Comments on: Guitar Hero

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 08:11:35 +0000

I know you’re tired of my bitching about international release lag, but we don’t get Guitar Hero until April 7th.

I’m just delighted to hear people saying nice things about custom controllers! Sega Bass Fishing was slammed by many, but played with the fishing controller it was perhaps the single greatest game on the Dreamcast (I’d rate it above Jet Set Radio, which I loved to bits – that’s Jet Grind Radio for you unlucky US people who got the rubbish name!) I say this having introduced the game to dozens of people (back when the Dreamcast was still alive) all of whom couldn’t believe how much they enjoyed playing it. Even a vegan friend of mine fell in love with it.

This makes we want to post some Sega Bass Fishing slush. *sigh* Memories.

By: daw

daw — Wed, 01 Feb 2006 19:51:06 +0000

I like electronic music and hate guitar oriented music. I actually really, really, really, really enjoyed frequency — it has many of the same advantages you describe but much better music, to my tastes. Give it a shot if you haven’t.

By: Thomas

Thomas — Wed, 01 Feb 2006 12:25:16 +0000

Paul,

You can forget. I play bass and a little guitar. What Guitar Hero basically does is deliver a diluted version of an onstage experience, and the controller is only a part of that. The parallels are enough that you will enjoy playing it as a “simple” guitar, and you won’t feel any particular cognitive dissonance. The experience is every bit as good as everyone says, even for musicians.

Also, I actually do know professional dancers who play DDR for fun.

By: Paul

Paul — Wed, 01 Feb 2006 05:48:22 +0000

Andrew – heheheh good point. I hope all my time playing street fighter/doom/Civ/etc never comes to haunt me… perhaps using caps in my comment was a mistake, as I was trying to lend it an amusing tone, but obviously failed miserably.

By: Andrew Plotkin

Andrew Plotkin — Wed, 01 Feb 2006 05:20:54 +0000

I suddenly visualize reaching the end of a _Prince of Persia_ game,
switching off the Playstation, stepping outside, and being collared
by an irate gymnast who wants to know why I didn’t spend all that time
*learning to perform on the uneven parallel bars*.

No, no, it’s just me. Really.

(I have not actually tried playing Guitar Hero.)

By: Paul

Paul — Wed, 01 Feb 2006 03:41:46 +0000

Thats fair enough, they are different things, this is a game, with short term goals and rewards, and though they are both about building skills, what you are trying to achieve are two different things.

I just wonder, as a guitarist, whether I could seperate the fact that I’m playing a game, rather than playing the guitar. Perhaps professional dancers have the same thing about DDR. I’d be keen to give it a go, especially after reading yours (and others) reviews.

By: peterb

peterb — Wed, 01 Feb 2006 03:09:01 +0000

Yes, but the key aspect here, that maybe I haven’t communicated is that I _don’t enjoy learning to play the guitar_, but I _enjoy learning to play Guitar Hero_.

By: Paul

Paul — Wed, 01 Feb 2006 02:56:15 +0000

As a guitarist, I’d be interested to hear how a guitarist relates to playing it … I’ve not seen it or played it myself, but it sounds like the Wiggles guitar (for ages 2 – 5) you can buy from your local toy store. Except the Wiggles guitar comes with actual sheet music (at least the one I got for my cousin did). I’d be much more

I also wonder, all that effort to master Guitar Hero could have been put into (and this may be a heretical idea) LEARNING THE GUITAR.

By: Mark Denovich

Mark Denovich — Wed, 01 Feb 2006 02:07:09 +0000

That track list is awesome! Well over half of them completely kick-ass… Motorhead!

I don’t have a PS2, and I rarely play games, but I think I might have to look into this. I bet one of my XBox360 owning friends has a PS2 collecting dust.