that the guitarist who wrote the song and performs it live on a regular basis, does not perform it as it was on the studio recording. Listen to live recordngs and studio recordings back to back and notice the differences aside from just guitar solos and extra flare thrown in. Often the tempo is different or they switch into a whole new key at some point. This is what makes seeing live bands so exciting. The guitarist probably has not played it as it was "meant" to be in a long time, so he/she might struggle a little.

Interesting Who fact: The Who's bassist John Entwistle improvised the bass solo in "My Generation" on the spot when it was recorded in the studio. He has since, never been able to reproduce the solo live, although claims he has tried time and again by request. (RIP John, you were the man)

Re:Hmm

[kevinadi]

Actually I've seen an undergrad project that tries to do exactly this. It's not perfect but it's a start. He did it by using about 80 bandpass filters, one for each note, and see which filter got activated when a certain note or chord is played. He managed to get around the problem of harmonic frequency (although not all the time) and tried it with multiple instruments. The system got about 80% of the notes and chords correct. Not bad for a one year project.

It's a thrill seeing him play a blues scale and the computer transcribed it correctly.

Guitar Hero is not about Guitar

[doudou42]

The point is : it is just a game.

Playing Dance Dance Revolution is not about dancing (more like epilepsy)
Playing Guitar Hero is not about playing the guitar...

The whole point is just a Rythm game with rock music and a funny controler.
There was dance mat, bongos, maracas, now, there is a guitar...

Don't you think someone like Michael Schumarer wouldn't enjoy a racing game ?
Or what about Tony Hawk playing Tony Hawk Pro Skater ?

You are right, Guitar Hero is not about learning to play the real instrument.
But, to have fun with Rock, there was air guitar, now, there is guitar hero.

Hi There

[ludomancer]

Hi, and welcome to the world of marketting.

This article was not written to talk about the bands in question and their love of playing a video game. It was written to give exposure to the Guitar Hero franchise of games, and bring attention to the impending release of the game's sequel, which is now an MTV property (who incited the writing of this article to generate sales).

Now that you realize your error for even giving it attention, please take your haughty "Hi I'm a real musician, allow me to tell you how much better I am than you" attitude elsewhere. It's really worse than the brainwashing corporations responsible for this kind of media in the first place.

Thanks.

Re:Hi There

[blake3737]

Now that you realize your error for even giving it attention, please take your haughty "Hi I'm a real musician, allow me to tell you how much better I am than you" attitude elsewhere.

Jeezuz... the snotty college kids are out in droves tonight. Shouldn't you be out playing guitar hero and skipping class?

Re:Hi There

[Anonymous Coward]

It was written to give exposure to the Guitar Hero franchise of games, and bring attention to the impending release of the game's sequel, which is now an MTV property (who incited the writing of this article to generate sales)

Ah, yes. Welcome to the world of pea-brained self-styled "media critics" with zero understanding of how the media actually work. This is the freaking Wall Street Journal, not Access Hollywood, you chucklehead.

No joke.

[SocialEngineer]

I tried it out in a store once. I am a classical guitar player, and have been a musician for over 13 years now. Picked the thing up, and discovered that I sucked :P

There aren't too many similarities to actually playing guitar, though. I'm used to working with scale patterns spanning the entire fretboard, using techniques such as sweep picking, finger picking, etc. Kinda hard to do that with the few buttons the thing has plus a switch/lever/whatever it is for picking :)

Re:No joke.

[jmusits]

I just played Guitar Hero II for the first time. I've been playing guitar for 13 years no and I found out that I was horrible at the game. I'm not much of a gamer though, as the last game I got into was Doom II when I yas 13 years old. New video games are too complicated. I'll stick to the King's Quest series, puzzle games are better anyways.

-- Jason

If the thunder don't get you then the lightning will.

Re:No joke.

[Alzheimers]

If you're finding Guitar Hero complicated, Doom II might be a bit of a stretch for you...Might I suggest, Pong? That doesn't have any buttons at all!

Staggering

[pete-classic]

What a staggering coincidence. All these bands that happen to have songs in the game happen to like the game, and don't mind talking about it to reporters.

-Peter

Re:Staggering

[GhaleonStrife]

The article mentioned a band learning about it from Tool. Last I checked, Tool wasn't on either game. Not all of the bands mentioned had songs in the game. Neither was Korn. Or Nine Inch Nails. And whoever Rascal Flatts is. Thankfully, My Chemical Romance isn't on there, either. Three Day's Grace? Nope. Not on there. Some guy from SNL?! He's not a musician! My point: People love this game, are not afraid to admit it, and don't need to be paid off to do so.

Re:Staggering

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually Fred Armisen is a musician, and was one long before he was a comedian.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Armisen

Guitar Hero: not about playing guitar

[dolson]

"It doesn't have anything to do with playing guitar,"

Finally, someone admits that Guitar Hero is not about playing guitar. It's just DDR played with your fingers.

Re:Guitar Hero: not about playing guitar

[thesandtiger]

Uh... I know not one single person who thinks this game is remotely like actually playing a real guitar. It's a game. It's fun. You know - like Contra isn't remotely like being a special forces guy who runs around in South American jungles, or how Civilization isn't at all like actual history or...

Well, the point being, "realism" is not the thing they were aiming for, I think. Making a fun game and selling lots of copies is. Mission accomplished!

Re:Guitar Hero: not about playing guitar

[hal2814]

"It's just DDR played with your fingers."

And DDR is just Simon played with your feet. It seems we've come full circle.

Re:Guitar Hero: not about playing guitar

[dolson]

You're right. But just because you don't know anyone who thinks it is just like playing guitar doesn't mean that Fender isn't making some cash off of some of the people I know. :)

Re:Guitar Hero: not about playing guitar

[Thorkytel Ant-Head]

"Finally, someone admits that Guitar Hero is not about playing guitar."

Did you not read the original article? It was "finally" admitted there, by a real guitarist.

Re:Guitar Hero: not about playing guitar

[Anonymous Coward]

"It's just DDR played with your fingers."
"And DDR is just Simon played with your feet. It seems we've come full circle."

And Hentai games are just DDR for your.... well you see where I'm going...

Man I can't wait for the FBE (Full body Experience) games to start getting released! Finally Masaki Sumitani's (HG) hip-thrusting moves will pay off!

Well duh...

[Chaffar]

Just because you're an expert at Fight Night doesn't mean you can take out Mike Tyson in a real fight... or vice versa. It's just mindless fun. I don't think it was written anywhere on the box that it would turn you into a guitar god overnight (or if it did, you're an idiot for believing it).

Re:Well duh...

[thewils]

...doesn't mean you can take out Mike Tyson in a real fight...

Agreed, no-one in their right mind would want to do this for obvious reasons, but I wonder how many people who play driving games think that they are getting skills that they can transfer to the road. I've seen quite a few drivers who thought they were still in a video game judging from the way they drive.

Re:Well duh...

[Simon80]

Sheesh, next thing you know, you're going to tell me that I won't become a better dancer by playing DDR..

Re:Well duh...

[jim3e8]

To answer your question, at least one.

Incubus?

[bubbl07]

As much as I love Incubus, I'd hardly classify them as "hard rock." When I think hard rock, bands like Metallica (Black Album era) and ACDC come to mind. Maybe that's just me, though.

Re:Incubus?

[Alzheimers]

And Sugar Ray is just a boy band, music for chicks, right?
On the radio.

Do you even *own* S.C.I.E.N.C.E.?

Re:Incubus?

[heinousjay]

Since you mentioned it, I'd hardly bother classifying. It's a waste of time. Like what you like and leave the genres to the dorks who get hard over how obscure they can be.

Re:Incubus?

[HRH King Lerxst]

No, sugar Ray was a boxer.

Re:Incubus?

[morrisonsean]

As much as I love Incubus,

That's about where I stopped reading...

Re:Incubus?

[Alzheimers]

No, sugar Ray was a boxer.

Actually, *two* boxers, but I'm talking about the band :P

Re:Incubus?

[Xerxes of Zealot]

That's about where I stopped reading...

I thought the same thing after I RTFA...

"It doesn't have anything to do with playing guitar," Mr. Einziger says. "It's all rhythmic."

I never cared for Incubus but I didn't think they were that bad until after I read that statement....

It's a video game, y'know.

[emmagsachs]

The only relation Guitar Hero's controller -- with its five coloured plastic buttons, in single file, to be pushed when the correctly coloured circle is shown -- is that they're housed in a casing built to resemble a guitar.

You can play Guitar Hero 24/7, practicing until your fingers bleed, but at the end of the day, you still can't play guitar. It isn't Guitar Simulator, it's a video game with a miniature plastic guitar for as its controller. It has nothing to do with actual guitar playing skills.

GTA won't teach you the skillz to be an archcriminal, and America's Army isn't a replacement for boot camp.

Re:It's a video game, y'know.

[tholomyes]

Personally, as a long-time self-taught hack guitarist, I find that it improves my guitar playing-- it really has increased my finger speed, and can't hurt my coordination or sense of timing.

Re:It's a video game, y'know.

[Anonymous Coward]

>GTA won't teach you the skillz to be an archcriminal, and America's Army isn't a replacement for boot camp.
But, Jack Thompson said it would. He wouldn't lie would he?

Re:It's a video game, y'know.

[Anonymous Coward]

Surely you put yourself at a disadvantage if you judge yourself by your playing at the end of the day, when you are likely very tired. Especially while playing 24/7. Why not try making an assessment at the beginning of the day?

Re:It's a video game, y'know.

[EugeneK]

I'm waiting for a REAL guitar game - where the controller actually works like a real guitar. I could see this happening 2 ways :

1. the controller has strings (ie 6 short strings down in the strumming part) and frets (ie buttons) where the strings would be on the neck.

2. use a guitar that has a MIDI output and write the game that takes the MIDI input as your game controller input.

Re:It's a video game, y'know.

[merreborn]

Guitar Hero taught me to use my pinky, and to double pick regularly.

And yes, I use a pick on the plastic controller. I can't nail the fast songs any other way.

Bands with GH songs play GH! Film at 11

[Anonymous Coward]

Would these bands play the game if their songs *weren't* included?

This reeks of "we'll pay you for the rights to your song, as long as you say good things about the game."

Red Octane/MTV have done a good job in getting display units into a lot of stores lately... I've been into several stores (EB Games and Best Buy) with someone playing and others waiting for their chance. If I wasn't saving up for other people's presents, I'd probably get one.

It isn't completely without benefits

[The_Dude]

I hope no one would argue that playing Guitar Hero would help you learn to play actual music on a guitar, but it does exercise your fingers pretty well and developing the coordination to be able to play on the hard and expert levels should translate in part to playing a real instrument.

Re:It isn't completely without benefits

[C0rinthian]

Not really. Okay, you start to develop coordination and finger independance. But a lot of playing a musical instrument is developing muscle memory. You can't start making music until you're at the point you don't have to worry about what your fingers are doing.

It's the difference between a console vet, and a guy who has to keep looking at the controller to see where 'B' is.

The point is, that once this kind of muscle memory is learned, it's difficult to unlearn. So if someone spends a lot of time on the game, then tries learning guitar for real, they're going to be fighting their own bad habits. (Or worse, letting the habits negatively affect what they're doing)

Of course it is....

[justkarl]

They get royalties.

Re:Of course it is....

[jmelloy]

Probably not. All of the songs by famous bands are covers.

Well geez, this guy is a real barrel of laughs.

[Anonymous Coward]

Remind me never to come over to this guy's house.
I can just imagine how much fun we'll all have
watching him play bass into his laptop running
Linux.

" Guitar Hero Is Big Hit With Bands " ????

[Izhido]

Awww. Guitar Hero's such a good game... how come anyone could be so upset about this game as to grab an entire band, and smash a Guitar Hero game box to pieces with each member of the band...

Oh, wait.

I gave up trying to get through Guitar Hero

[advocate_one]

I went out and got a real guitar instead... it's far, far easier...

Oh the pain...

[steveo777]

I remember the first time I tried the game. And every other time. I refer to the game by its TRUE moniker, "Carpal Tunnel Hero."

ha, guitarists

[cruc]

A bit of the same ole: How many guitarists does it take to change a light bulb? Ten. One to do it and nine to say "He sucks!"

Guitar Hero != Guitar

[DorkRawk]

I'm a guitar player and I also love playing Guitar Hero. Having some finger dexterity probably helped a bit when I was getting started but pushing 5 buttons is not the same as playing a guitar. It's fun and thats all it's supposed to be. Guitar Hero is to guitar playing as DDR is to dancing.

Hey, How's It Going?

[eldavojohn]

Hi, and welcome to the world of marketting.

Hello, nice to meet you. Well, Zonk decided to post this so I decided to open the discussion up with my opinion.

This article was not written to talk about the bands in question and their love of playing a video game. It was written to give exposure to the Guitar Hero franchise of games, and bring attention to the impending release of the game's sequel, which is now an MTV property (who incited the writing of this article to generate sales).

Insightful note, and I agree with you. You seem to agree with me to the point of it-doesn't-make-sense-that-these-guys-would-play-i t.

Now that you realize your error for even giving it attention,

Like I said, this is Slashdot and the story was posted, so I commented on it.

please take your haughty "Hi I'm a real musician, allow me to tell you how much better I am than you" attitude elsewhere.

Well, I never claimed to be a real musician. And I recall saying, "to each their own." I never said I was better than you, I merely suggested trying a cheap guitar if you enjoy Guitar Hero. I've tried Guitar Hero, so I am in a position to say I don't like it. Have you tried playing a real guitar? If you haven't, you're in no position to comment on it.

It's really worse than the brainwashing corporations responsible for this kind of media in the first place.

Well, you're entitled to your own opinion and that's certainly an interesting one but I simply don't agree with it. I don't know what I said that made me sound like an ass but if it made me sound like I was on my high horse, I apologize.

Thanks.

No, thank you. The high rating of your comment opens up my eyes about the what the Slashdot community values--people who tear other people apart and make quick judgments are pretty much modded up. I apologize for trying to add the conversation, I won't let it happen again.

Re:Hey, How's It Going?

[Fozzyuw]

Ah, you don't need to defend yourself bro... you did in your sig. =P People can get easily offended if they feel something they enjoy/care about is being attacked. Magnify that by a few when it's in an online medium. =D

Slashdot: A place where I'm +5 Insightful when I tried really hard to be stupid.

Re:Hey, How's It Going?

[Thorkytel Ant-Head]

I'll comment on playing a real guitar: In Guitar Hero, after a few hours of play, I was able to get through the entire solo for More Than A Feeling with only a few mistakes. If I learned to play a real guitar, would I be able to play that same solo after only a few hours of practice? And if not, how much practice would it take? Days? Months? Years?

This isn't SUPPOSED to be a guitar substitute!

[Dorkmaster Flek]

It's just a music/rhythm game! An extremely fun and well produced one, nonetheless. Seriously, these games are popular for a reason. It's a simple concept that anyone can grasp and become good at. It is FAR easier than actually becoming that good on a guitar, and that's precisely the reason it resonates with so many people. Easy to learn, hard to master, fun to play. And it's great fun with a group of people. Hell, I'm having a party with friends for the release of the second game because we all love it! Only one of us can actually play guitar, and it doesn't matter. This is just an extremely fun game that brings people together. Anyone who is a fan of music/rhythm games should absolutely pick it up.

Don't Understand Huh?

[flitty]

Well, I can't exactly pull out two guitars at a party and have two people who have never played the guitar before go head to head. It's a game for crying out loud. Drunk Guitar Hero parties FTW. Not nearly as much puking involved as DDR. I could see it as helping new guitar players improve their dexterity, but apparently, if you have all that nifty equipment to be in a band, this game isn't exactly aiming at you now is it.

Wohh.. Watch it pal

[DRAGONWEEZEL]

O.K. I have a few things to say about that.

1. I learned to drive by watching movies and playing video games! (consequently, I earned a lot of speeding tickets as a youth, now I just drive a better car so I am "looked" at less)

2. I learned to shoot by playing CS, UT2K4, and Quake (1,2,3,4) My friend John loves to tell the story of my first time behind a rifle. Dead Center, First Shot.

Re:Wohh.. Watch it pal

[Nos.]

1. I learned to drive by watching movies and playing video games! (consequently, I earned a lot of speeding tickets as a youth, now I just drive a better car so I am "looked" at less)
Which indicates to me you are probably not a "good" driver. I'm not talking just about how many accidents you have or have not been involved in. Constantly exceeding the speed limit suggests that there are other things which would make me think you are a poor driver.

I learned to shoot by playing CS, UT2K4, and Quake (1,2,3,4) My friend John loves to tell the story of my first time behind a rifle. Dead Center, First Shot.
I'm not much of a gun person, having only fired a number of hand guns at a shooting range on one occasion. Having played numerous FPS (CS, DoD, Quake, DN3D, etc), I can tell you, having played those games did not even remotely prepare me for shooting a realy gun.

Re:Wohh.. Watch it pal

[bigman2003]

Dead center on the first shot with a rifle isn't skill. It's luck.

Rifles need to be zeroed in for each person using it. Meaning that the sights will be different for everyone, based on how their eye sits relative to the sights.

Some weapons have fixed sights, which cannot be zeroed. In that case, you need to learn to make adjustments for the difference between the way your eyes sit relative to the sights. In this case you would just always think, 'okay, I need to aim a little bit down to the left'.

A worldclass marksman can pick up a rifle, aim, and really have no idea where the first round will hit.

But, the big difference comes in where the 2nd, 3rd, and all the subsequent rounds hit.

Were all of your shots dead center? Because the way to judge a good marksman is in consistency.

Re:Wohh.. Watch it pal

[DRAGONWEEZEL]

WOW!
Well, I was mostly just kidding. COORELATION != to Cause & Effect. It's true that I might have rare "natural" abilities, or am some kind of mutant.

But since you replied, could you please explain your response by clarifying the sentance:

Constantly exceeding the speed limit suggests that there are other things which would make me think you are a poor driver.

I really don't know what your trying to say here.

Also, How are you defining "GOOD"? Is a Good Driver one who never gets a speeding ticket, never has an accident but drives 59 in the passing lane? Is it the nice guy who signals, and lets people in all the time, but allways "California" stops?. Is it someone who has a chase to caught ratio of 100:1 or 100:0? How long does it take for a person to become a good driver? If a person had a few accidents but then went the next 10 years without? What about exercising the ability to execute a flawless J - turn in an emergency situation? (this really happened to me, I was going up a steep hill in a 4x4 on icy terrain, and well, ABS doesn't work going backwards (not on street roads either)

As for shooting expierience, I hit four out of my first 5 clay pigeons with a shotgun, the fith was thrown before I was set. My first Duck was shot on my first try also. (My brother in law took me out. I ate it, wasn't fond, and haven't hunted since) The rifle thing happened shortly after. I do think video games taught me to wait until I was 100% sure I would hit the shot before I took it. I can say that video games don't prepare you for the KICK or the shoulder pains. (Honestly, I was crapy with the handgun. The kick throws your hand all over the place, and I was never "set" for my second shot.)

Re:Wohh.. Watch it pal

[DRAGONWEEZEL]

We only could afford a few bullets a piece, and yes, my second one was dead on*. I think that if I lost a few pounds I could do it again. (I put on about 60 lbs since then)

It was weird, but I just "knew" what to do. I took the shots between breaths, and felt comfortable with the gun from the beginning. The funny thing is, I have not shot a gun since then (it was about 3-4 years ago.)
I don't own a gun, nor claim to know anything about real marksmanship other than it is an intense sport requiring physical fitness, and alot of skill.

*differant target due to obliteration of 1st one

Re:Wohh.. Watch it pal

[Nos.]

Good is a very relative thing, and hard to define. However, in my experience, those who consistently exceed the speed limit also tend to do other dangerous things like, following too close (especially in less than ideal weather), cut people off, not signal when changing lanes, rarely shoulder check. I'm not saying you are also guilty of all these things, but in my experience, people who are always driving fast also tend to do those things. If you do those things, regardless of accidents or speeding tickets, you are not a good driver in my books.

Re:Wohh.. Watch it pal

[DRAGONWEEZEL]

Well I have to say I do agree with that. Everyone makes mistakes. I am no angel, but I am concious of my faults.

Following too close is not only a sign of a bad, and impatient driver, it's also a sign of your impending doom!

Re:Wohh.. Watch it pal

[Sarisar]

I have this simple test: If people say they are a good driver they probably aren't. If they say they think they probably are but known sometimes they make mistakes they probably are a good driver.

Well it works most of the time anyway...

What is so much better about Guitar Hero?

[Myria]

I hear all these things about Guitar Hero yet it's just a ripoff of Guitar Freaks, part of the Beatmania/DDR/etc. series from Konami. What is so new about Guitar Hero that makes it get all this press? Why didn't Guitar Freaks get it 5 years ago?

Re:What is so much better about Guitar Hero?

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh, that's easy. Guitar Freaks was full of weird Japanese remixes, while Guitar Hero I and II feature real rock and metal by good bands, played in a manner approximating that of the originals -- plus the entire guitar motif preserved intact. That, and the fourth and fifth button really added a lot. I was a Freaks player back in the day and now I can't imagine how I tolerated it.

Re:What is so much better about Guitar Hero?

[LukeCage]

Honestly? The presentation is better, WAY better. The way the notes are presented seems much more natural and "guitary". But, most importantly, the track listing is very, very good and has something for everyone as well as some "overlooked gems". Guitar Freaks and the others have bubblegum J-Pop that, let's just face it, no one outside of Japan and the hardcore otaku care about. I'll take "Sharp Dressed Man", thanks.

Re:What is so much better about Guitar Hero?

[MarcoAtWork]

maybe because guitar freaks had j-pop and guitar hero has barking at the moon, smoke on the water, more than a feeling, ...

Re:What is so much better about Guitar Hero?

[RyuuzakiTetsuya]

I'll take J-Staff over Sharp Dressed Man.

J-staff was the 2nd mix ending tune that was a powerballad style guitar/drum piece. So no, it's not all J-Pop.

Actually, a very tiny relative percentage of it is "bubblegum JPop." Most of it is rock/blues derived music. The lack of any sort of Blues, Soul, or funk is a HUGE turn off with Guitar Hero. Guitar Freaks has a real variety in it's music, even if most of it is songs by Konami's music artists and the other part being covers.

Re:What is so much better about Guitar Hero?

[RyuuzakiTetsuya]

Guitar Freaks first mix came out in Arcades, had no PS release, and even if it did, it'd have been before Americans at large discovered music games.

Re:What is so much better about Guitar Hero?

[RyuuzakiTetsuya]

stupid slashdot not having an edit system

I meant to say, there was no US release of the Arcade game. Even if there was...

I love it...

[dolus]

Does anyone else find it knee-slappingly funny that all the rock stars featured in the article that are challenged by a toy guitar are in prodigiously terrible bands? Discuss.

Re:I love it...

[NBarnes]

Because cynicism is such a courageous and risky stance on Slashdot. Nobody's gonna call you out for hating, big man.

Also, you can have my The Donnas CDs when you pry them from my cold dead hands.

Re:I love it...

[justinlee37]

Nobody's gonna call you out for hating

Looks like you're Nobody?

Future man!!

[Assassin bug]

I wonder if Future Man has tried his hand at this game. I bet he TOTALLY rocks!! Seriously, although very simplified, the "controller" is conceptually similar to his Drumitar.

Buy a metronome, it is cheaper

[Anthony]

Having endured 4 learning teenage guitarists in my household over the years, the major deficiency was rythm. Learners are so focused on picking the right note, the structure of the piece gets lost. I went out and bought a metronome, but that rarely got used.

What would I know, I'm just an old guy. An old guy that has endured countless "up-and-coming" pub bands who could have done with a metronome when they were practising. That goes for the drummer as well.

Re:Buy a metronome, it is cheaper

[Guysmiley777]

Because listening to a metronome tick over and over and over is much more fun than a VIDEO GAME! Nobody, and I mean nobody is claiming that Guitar Hero makes you a better guitar player. Why do real guitarists get threatened by a plastic toy with multicolored buttons?

Re:Buy a metronome, it is cheaper

[Anthony]

Perhaps I did not make myself clear. The article (and some posters) have alluded to the rythmic skill required for the game.

Re:Buy a metronome, it is cheaper

[Guysmiley777]

Ah yes, but the article has lead guitarists in Famous Rock Bands saying they get beaten by 14 year olds. Therefore: A sense of rythm is not required to be a lead guitarist in a Famous Rock Band.

The problem is the 5 buttons

[bjdevil66]

Unless you're a 6-fingered bad guy from The Princess Bride (who, ironically, is best known as the guitarist from "This Is Spinal Tap"), there's no way to play that game the way you play a real guitar because of the five buttons. Four buttons would've been much better, or perhaps with a couple of rows of four buttons for a total of eight, would've been more realistic and fun for us four-fingered and one-thumbed folk.

Re:The problem is the 5 buttons

[BluhDeBluh]

The idea is to create an additional challenge. It means you have to move your hands and/or stretch your fingers to reach the bottom line. It would be far too easy for some people to finish otherwise. I've seen some bloody impressive Guitar Hero players get 90%+ on expert, so it certainly can be done. The easy and normal modes only use 4 of the buttons, for you normal folk.

Re:The problem is the 5 buttons

[Thorkytel Ant-Head]

You're completely correct. After all, real guitarist never move their hands when they're playing, do they?

MOD PARENT INFORMATIVE

[Anonymous Coward]

MOD PARENT INFORMATIVE

I play banjo...

[theguitarizt]

and my question is... when is banjo hero going to come out? I've been itching to complain about it not being like an actual banjo.

Re:I play banjo...

[JustNiz]

Reminds me of the old banjo joke...
Q: whats the right pitch for a banjo?
A: as hard as you can throw it.

Re:I play banjo...

[Dorkmaster Flek]

Unfortunately, Banjo Hero won't be out for some time. According to the Guitar Hero II loading screens, their next project is 2008's Accordion Hero. Polka fanatics rejoice!

Single Player Dancing

[Inhibit]

The only advantage of DDR is that it doesn't *require* you to interact with other, I'd imagine.

Although guitar hero is like DDR... they're both like dancing more than playing any instrument. Coordination, movement, etc.

So yea. I greatly prefer hitting a club to playing DDR. And I feel the two are an apt comparison, being both forms of entertainment that involve coordinated movement. *shrug*

So no. It's not like saying why play DDR when you could go out dancing at all.

Just confirms...

[JustNiz]

As a bass player who's played in many rock bands this just confirms what I've found.. many lead guitar players get away with having bad or even no sense of rhythm/time.

Re:Just confirms...

[mobby_6kl]

>... many lead guitar players get away with having bad or even no sense of rhythm/time.

That's because they don't have to play the same thing over and over again

Re:Just confirms...

[kevinadi]

This is true. With a guitar, you can get away with some off-beat off-key crap once in a while and it'll sound like improvisation. With a bass, hit the wrong note at the wrong time and everyone will know it's wrong.

I played both bass and guitar, and believe me, playing bass is harder and requires more concentration. With a guitar, sometimes it depends on your skill to act as if the wrong guess note you've just hit is meant to be there. My solution? Hit the wrong note again three or four times and finish the phrase with the correct note :)

Re:Just confirms...

[steveo777]

Sounds like Jazz or Blues to me. Seriously, though, good call. The difference between a good guitarist and a bad one (in a rock band, with relatively static music) is the ability to recover without sounding like there was a problem. I've seen my share of garage bands at various venues around the Twin Cities and I've seen my share of stupid looks on guitarist faces when they hit a bad note or lose their place. Always worse if the bass gets off rhythm for half a measure.

It's just like seeing a theatrical production. If it doesn't look like a mistake, it wasn't a mistake.

i love that game ;)

[Intangion]

i just got the guitar hero 2, that came out today!

i played the crap out of the first one, beat every song with 4 or 5 stars on expert
i wont try and disect why its fun, but it IS :) its extremely fun when playing with friends against eachother!

had to laugh at this quote

[brkello]

"It doesn't have anything to do with playing guitar," Mr. Einziger says. "It's all rhythmic."

Hate to break it to this guy...but he should be using rhythem when he plays a real guitar as well!

publicity & inspiration

[stereoroid]

I'm all for it if it inspires even a small fraction of players to take up a real instrument. Just as long as they start at the beginning!

GH2 is good publicity for one of my fave bands, Rush, whose YYZ is at the "advanced" level. I can see a lot of adults going "so that's what that is", having heard it but not knowing where it's from. It's not exactly plain sailing on real instruments either. A kid who starts off fresh, trying to play that on guitar or bass, is risking sore fingers and severe disillusionment. Still, you gotta love a song with a minor-fifth riff on the Morse Code broadcast by the radio beacon at the band's home airport...

Guitar isn't rhythmic ???

[fsickert]

"It doesn't have anything to do with playing guitar," Mr. Einziger says. "It's all rhythmic." A big part of playing rock guitar is rhythmic. Any good guitarist will be good at this, as soon as they retrained their muscles to hit buttons instead of plucking strings and fretting notes (much more difficult to coordinate the two). Of course, then it wouldn't be much of a story.

Why play Guitar Hero?

[MS-06FZ]

I mean, I've got a freaking bass & a computer with Linux & audacity in my living room ... why play guitar hero? ...'cause it's fun?

It's a guitar themed game. Like Tony Hawk (the game) is a skateboarding-themed game, or Madden (the game) is a football-themed game, or DDR is a dancing-themed game. The games themselves are not equivalent to skateboarding, football, or dancing, they're games, and they're fun. Or that's the idea, anyway.

But, yeah, you gotta be pretty dense to buy Guitar Hero as a way to learn guitar...

you've overestimated the price

[Anonymous Coward]

PS2 + Guitar Hero = more like $180-$200 USD

Speaking of kazoo...

[dangitman]

Does anyone know when the much-anticipated Kazoo Hero will be released? Is Weird Al Yankovich holding out on licensing his music to the game company or something?

Re:Speaking of kazoo...

[demeteloaf]

According to the in game loading screen in Guitar Hero 2, Accordion Hero is coming out in 2008 ;)

Re:Speaking of kazoo...

[dangitman]

I guess it's a long way to the top if you wanna polka roll.

Regarding The Backlash...

[HeavenlyBankAcct]

The "I play guitar in real life, so why would I want to play this game" are just symptomatic of a self-entitled attitude that I've found to be somewhat pervasive throughout the world of 'unsigned musicians.' After spending years and years and years slugging it out in several local music scenes (with marginal aptitude, at best, I admit), I have come to realize that many musicians, who subconsciously realize the real-world triviality of their pursuits, ultimately look to rationalize and justify their stake in the pursuit by painting their efforts as far more Herculean than they are. This is one of the main reasons why it's rare to meet a musician that doesn't consider his creations to be his "life's work" or to view his status as a musician as anything other than a divine calling or a reason for being. The simple fact is that many people are uncomfortable with the realization that what they do is, ultimately, entertainment and seek instead to find karmic value for their priorities by portraying the act of strumming a guitar to be somehow akin to finding a cure for cancer or (and this is ALL to common) actively working towards social change. Yes, I play guitar in real life, and yes -- I love Guitar Hero. Why? Because it's fun. Yes, I can plug in a real guitar and learn those songs and play them (if, of course, that was something I felt any desire to do), as can any moderately skilled player with an instrument and access to transcriptions of the tunes. But the simple fact of the matter is that Guitar Hero is a completely different kind of enjoyable activity than that of actual 'music making.' For some of us who exert a good deal of mental energy in their songwriting and playing, a game like Guitar Hero presents a refuge from intellectualizing things like "having fun." It's a way to enjoy myself casually and to do so using a skillset I'm already decent with (moving my fingers in a guitar-like motion) as opposed to something that's frustrating and foreign to my brain (first-person shooters and the like.) I firmly believe that those who feel the need to point out that Guitar Hero is somehow 'beneath them' because of their musical abilities are simply looking for a pedestal from which to impart "wisdom-on-high." No, playing Guitar Hero is not the same as playing a real guitar -- Hell, neither is checkers. But I'm still at a loss as to how those components could be even remotely analogous to anyone's mind unless they were merely searching for a "deeper meaning" where it doesn't exist.

It IS related to real guitar

[benzzene]

I played Guitar Hero for the first time two weeks ago. I was with a group of friends, two of whom play real guitar. It was the first time on the game for everyone there except one guy (not a guitarist). The two guitarists were MUCH better than everyone else. I think it was mainly their left-hand control.

That said, I don't think anyone really believes that GH is training for real guitar playing.

Agreed

[colinferm]

I have to agree. I have a sweet Tele and a Les Paul and everyone stops to look at the Les Paul. It's just a much better looking instrument with its nice binding, perfect finish, carved top, etc etc. It wouldn't be so bad if they all didn't want to also touch it. They're always disappointed when I hand them the Tele to pick away on instead. It's one thing if you know how to play. Then you can touch the Lester. If you just want to feel what it's like to hold a guitar, it's the Telecaster for you.

Uh...

[Cyno01]

A real guitar has between 1 and 7 more strings than a guitar hero controller has buttons (not counting start and select).

whops, bad spelling!

[DRAGONWEEZEL]

whoops.. thats a lot not alot 8'(

damn publick skewls!

Liking Guitar Hero? Check out Frets On Fire

[usv]

If you like Guitar Hero as a concept, I'd recommend checking out Frets On Fire, an open source quitar playing game, where the aim is to "play guitar with the keyboard as accurately as possible". Totally addicting.

For people with "controller" trouble.

[bronney]

The controller that comes with your game, or the japanese version: http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-88-49-zh-70-14 xa.html are both inadequate. There are some third parties that made a controller for this game (guitarfreaks in jp) that's substantially heavier, but most importantly, the buttons are more tactile. They click like mouse buttons. Unfortunately I've lost the name.

I get so PO'ed using any guitar controllers I switched back to the PS2 pads. Just choose the inverse button layout, or assign your own layout by holding the pad upside down, using the analog sticks for picks. You'd be surprised how good it is to handle.

Re:For people with "controller" trouble.

[HeavenlyBankAcct]

A friend of mine removed the wiring from his Guitar Hero controller and placed it all into an old broken Flying V copy he had routed out to accept everything. It looks pretty ugly, but it really changed the feel of the game a lot -- holding a guitar that's properly weighted and the correct size does make it much more comfortable if you're used to playing in real life. Kind of a neat little project, if nothing else.

Re:For people with "controller" trouble.

[bronney]

Yeah I actually have a china ripoff full sized guitar controller collecting dust. The pick and the blue button is some times irresponsive because it uses silly rubber nipple buttons (aka cellphone buttons mech) underneath. But I never get around to mod that with nice arcade button from radio shack :) You know when you have to play you just pick it up and play and couldn't care less about how you do it.

But yeah I agree as I totally enjoy playing guitar freaks in the arcade. Btw I don't know if the US version "Guitar Hero" is the same version, but the Japanese version of Guitar Freaks just came out it's called "Masterpiece". Way cool and includes Drum Mania on 1 disc.

Re:For people with "controller" trouble.

[HeavenlyBankAcct]

I think a decent drumming game along these lines would be a huge hit. When you figure that the closest thing American audiences to exposure to that genre is "Donkey Konga" and that godawful MIDI arcade game, and you combine that with our distinct propensity to "air drum," I think you have the recipe for a really succesful game. Wii controller, anybody?

Re:For people with "controller" trouble.

[bronney]

Dude you need to come to Hong Kong then. Our arcade has been filled with DDR, guitar freaks, drum mania, air dance with arms, keyboard mania, taiko drums, mexican shake shake thing (forgot the name), etc. since year 2000. It's dope, but I am afraid to try things cuz there're these props around and don't wanna look stupid hehe. So these things for the PS2 is perfect.

For the Wii I believe they already have these in plan. I am still waiting for Mr. Lucas to give us the light saber.

Guitar Hero is a blast and not the same old FPS

[edlong]

Who didn't want to be a guitar hero as a kid???? What's up with all the negativity?? Guitar Hero is NOT a game to learn to play guitar. It's to get together with your friends and have a blast with the crowd going wild when you hit the notes and to feel bad when the crowed boos you off the stage when you don't. I play guitar, (Gibson SG, Gibson Les Paul), and the songs that I know on the guitar are harder to play on Guitar Hero than on the actual thing! The games a blast, a different game than all the FPS and strategy games that are often played with a group. What other good music games are out there??

My friends and I end up playing this game, with it's silly little plastic guitar - outfitted with a whammy bar - all night. And the hard level is HARD. (Bark at the moon solo anyone?) I love that the virtual artists actually move their hands and body language like they are playing the song. All I want is an OPEN API so I can plug in my own songs, or other songs from my favorite bands (copyright issues) Star Power baby!!

driving on public streets...

[Cryptnotic]

It's hard to take a good line through a corner when you're supposed to stay in your lane and on your side of the road.

Re:driving on public streets...

[drinkypoo]

You can still take the best possible line through a corner that allows you to stay in your lane. Most people aren't in the same ballpark as that situation. Hell, they're not in the same fuckin' sport. I'm not suggesting that you start your turn in the bike lane belonging to oncoming traffic or anything.