Guitar Hero

[Pomai]

The likes of Hendrix and Satriani truly are guitar heroes, but what we're talkin' here is Guitar Hero the video game!

I (make that we) have to confess we bought one for our 30-something year old selves for Christmas this year. This game by Activision is already on its 3rd title, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, which we bought the PS2 bundle pack, which includes a newly-released (Red Octane) wireless black "Kramer Strat".

When we stood in line at Best Buy, a 50's looking lady behind us said, "oh you two are going to LOVE THIS GAME! I love it!" lol

We actually would have never given the game a thought hadn't it been for one recent Thanksgiving Day get-together at my sister's where my nephew happened to have just bought one for his XBox 360. One try and we BOTH (GF and I) were hooked! Before I thought this was just some silly kid's toy game, but really, this thing is a BLAST!

I'll elaborate my foolings with the game later. Let's here from you folks who have played it, own it, love it or still think it's silly.

[dick]

Re: Guitar Hero

I found it incredibly difficult to play. I was trying to play it like a real guitar only to find that you don't actually "play" the thing, but just sort of hit a few random beats in the song. Also, the fingerboard doesn't always match the song, either. Passages where you would normally move higher up the fretboard aren't necessarily fingered as such. After about two tries I gave up. It struck me as musically unhealthy.

It is funny, however, to watch people (such as myself) totally wank.

[infinitypro]

Re: Guitar Hero

We (NOE and NEENZ) played for the first time this Thanksgiving weekend, and are hooked! NOE nudged me and said, WE NEED TO GET THIS! We played it on the Wii, and except for the hand cramps...it took only a few songs before we pushed the coffee table on the side for room to ROCK!

[AbsolutChaos]

Re: Guitar Hero

I enjoyed the Southpark episode dedicated to this game. My boyfriend was hooked at last year's TG familiy get-together.

As for me, if it isn't Dr. Mario, I'm just not interested.

[kanahina]

Re: Guitar Hero

I haven't played video games in a long time, but a little birdie told me that "Santa" is bringing our family a PlayStation 3 for Christmas!

We haven't really looked at the games for it yet... But I have seen the Guitar Hero game and there is another one that is called Rock Band (or something like that) and has guitar, drums, and vocals...

I had the original Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and nothing else ever since that thing died... I don't think I even know how to play games anymore...

[Random]

Re: Guitar Hero

I haven't played video games in a long time, but a little birdie told me that "Santa" is bringing our family a PlayStation 3 for Christmas!

Wow. PS3 = a lump of coal.

Santa should've gotten you a Wii (formerly called Nintendo Revolution).

I'm not big on videogame console these days, since I once owned the Atari 2600. It's computer game or nothing.

[kanahina]

Re: Guitar Hero

no way - Wii is too much work - not fun - to play!

PS 3 = Blu ray disc player!

[Random]

Re: Guitar Hero

no way - Wii is too much work - not fun - to play!

Considering the winter holiday means plenny parties and where there's a party, there's plenny food fo' eat...

You're gonna need to find a way to shed off those extra holiday pounds.

PS 3 = Blu ray disc player!

Yeah, from the people who tried to introduce Betamax. Sighs.

I'd stick with one of them multi-format DVD players that can play both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD (as well as upconvert regular DVD).

[kanahina]

Re: Guitar Hero

Considering the winter holiday means plenny parties and where there's a party, there's plenny food fo' eat...

You're gonna need to find a way to shed off those extra holiday pounds.

I can't believe you just told me that ^^^^
Never, ever tell a woman that she needs to find a way to shed off those extra holiday pounds!

[Pomai]

Re: Guitar Hero

I found it incredibly difficult to play. I was trying to play it like a real guitar only to find that you don't actually "play" the thing, but just sort of hit a few random beats in the song. >>>>> It struck me as musically unhealthy.

At least in GH3, in "easy" mode, most of the songs are this way, and some are actually quite "unhealthy" in how the "tab" jives with the chords or licks actually being played. At least if you try to actually "play" it as you would on a real guitar. Which is where one must turn off the "I'm playing this like a guitar" mentality to "hey this IS a VIDEO GAME" mode. Which is probably how that 9 year old nephew who's probably never heard "Bark at the Moon" in his life can shred it in GH on expert level as if he was Jake E. Lee himself. lol

Apparently this "dumbed down" time signatures that throw you off (as a real musician) in "easy" mode are increased note-for-note as the difficulty level increases. There's a video on YouTube of a guy that gets 375K points in the hardest mode playing "Bark at the Moon", where you must play every single note of the (very fast) licks on solo. Nuts!

I CAN see someone who's only picked up a GH controller briefly, say in the store, and getting frustrated by the difficulty. But once you get some real "axe" time on it and get the hang of it, it really is addicting! What I like most is that I can enjoy listening to some great rock classics (mostly performed by the original artists), while interactively "playing it" as a video GAME. Very cool.

I notice by default the game chooses which guitar of the song you're actually "playing" to in each song. For instance on "One" by Metallica you're playing the bass line; on "Rock You Like a Hurricane" by the Scorpions you're playing rhythm; and on "Black Magic Woman" by Santana you're on lead (thank God!).

One particular song I really enjoy - especially the solo portion - is ZZ Top's La Grange, which you actually get a feel of Gibbons pinching his signature squeals when you hit the strummer bar as such.

Similar to that, in Alice Cooper's "Schools Out for Summer", you hit the harmonics as such. Nice!

It certainly helps to know and LIKE the songs you "play" in GH. It really helps you to understand the song's construction and how the "notes" are coming at you.

So far in GH3 through "career" band mode, we got up to (earned) song set #8 "Battle for Your Soul".

AC, that South Park parody on GH was hilarious! I dig the part the new kid plays the GH guitar controller "acoustically" at that restaurant for the band manager, and all you hear are switches being pressed. LOL!

Speaking of Rock Band, there's an interesting article published online recently titled ROCK BAND VS. REAL BAND that parallels the two.

[Random]

Re: Guitar Hero

I can't believe you just told me that ^^^^
Never, ever tell a woman that she needs to find a way to shed off those extra holiday pounds!

We all going have extra holiday pounds, not just all you wahines.

Wait until the high-definition DVD war is over, then buy the winner.

[Kelly0040]

Re: Guitar Hero

GH3 is fun, but Rock Band blows it outta the water (we own both for PS3). Rock Band is worth the extra $120 for instruments, especially if you have family/friends who have no problem rocking out in front of other folks. It truly is the wannabe rocker's dream - I sing and play guitar, my husband plays the drums (the cats leave the room when I sing, but they'll sit and watch if he sings ). I caught our new neighbors watching us a few nights ago when we were playing "Don't Fear the Reaper" and I yelled out "I NEEED MORE COWWWBEELLLLLL" during my solo and I heard a bunch of giggles. Don't get me wrong, we enjoy GH (RB has nothing as hard as GH3's Expert mode), but Rock Band just takes it to a whoooollle new level. We downloaded the Metallica pack and I thought we'd never get to bed. Only downside is that the GH3 Les Paul doesn't work with Rock Band .

We own a PS3 and a Wii. I wouldn't say one is better than the other, but they definitely compliment each other. I love my Wii (I'm a sucker for Mario). My husband loves his PS3 (the Wii just doesn't provide him with the titles and graphics he craves). In the end, they're both a ton of fun depending on our moods.

We used to own an xbox 360 but it spent more time being repaired than it did being played. After 9 months of sending it back and forth and receiving refurb'd model after refurb'd model, we gave up and sold it on craig's list.

[infinitypro]

Re: Guitar Hero

Considering the winter holiday means plenny parties and where there's a party, there's plenny food fo' eat...

You're gonna need to find a way to shed off those extra holiday pounds.

Pomai, what were you thinking?

[tvguy]

Re: Guitar Hero

Ended up playing 2 1/2 hours straight the first time I tried the game. Like Stan's dad in South Park, I can play a lot of the songs in the game. . . on a "real guitar". Like the fact that my kids are being exposed to classic rock songs, which unlike the songs of today, have actually been played on real instruments. I thought that playing bass in co-op mode was most like playing the real deal. Read that the game is a hit among real musicians, with some bands having it as a necessity on their buses while out on tour.

The South Park episode was excellent, parodying both rock and roll and video games and gamers. Thanks for the link Pomai. I never really cared for Kansas, and even more so now with my kids playing it on my iPod in the car.

[DaFerret]

Re: Guitar Hero

There were two titles that sealed the deal for me to get the PS3. Metal Gear Solid 4 and Final Fantasy XIII. Other titles like Devil May Cry 4 were just bonus. If not for the main two, I would've gotten a Wii (buku reports on how fun it is) or Xbox 360 (got a bunch of co-workers with 360's).

I'm hearing how much fun Guitar Hero and Rock Band are. Very tempting and I'm glad there are versions for the console I chose!

Somedays, I wish there was one singular console and these companies just made peripherals and games for it.