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Zen and the Art of Guitar Hero
An anonymous reader writes "Julian Murdoch over at GamersWithJobs.com has what can only be described as a piece of liturgy, proclaiming a religious experience at his local Best Buy as he watches someone beat 'Through the Fire and the Flames' on Expert in Guitar Hero 3. 'At 6 minutes in, a small crowd has formed, perhaps 15 of us. His sravaka — his disciples — look nervously at us, absorbing the distractions, protecting him a bubble of calm. There is complete silence. Even my son is staring slackjawed, like he does in church during communion, not understanding the content of the ritual but understanding the tone and sacredness of the space.'"
You realize DDR and Guitar Hero are basically the exact same game with different interfaces right? Both games ultimately boil down to hitting a button (with your foot or with your finger) in time with the music.
All you have to do is press the right buttons at the right time.
All the best games have simple objectives.
Post-rock/Ambient/Drone and other noise.
Let me translate for you:
Kid who is very skilled at a game decides to play the game on the demo unit at the store. Kid does very well. A few people stop for a few seconds to watch him play, as people tend to do when others are playing the demo units, especially if they're doing well. Kid finishes playing, one or two people clap briefly, people leave.
The rest is just storytelling. The author was impressed by someone who was obviously far better at the game than he could ever be, but he was being a little melodramatic about it.
I realize that. But it's much more exciting to watch somebody with that kind of coordination with their feet, than it is to watch someone do the exact same thing with large buttons laid out on a stick. Actually using your feet, rather than your fingers, makes the game a lot more interesting.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
I too felt that way. The strange part is watching (the game looks retarded) but playing with all that mystery of "air guitar" and being a rocker it really brings it to life... now as you watch you say wow.. red and green same time then move to blue.. that doesn't look hard at all.. its just a pattern. Then you play... realizing your fingers do not listen to your brain. and it gets a lot more exciting.. The next time you watch someone pull off some insane finger combo's you understand how hard it really is and you appreciate their talent for dexterity and coordination. Again I agree you look stupid playing it and it looks like a boring game.. my only recommendation is give it a try for a couple of songs... .you may not go out and play at best buy, but you might just end up adding it to your game collection for playing in your house.
love the taste, hate the texture
All you have to do is press the right buttons at the right time.
Isn't that all any video game is really?
But we see the exceptions if we think about it and that's why there is a current trend in gaming. Namely the Wii and Guitar Hero. We're use to the game pad or WASD controls. The Wii and Guitar Hero leads us to a different style of play that is exciting to people. For Guitar Hero it's people's chance to play on a "real" guitar without the years of practice it would take to play these same songs for real.
In the case of the Wii people are all up on a different controller style too. The idea of waving one's hand and making something happen on-screen is a form of magic to most people.
Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.
Come on people. It's a damned game.
Tell yourself that the next time that it's ESPN or ESPN2 or The NFL channel or any other number of sports channels that guys gladly pay money to see people playing a game. It's a big business.
Granted, the story is a bit gonzo but every game has it's fans that are going to make it out to be more than it is. Why not let the geeks be happy about it for a minute.
Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.
Can I be the only person on earth that doesn't "get" Guitar Hero? I've seen people play it on expert and even write some truly amazing user mods for it (Search for "erotomania guitar hero" on youtube) but it just doesn't make much sense. In the time it takes to get that good at GH, you could learn to play the guitar for real. (Ok, maybe not Erotomania) Personally, I suspect that folks would be more impressed with playing a real axe, even poorly, than a plastic one at Best Buy
"Seven Deadly Sins? I thought it was a to-do list!"
I've noticed something that Guitar Hero players and real guitar players have in common. Guitar Hero players think you're lazy and suck if you play on medium, real guitar players think you're lazy and suck if you don't play guitar. And unless you're damn amazing absolutely neither of them will get you laid.
I would equate it more to lip syncing. To be good at Karaoke, you still have to know how to sing. To be good at lip syncing, you just have to move you lips in time with the music.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
But TFA reminded me of this piece.
Tennis is also a "damned game," but fans of the sport know it can be a venue for people to do amazing, humbling things. I don't play Guitar Hero, so I wouldn't appreciate the performance in the Best Buy. I expect that as a GH fan, the author had the same experience that millions of tennis fans have had watching Roger dominate the men's tour for the last half-decade. Think about the last time you were wowed at a concert, or at an art museum. Think about touring one of Europe's beautiful cathedrals. There's a reason that they build them that big, and that beautiful. The architecture, and the art all around you, helps people find God. Tennis and Guitar Hero can be art too, and can have the same effect if you know what you're seeing.
If you take the time to get good at something, why not enjoy the benefits? It's not hurting anyone, it might drive interest in the game (good for the manufacturer and for the resailer) and if people enjoy watching, it's good for them too. As long as he doesn't develop his self-worth around how well he plays Guitar Hero, I don't see a problem with it
psmylie's dictionary: Godzillion (noun) Any number large enough to destroy Tokyo
Certain very insecure dorks need to put down anything others think is cool, in order to try to look big and important, like they've seen it all and nothing can impress them. They only end up looking cool to other insecure dorks who will then put them down behind their backs. Adults don't give a rats ass what talkers say, we care about what doers do, and insecure jaded cynical children don't usually do much of anything.
You know what's cooler than jaded cynicism? Enthusiasm. We don't want to hear how you could have done it better. Show us. We don't need you to point out that it's "been done." Do it, or don't, but don't shit on our graham crackers and call it a s'more.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
Shoppers are not commuters. Commuters have trains to catch. Shoppers are just killing time.
When I am trying to catch a train it wouldn't matter *who* was playing - if I miss my train and am late to work it'll matter a whole lot more.
An operating system should be like a light switch... simple, effective, easy to use, and designed for everyone.
Seriously, you people are starting to sound like a broken record. Why bother to post a comment like this when what seems like half the internet has already said it?
And it's a poorly thought-out thing to say in the first place. Why don't Tony Hawk players go out and actually skateboard? Why don't DDR players just go find a real dancefloor? Why don't Madden players grab a real football?
Because the video games are FUN, so SHUT UP.
Music is very easy, it's only a matter of hitting the right keys at the right time.
J.S. Bach
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A guy goes out fishing. He catches a marlin. As he is bringing it home, sharks eat it.
The rest is just storytelling. The author was clearly being melodramatic.
Culture is more than commerce
You should know by now that nobody can ever leave anything they don't understand alone. It is the nature of the populace. We will either embrace it as magical, religious, or some other extra good thing or we will demonize it ritually and bash it without ever looking at it's finer points. I don't think you have to be told which happens more.
On the other hand, very few people ever get to seriously take up a sport. I can understand why someone would want to pretend they made it to the NFL, whereas pretending to play guitar at some random party seems much more like being too lazy to learn to really play guitar at some random party.
Then again, being a dancer with good speaking and singing voices, I guess I may have underestimated the level of inborn talent needed to form a competent musical group. Well, here's the thing: Nobody can do everything for real. There's just no time. People choose the things they're gonna do with their life: and once they've filled that schedule of stuff, they can't necessarily add more stuff, no matter how easy it is to learn. "Oh, learn some Assembler. It's not that hard." Sure, but if you're already busy doing a dozen other things...
Don't think of Rock Band as a substitute for starting a real band - think of it as what it is, a game. People play it and they have fun. What a concept, huh?
Bow-ties are cool.