Guitar Hero or Rock Band: Admit You Play?

I thought the same thing Tiggerfc. My 17 year old brother (I'm 34, a bit of a gap) was selling off his XBox stuff, so I jokingly asked him if I could have his Guitar Hero III game and guitar. He brought it by the next weekend and started jamming. I couldn't put it down. I bought Guitar Hero Metallica (I'm a big Matallica fan) a week later. Played through the stereo, it doesn't sound bad at all. Its a lot of fun.

People bash the games. My cousin who is 15 started playing the game a few years ago. He was exposed to a lot of music that he wouldn't have been otherwise. Last Christmas when I visited, I heard Cream's Sunshine of Your Love playing in his room. I thought it was the game. Nope. He was playing an actual guitar. I asked him where he heard that one - "Guitar Hero." He played a bunch of other Cream and some Hendrix songs for me.

I've observed it. Honestly, I don't get it. Why not pick up a real instrument and play?

Kbarkamian, I'm with Unsound on this one.

I've watched people play it and I just walk away. It might be a game, which I understand, but hitting buttons and pretending to strum or drum? Maybe I'm just too much of a prude. Maybe it's because I've put so much time into getting to the level I'm at with the instruments I do play (violin for nearly 18 years now and drums for about 14 years) that it just feels like a mockery to downgrade it with a game that merely pretends to play. Either way I still can't even picture myself ever doing it.

And absolutely nothing against those that do play it. If you are entertained by it then great. That's what it's about. And if it exposes people to new music, even better! And if it gets people into playing real instruments then I'm even more thrilled.

I haven't tried or even watched.

If it's easy to learn and sounds good, aren't we looking at an eventual successor to electric strings?

I understand the 'looking down' on Guitar Hero (not that I'm saying you're looking down on it per se). Playing a real guitar or drums would be better. But not everyone has the time or money to do this. I certainly don't have the time.

I also understand the musicians who refused to allow their music on it - Led Zepplin and Prince come to mind. Prince said 'why not play a real guitar?' and Jimmy Page didn't want kids fake playing John Bonham's stuff.

But at the end of the day, it's just another way to enjoy music. That's how I view it anyway.