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Editorials

VARIOUS GUITAR HERO GOINGS ON

 Thursday, November 8th, 2007 at 11:25am by

I think it’s now safe to say that Guitar Hero is a genuine cultural phenomenon. Last night’s brilliant South Park episode, “Guitar Queer-o,” was exemplary of the show’s usual satirical intelligence: it took the structure of your clichéd rise-and-fall rock stardom story, which served to illustrate how dumb the game actually is (which is not to say I don’t really enjoy the game – I love it – but it’s not a real “skill” per se, now is it?). Plus, it had enough hair metal in it to make you think you were hanging on the Strip in ’85.

Now International Society of Supervillains has posted an article entitled “Real-World Scenearios in Which Guitar Hero Skills Could be Useful.” An example of one such scenario:

“Terrorists have overtaken the local Best Buy and have threatened to shoot all the ‘Battlestar Galactica’ DVDs out of a gun fashioned out of parts from several Plasma TVs and a refrigerator at the people at the Target across the street. The terrorists are bested, however, when a brave young player gets every note in the Expert version of ‘Killing in the Name’ at the store’s demo kiosk, which makes the terrorists realize that, fuck you, they shouldn’t do what you tell them. As a result, they give up on terrorism, buy some Rage CDs and go smoke in front of Forever 21.”

I highly recommend you read the rest of the piece and seek out that South Park episode (it’s not on YouTube – fuckin’ Viacom!). Hi-larious.

-AR

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  • Wayne

    That South Park episode was great.

  • Seth

    Ok, this is a debate I’ve been having with myself over the merits of guitar hero and I’m curious to hear others’ opinions.

    Since day one, I have believed guitar hero to be a general waste of time. I mean, I think all video games are essentially a waste of time (although I do recognize that most things people do is waste of time). Still, Guitar Hero specifically irks me because it is a game that mimics an actual activity–if you have time to play endless hours of guitar hero, you have time to learn an actual instrument. Its like playing a video game about picking up chicks (oh wait, they really have those?). Point is, I think it is immeaurably more rewarding to pick up an actual guitar and play real music than it is to beat guitar hero on expert.

    Our society is geared towards video games these days, kids would rather play NBA 2k7 then go shoot hoops, they’d rather play Halo 3 then go slaughter real aliens with plasma machine guns (well, ok maybe that one is a stretch). Point is, in the long run, will Guitar Hero destroy young potential musicians by giving them an easier, dumbed down, short-term rewarding alternative to actually playing guitar, or may it create more musicians by encouraging youngins to enjoy music, and enjoy a simulation of guitar that will make them long for the real thing.

    Net impact of guitar hero on music: + or – ?

  • Wayne

    Seth— I’ve never played Guitar Hero, but seeing as radio is pretty much dying, the game is a great way for bands to have a place for people to discover their music. (a friend of mine discovered The Sword from GH, so it’s not ALL BAD!).

    But you should really check out last nite’s South Park. You’ll appreciate it, given your post.

  • http://www.myspace.com/vancealmighty vance almighty

    as an avid guitar hero fan, i loved last night’s south park. it was great.

    as for you, seth, i honestly believe guitar hero can be used as a tool to pick up an actual instrument. after playing it for months, i decided to pick up the ACTUAL guitar, and i STILL play guitar hero. they’re two completely different things, believe me. and, while alot of people will debate this (i’m looking at you, axl), it does require actual skill to play, especially on expert. you can’t just pick it up and master it. in the long run, OF COURSE picking up the guitar and learning to play an actual song is more rewarding than playing and beating a guitar hero game on expert. but both take skill, and i’m kinda sick of people thinking it doesn’t.

    it seems to me, from your post, that you pretty much don’t like video games, and that’s fine. honestly, i really don’t think that the game is going to destroy potential young musicians desire to play the real thing. it’s just an incredibly fun alternative for kids, and young adults.

  • Ryd1ZZ

    Seth,
    I’ve been playing the GH games since the first one. I really love the games and have great fun getting stoned with my friends and playing some GH. I think it’s a positive thing as far as getting young people to enjoy and play music (real instruments) as well as getting them to listen to new genres and bands they might never hear just watching MTV (especially the older, classic rock music).

    As far as playing the real guitar. I have tried to play when I was younger and it just wasn’t my thing. I took up drums and really like that instrument. I think the game will help with your timing no matter what you prefer to play.

    In the end, GH is just a game to me and I play it when I feel like playing GH. Just like when I feel like playing any of my video games. It never substitutes me actually sitting on my kit, pounding away. I don’t think it will ever, in any way, take away from really playing music.

    As long as it keeps people rockin’, virtually or for real, it’s a good thing in my book.

  • TJ

    Agreed with most of the guys on here. GH seems to be a gateway for some people to progress on to a real guitar. I know some of my friends have picked up the guitar since they have played GH.

    Seth- you say the game irks you because it mimics a real activity? Isn’t that the case for about 90% of all games? Madden mimics the NFL action. It’s all the same, in a way.

    As for being exposed to new bands by GH- if one kid out in the Midwest hears Raining Blood for the first time and loves it, the world is a better place.

  • TedTedPoleyPoley

    hey Axl, if you go to http://southpark.comedycentral.com/ right now there’s actually 3 videos from last night episode that are embeddable (sp?) ! :-D

  • Seth

    thanks for the responses guys. I agree and understand everything that has been said and the most overwhelming response has been “you need to see this south park episode.” That I agree with 100% also, but unfortunately big business has once again failed me, as my internet has been shut off til the 13th (so yes, i am posting this from WORK, where surf control SOMEHOW doesnt block this dirty, dirty, corrupting, porn ridden website).

    An addendum to my original post: I have played guitar hero, I actual really enjoy it. My favorite is slamming out “laid to rest” on what I think is the original game (although it might be II). However, I’ve never played the game sober nor do I have interest in taking the time to sit down and beat it (take that how you will). I can only play it for about 15 minutes before just getting bored and/or begin to believe it to be a fairly unfruitful usage of my time.

    In addition, the game certainly does take skill–dexterity in the fingers only achieved by skill at video games. I am a musician and I consistently get smoked by no-talent ass clowns who sit down and play vids all day. Being a musician has nothing to do w/ guitar hero skills. The best player I’ve ever seen is a less-than-motivated girl who has trouble playing mary had a little lamb on guitar, but cranks out perfect scores on expert level GH. Its impressive to watch, but I have to ask myself how many hours a week she spent getting to that level (and I know the answer to be upwards of 30 hours a week). Once the large payouts for national championship GH players roll in (and i know it will happen, if it hasnt already), then I will respect those who put the dedication in to win those competitions. I mean, Money justifies any endeavor doesnt it?

  • http://www.metalsucks.net Vince Neilstein

    My thoughts on the “If only they spent half the time learning a real guitar as they do on the video game” argument:

    I don’t think this argument holds water. The folks who pick up a videogame guitar and get good at it are not necessarily the ones who would pick up a guitar at all. Maybe they tried in the past and failed, or maybe they were just never interested. Maybe Guitar Hero would inspire them to try the real thing, but they wouldn’t take to it. Point is, the people who would play guitar and who would play Guitar Hero are not the same people. GH isn’t taking the place of the real thing — it’s jut an addition. Although the Southpark episode suggests it’s taking the place of the real thing, I think it’s exaggerated for the sake of comedy.

    Also, it’s not like GH is DISCOURAGING people to play guitar. If GH ends up inspiring even only 5% of its players to try a real guitar, hell, if even only 1% of GH players go on to guitar, we’ve still got more kids playing “real” instruments than we otherwise would have in a world with now GH.

    -VN