My humble opinion on Guitar Hero and Rock Band

So Guitar Hero has been around for a year or so. Kids everywhere are glued to that plastic guitar punching combos to their favorite bands like AC-DC, A7X, Kansas etc etc...In a way, the way you play the game reminds me of an old game for Playstation called Parappa-the-Rappa...Only 82 would understand that. Nevermind.

Anyway, last X-mas brought Rock Band, a totally exciting 'new' way to jam out to bands. You could be the drummer, the singer or the bassist now. But really, are you actually "playing" these songs? First of all, the singer position: The one who chooses to sing, sings to lyrics flying across the screen. Sounds strangely familiar to the infamous karaokeeing that has been going on for decades. Whether you are in a dive on a Thursday night singing karaoke, or in your living room with your 8 year old brother playing Rock Band, More Than A Feeling still sounds the same. The only difference is that you won't get beer thrown at you from your 8 year old brother.

The position that bothers me the most is the drummer. Now I've been a drummer for 15+ years, you'd expect a guy like me to think it was a cool idea to incorporate my instrument. Wrong. The drummer gets four individual pads and a bass drum pedal, and when a drum fill comes up, the pads go from cymbals to toms. Just like in real life! wait, that's nothing like in real life. Die-hard fans of Rock Band boast that if you can play the drum parts on hard or expert or whatever the highest level is, you are talented enough to play in a band. Right, because on typical drum sets, we can click on the tom to turn it into a cymbal, and follow notes and patterns on a screen. Hardly. I like to improve on the drums no matter what the song is, so I don't think Rock Band would be for me. I hardly doubt that's a feature too.

Last year, the kids at where I worked would talk about how they can play such-and-such on expert and get 5 stars! Who really cares? Can they pick up a real guitar and play the song? doubtful. Playing Guitar Hero doesn't make you a musician. It shows that you feel safer playing  the song on a plastic guitar, then going out and learning the song on a real one, which you could probably find a good deal on at the same price Rock Band is. Playing the song in your house is nothing like playing in front of an audience on stage. So Rock Band musicians, put down your fake instruments, and head to your nearest Guitar Center. You'll thank me.