Yes and No.

I love Guitar Hero, but I have no real guitar skills.

I have plenty of friends who really play guitar, and they hate Guitar Hero.

The only thing Guitar Hero is saving is hundreds of hours I could've spent doing something probably more constructive.

Considering the fact that playing guitar hero does nothing for your skills on a real guitar, I would imagine that they're referring to the music they're putting on the game is giving old skool rock more visibility and hence may be "saving" it by exposing kids to it?

The real question I have about Guitar Hero is this: does it get you laid like playing a real guitar in a rock band will? 'Cause earning points on a video screen wasn't why most of my guitarist friends picked up the skill.

\kids. off lawn.

Freakpower: I have plenty of friends who really play guitar, and they hate Guitar Hero.

While I don't hate it, I usually encourage people playing GH to pick up a real guitar.
Sometimes I know the songs they're playing in the games, and show them how much more satisfying it is to really play the songs.
Then I'll say that the game must be fun, or they wouldn't be playing it. After all, people like DDR, and GH is DDR that you play with your hands.
/I don't get invited to hang out much

I play real guitar. I also play Guitar Hero. They are both fun and satisfying. One takes years to master, one takes days to master.

Other than the fact that they both involve music, they really have nothing to do with one another and either one or both may be enjoyed by almost anyone.

And Rock Band makes me want to learn to play drums for real.

Rock Band is a hoot. I also play in a real live rock band, and that is also a hoot. But they aren't remotely even close to the same. One is usually done with a group of friends while horrifically drunk, and the other is a video game.

/ Don't forget to try the veal...

has anyone said "pick up a real guitar" yet?

GurneyHalleck: Considering the fact that playing guitar hero does nothing for your skills on a real guitar, I would imagine that they're referring to the music they're putting on the game is giving old skool rock more visibility and hence may be "saving" it by exposing kids to it?

Good for you - you didn't even need to read the article.

At least from my perspective, I wouldn't have started listening to Cheap Trick or The Cars if I hadn't heard their music in the games and been interested enough to give their albums a shot.

I will be picking up Piano Hero Stevie Wonder Edition along with Duke Nuke em Forever

If Guitar Hero is trying to save rock then why did they release an all-Aerosmith game?

I think that perhaps the real savior of rock has been today's absolutly horrible rap music.

Late 90s, rock was bad and rap was good= lots of kids listening to rap.

came for the hatin', leaving satisfied. Oh, yeah, I could go on about "people like it, it introduces good music to a new audience, not a waste of time if you enjoy it...." blah blah blah. Fark it.

Weigard: If Guitar Hero is trying to save rock then why did they release an all-Aerosmith game?



Take THAT Tyler/Perry.

FTA: And bars holding "Guitar Hero" nights also have enjoyed a boost in business: Big Wangs sports tavern in Hollywood, California, reports a 25 percent to 35 percent increase in sales.

Funny. I would have though Big Wangs was a gay bar.

/NTTAWWT

Not enough space on memory card to Save Rock.

Delete Rock?
Continue.

Real guitars are for old people.



/I may play real guitars, but I still enjoy pwning my roommates on their Guitar Hero every now and then. It's like Space Invaders with a guitar shaped controller.

But "Guitar Hero" and "Rock Band" have prompted kids born in the '90s to discover artists from the '70s and '80s such as Aerosmith

Yes, because people who grew up in the 90's never heard any Aerosmith growing up. It's not like they released a couple of decent albums in 1989 and then again in 1993 with videos featuring Alicia Silverstone in Cryin & Crazy. Nor they're late 90's super hit in "I don't Want To Miss A Think." It was a total shock....

PopeoftheFCOTB: FTA: And bars holding "Guitar Hero" nights also have enjoyed a boost in business: Big Wangs sports tavern in Hollywood, California, reports a 25 percent to 35 percent increase in sales.

Funny. I would have though Big Wangs was a gay bar.

/NTTAWWT


Just for the record, it's a hot wings joint. Wangs is a sort of pun on win... oh forget it. The place is a dump in a strip mall with valet parking (the scourge of LA, strip malls with valet).


farkin' great wings, though

Ulrich is a fan of games such as "Guitar Hero" and "Rock Band"

until they feature a metallica song, then HE'LL SUE!!!!

Stays Crunchy in Milk: Freakpower: I have plenty of friends who really play guitar, and they hate Guitar Hero.

While I don't hate it, I usually encourage people playing GH to pick up a real guitar.
Sometimes I know the songs they're playing in the games, and show them how much more satisfying it is to really play the songs.
Then I'll say that the game must be fun, or they wouldn't be playing it. After all, people like DDR, and GH is DDR that you play with your hands.
/I don't get invited to hang out much

God damn it. You farking people griping about folks playng guitar hero instead of playing a real guitar. IT'S A farkING GAME. that argument is old and anooying. I'm playing SOCOM on my PSP, should I join the Navy and become a SEAL instead? Should I go race my car in the street instead of playing Midnight Club? Why do you self centered asses hate the fact that people are enjoying themselves playing a video game? Stop being pricks. I'm gonna play GH, I'm not gonna get a real guitar because I'm not interested in it. Douchebags.

Guitar Hero is better, more fun, and gets you laid more than real guitar. Real guitar players are all hippies, frat guys, idiots, drunks, and dickheads. And old.

Don't even get me started on Rock Band drums versus stupid real drums.

It "opened up the ears" of my sons. Now one of them is really into Iron Maiden and Guns-n-Roses. So if you happen to come across a little blonde 8-year boy singing 'Run To The Hills', that's my boy!

Frow: Yes, because people who grew up in the 90's never heard any Aerosmith growing up.

The band chosen may not be the best example, but the sentiment is on the money. There's old school stuff in RB/GH that I don't think the majority of today's kids would be listening to if not for the games. It's a great thing IMO.

Any "real guitar player" who hates guitar hero is a farking idiot.

My son is about to turn 9 and he loves classic rock now, all because of GH. I'm glad, because for the longest time he thought the greatest thing ever was some Celine Deion song from that movie with the little white mouse.

That's not a plastic guitar.

This is a plastic guitar.



It's the kind I learned on, until my parents realised I wasn't going to stop.
Then I got the spiffy wooden one \m/

My nieces and nephews are definitely getting a taste for rock from playing the game. They started combing through my CDs and vinyl(!). They went from making me change the music I would play in the car, to now being excited when they recognize a band.

People whose kids "learn classic rock from GH" should be taken out back and shot.

That's like saying I learned real music from MTV.

Ha, isn't rock band made by MTV? How interesting.

and oh yeah! adults: you look farking foolish, put the playskool toy down and start acting like a grown-up.
douches

so about 1 out of every ten people commenting read the article. how about that.

Meh. This game bores me. I would rather play Porn Hero.

BigG: Any "real guitar player" who hates guitar hero is a farking idiot.

i hate guitar hero because i dont find it fun. i guess im an idiot because i find playing a real guitar fun. i also dont think its 'saving rock' because when they do have cool bands they only feature their sh*ttiest songs.

emptykay: People whose kids "learn classic rock from GH" should be taken out back and shot.

You would rather they don't learn about classic rock at all? Many kids automatically dismiss any pop culture from their parents' generation as awful. Think back to yourself as a teenager, you probably thought the hairstyles in your mom's high school yearbook were hilarious.

It doesn't really matter how a child comes to music, only that they do.

/classically trained violinist

No.

Music forms don't need "saviors". Stop being self important.

BigG: Any "real guitar player" who hates guitar hero is a farking idiot.

Sorry if learning to play a goddamn song (or, heaven forbid, actually write something) is somehow less rewarding than a dolled up game of Simon.

Sure, just like life-support saved Terri Schiavo.

/maybe some things should just be allowed to die.

barefoot in the head: That's not a plastic guitar.

This is a plastic guitar.


I have the same one right behind me in my studio right now. Found it for $5 at a yard sale. Sounds wicked with slide, even though one tuner is long gone and the whole thing is warped to hell.

Maccaferri's design for the win!

...although my main guitar now is made from a cigar box (new window)

I'm waiting for the next version of guitar hero that actually uses guitar strings. Then instead of getting a key combo right you have to learn to play. Start with the common power chords, and advance from there.

Come on, don't laugh. Guitar Hero has proven that a good number of people have the rudimentary timing and finger coordination to keep up.

I think that if I had started to play guitar or piano as early as I learned to type (roughly aged 6, on an Apple IIc) then they'd be able to play like I type, without thinking about where their fingers are.

Guitar Hero can be good tool for teaching musical rhythm; to be really good at it, you have to get into a groove and anticipate how the music moves. However, it has about as much to do with real guitar-playing as Grand Theft Auto does to actually driving a car. Still, it's a fun game, and if it gets kids into great music then more power to it I say.

Longdon: has anyone said "pick up a real guitar" yet?

na they were waiting for you to be the honorary first douche

Frow: But "Guitar Hero" and "Rock Band" have prompted kids born in the '90s to discover artists from the '70s and '80s such as Aerosmith

Yes, because people who grew up in the 90's never heard any Aerosmith growing up. It's not like they released a couple of decent albums in 1989 and then again in 1993 with videos featuring Alicia Silverstone in Cryin & Crazy. Nor they're late 90's super hit in "I don't Want To Miss A Think." It was a total shock....

Apparently they did, because it is " I don't want to miss a thing."

Happiness is playing Number of the Beast and singing along with it. I can blame my GF for getting me horribly addicted. Great game.

All the "get a real guitar, losers!" posts are farking hilarious if you imagine its being said by a guy with a mullet and a Poison t-shirt.

What most of you seem to be missing, and this is the POINT of the article, is that through the game a younger generation is being exposed to rock music. Turn on a radio, you don't hear this stuff anymore. Clear Channel doesn't promote anything that doesn't get Britney Spears huge anymore and they're quickly becoming the only name in the radio game. These video games are becoming the only source of exposure to a lot of kids out there to a type of music that they don't hear anywhere else. And MTV, VH1 and all that is too busy doing reality shows with washed-up celebs and gushing over P. Diddy to promote rock anymore.

The only radio station here that plays rock only plays hair bands and ACDC anymore. There's another station that plays new music but you only catch one on occasion in between Justin Timberlake and Pink. Guitar Hero is doing something radio and TV doesn't do anymore; creating new rock fans.

God damnit I hate Aerosmith

Yeah, because there's definitely a dramatic shortage of classic rock stations playing sh*tty old Journey and Kansas songs. And it's certainly not like kids born in 1990 were buying vintage styled Zeppelin and Floyd shirts before these games came out. With a few exceptions (mostly in Rock Band), most of the music in those games sucks pretty badly. I just never understood the appeal of attempting to play some hot garbage Rush song, screwing up, and then having to play it over and over again, with the same intro. At least in a real band if you screw up too badly you can pick it up where you left off. I just don't have to patience to fake-learn how to play Foreigner songs when I could be listening to actually good music as I do something worthwhile, like rolling joints.

RockNRoller227: God damnit I hate Aerosmith

I sort of want to take back my comment and post what you said instead.

Frow: Yes, because people who grew up in the 90's never heard any Aerosmith growing up.

My GF's 6-yo son now sings tunes from Motorhead, Joan Jett, Deep Purple, Nirvana and Black Sabbath. I think GH makes a great contribution to society, because he's certainly not exposed to that kind of music otherwise.

Goonie_Goo_Goo:

...although my main guitar now is made from a cigar box (new window)

I have a cigar box guitar too! I thoguht I was the only jackass who played one of those. it's funyn because my Tele and Alvarez acoustic generally sit and colelct dust while I break out my 3 string cigar box finger picks and steel...

/they all collect dust some tiems when i wanna get drunk and play rock band...
//Drums on rock band blow...

I think it's fine if it turns kids on to some decent rock, maybe they'll learn real guitar, practice alot, learn how to write a song, put together a band and make some decent music that I can then download for free.

I play drums, wanted to play guitar but I just dont have the patience to learn. I was dismissive of guitar hero for a while, then heard about how fun it was, so I finally went and got it for the Wii. Highly disappointed. It's pretty boring, and the guitar parts you play a lot of times have nothing to do with the actual guitar parts in the song.
-1 would not play again.

/anyone want to buy a slightly used guitar hero game

I play guitar and I think that GH is a blast.

My problem is that some songs are simple on a guitar but hard in GH.

Well, since you other farkers hate GH, I guess I will too.

\but not Rock Band, that motherfarker rocks!

wildcardjack: I'm waiting for the next version of guitar hero that actually uses guitar strings. Then instead of getting a key combo right you have to learn to play. Start with the common power chords, and advance from there.

Come on, don't laugh. Guitar Hero has proven that a good number of people have the rudimentary timing and finger coordination to keep up.



At long last, someone comes up with an idea of how to make the guitar more realistic (seriously). I was talking to someone the other day who was biatching about it, and I asked them "okay. How would you make it better and more realistic while keeping it playable and enjoyable for an age range of about 6-60 year old people who have never picked up an instrument before". People don't spend years mastering video games. If they can't have a fairly decent level of progression is a short period of time (even on Easy), they won't play it, won't recomend it, won't buy future versions.

wildcardjack: I'm waiting for the next version of guitar hero that actually uses guitar strings. Then instead of getting a key combo right you have to learn to play. Start with the common power chords, and advance from there.

Exists on PC already or soon:

Guitar Wizard: Link (new window)

Guitar Rising: Link (new window)

When's accordian hero coming out? That'll definitely get me laid.