I Need a Hero

So it's Friday night && I'm lazy and didn't feel like going out. So I stayed home and I figured, what better way to pass the time than to play Super Mario 64, and when I got bored from that, I decided to do some homework; meaning I write a blog about the best video game, imo [in my opinion].

The best video game means different things to different people. To some, it may mean the game that remains a timeless classic through the generations. To some, it may mean the game that encouraged players to expand their mind. To some, it may just mean their personal favorite game and what they spent their paycheck [or their parent's paycheck] on. But to me, that question means the game that had somewhat of an impact on culture and revolutionized the way we play video games. And for me, that's Guitar Hero.

I first played Guitar Hero summer of 2005, and I was at a friend's house and her and her little brother were playing Guitar Hero. Some songs that I liked were on the list so I wanted to try to play. And it was really confusing at first [of course, on easy]. I've never even really played a real guitar before, so having to strum while holding down the colored buttons was confusing and hard to coordinate [and I would like to think I'm good at multitasking]. But shortly after, I went out and bought Guitar Hero I and the "guitar" and played it. And I didn't really have a life during that time, so playing Guitar Hero took most of my time. I was determined to be good, and be able to play my friends who were already on the medium level (I couldn't imagine using the weak pinky to hold down a note; let alone move my hand around for the hard & expert levels). So when I felt like playing, I would play each song, on easy, until I got five stars. And when I did that, I played all the songs again on medium until I got five stars. Then I played them all on hard and only got five stars on the songs that I really liked and could truly tolerate listening to several times in a row. And I believe around this time Guitar Hero II came out, which just meant extra practice for me and exposure to more really good songs that I never heard of [thanks to this game, among my all-time favorite songs are: More than a Feeling (Boston), Infected (Bad Religion), Can't You Hear Me Knockin' (Rolling Stones), Crazy on You (Heart), and Welcome Home (Coheed & Cambria) -- songs that I will have probably heard at some point in my life, but playing these songs over and over again caused me to love them]. After I would play all those songs on Hard and some even on expert, Guitar Hero III came out and even though I didn't own that game, I was always able to play it with a friend, and at this point I was better than most people I played against, even though I wasn't that great. Over the past few years, I got to play Rockband (I'm OK at vocals, atrocious on drums, and pretty good at bass), and the several other Guitar Hero released--except Beatles Rockband -_- .. Looking back, this game provided me with better hand-eye coordination, better appreciation for music, and my inability to play an actual instrument.

Now, here's my problem with the game.

When I would first explain the game to people and how great it was, I basically described it as "DDR but with a Guitar", meaning that like in DDR, when the player is "dancing", for Guitar Hero, the player is "playing the guitar". But they really aren't. It's just a game. But people sometimes take this really seriously, and become determined to beat "Through the Fire & Flames" on expert.

Like, is this what our society has come to-where kids just sit at home and instead of actually picking up a guitar and jamming with friends, they pick up a controller and sit on the couch while the virtual crowd rocks out to the gamer "playing"? At a show, if they guitarist is sucking and about to be booed offstage, they cannot use "starpower" to win the crowd back. It doesn't happen. I ask people all the time if they can actually play a guitar, after I see them five-star a song on expert. More than half the time the answer is no (myself included.)

I really think South Park addressed the issue perfectly. Critics can say whatever they want about the show; it's crude and they constantly cross the line, but they usually make a point in doing so. Such is the case for "Guitar Queer-O".

So not only does this episode discuss the difference in generations, but makes an excellent points. The kids are not playing the Guitar, it really isn't that impressive. They're playing a video game. It's great the video games have advanced so much over the years so that kids can pick up a video game controller shaped like a Guitar, but it isn't the real thing.

So who's the real winner? Who truly deserved the five stars? The original creators of the concept; for currently being billionaires while I went broke for buying the game and console.

But I can't deny that this is the best game ever, because it completely revolutionized the way our generation looks at music & video games. Maybe the conglomeration of the two will be good in the future; maybe it will be the end of actual musicians existing. Who knows.