Guitar Hero: All The Work Of Learning Guitar Without Getting The Chicks?

Zak Krone STAFF WRITER

It is one in the morning. My roommate is currently scolding me for playing with the music too loud. I haven't showered yet. I'm sweating from the excitement. The fake drum set in front of me is starting to show dent marks in it from wear, not to mention the fake bass pedal at my foot is held together with duct tape and two knives I stole from the cafeteria.

What the hell is wrong with me?

Ever since Guitar Hero was released for the Playstation 2, music and rhythm games have caught fire, crossing into mainstream pop culture. It's gotten so bad, South Park had to dedicate an episode to the growing trend. The latest iterations of the now dominant series are Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero: World Tour. Both games have expanded from the simple single guitar setup that the original Guitar Hero invented, to a full band experience now including bass, drums, and vocals, creating a karaoke on steroids experience. Band mates argue over songs, fight about who gets stuck on what instrument, and bitch at each other when one performs so poorly, it brings the whole song to a screeching halt.

The real question, however, is why keep playing fake guitar. Arguing that playing fake guitar gives all the satisfaction of playing real guitar, without the work, is slowly becoming less valid. Newcomers trying to play for the first time usually start missing a flurry of notes, then pass off the controller before the game stops to tell them they suck, they shouldn't play anymore, and they should go play Mario Party instead. Getting good at these games takes time. It's almost takes... practice. YouTube someone playing the dreadfully awful song "Through the Fire and the Flames" on expert and try to tell me the person working the controller didn't work on that extensively before hand. Why work so hard to complete such a limited goal?

Who knows, I'm not getting off the drums until 2.

Here's some of our all-time faves off of Guitar Hero: World Tour:
Survivor - Eye of The Tiger.mp3
The Guess Who - American Woman.mp3
Michael Jackson - Beat It.mp3
311 - Beautiful Disaster.mp3
Wings - Band on the Run.mp3
Jimi Hendrix Experience - The Wind Cries Mary.mp3
Billy Idol - Rebel Yell.mp3
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