Rant or Rave: Guitar Hero

Another rave. I guess I don't do a lot of ranting. I s'pose I should change the tag line, but Rave and Rave just doesn't really have the same ring to it. Well, for now it will do, but I do seem to prefer writing about things I like, rather than ripping on things I don't.

At any rate: Guitar Hero is all the rage with the various video game consoles-- or platforms as they are referred to in the "literature". Our family got Guitar Hero World Tour and Guitar Hero Legends of Rock for Wii for Christmas, and I understand the appeal now. The games are very addicting. And also very challenging.

Simple in concept, hit the right color button with one hand while hitting the "strum" bar at the correct time with the other, the game allows us all to live out the fantasy of being a rock star. You can play classic rock tunes like Smoke on the Water and Crazy Train or modern day hits from bands like Foo Fighters and The Killers. And you can do it as a variety of prepackaged avatars or as ones that you create for yourself.

Guitar Hero World Tour adds the ability to play guitar and bass as part of a band (and the drums and singing if you buy the full "band bundle") which is fun. My son and daughter and I have a blast with one of them playing guitar while I play bass-- or occasionally vice-versa if I can talk them into playing the bass parts (generally easier and not quite as much fun). I have also tried the drums for World Tour and after a fairly steep learning curve, found them to quite enjoyable as well.


The only downsides to guitar hero are the amount of time you may spend on the games. It is easy to start a gig on the career play option and suddenly a half-hour or more of your life has evaporated. Oh, and the fact that when I hear a song that I've "played" on Guitar Hero now, I sometimes find myself thinking about how to "play" the notes on my own small, fake guitar.

In related news, the Library will soon be offering Wii, PSP3 and Xbox 360 games for check out. Details to follow.

Rawk on!