What the hell?

[PurpleRain]

Why is it that when I decide to play Guitar Her, people comment on "Why don't you go play a real guitar?!" What the hell? Why would I. Ok, sure. I will go out and play a real guitar now and waste years of my life going no where with it. I will give up imagining I'm some rock god and go be some amiture.

Everyone here's probably heard this rant before, but this got me thinking. Why is it only with Guitar Hero that people say this. Is it because the controllers shapped like a guitar? If you play it on a normall xbox controller people wouldn't tell me to "Go play a guitar" would they? You know what... I play some sports games too. Why don't I become a pro football player or soccer champion. I play car games. I will drop everything and become a F1 racecar champion aswell. What the hell is with that? Why can't I just play the damn game as it is... a GAME.

 

[Duck Sandwich]

That is a good point.

I do occasionally hear on forums the ol' "Why are you playing video game sports when you could do it outside?" I'd love it if it was that easy to gather 10+ friends to play whatever sport you wanted at any given moment, let alone you and 10 friends being professional athletes. I'm surprised I've never heard "Why are you playing Super Mario Bros. when you could just get stoned?"

 

[eggdog14]

Super Mario is fucking stupid.

Go jump on a real turtle.





http://blog.wired.com/games/2007/11/people-i-hate-w.html

 

[MacCarth]

Technically, you're not really going anywhere with playing guitar hero either. The only difference is learning how to read music and creating your own songs instead of rattling off pre-made ones for you.

But I agree, for the musically defunct, guitar hero is a great outlet to rock out from.

 

[PurpleRain]

Technically, you're not really going anywhere with playing guitar hero either. The only difference is learning how to read music and creating your own songs instead of rattling off pre-made ones for you.

But I agree, for the musically defunct, guitar hero is a great outlet to rock out from.

What I ment was, like you said, you can rock out on Guitar Hero infront of adoring fans on a huge stage with pyrotechniques and the lot... kinda like a guitar hero eh? But in the real world, it's not as easy as picking it up and jamming. It requires practice and perfection. Even then, after you can play some decent music, what then. Maybe get a band together... go and play a few gigs at the pub if you're lucky.

 

[Enigmatic_Apple]

It's okay baby, I'm here for you. Don't listen to them, "they're ignoranttt."

 

[Count_de_Monet]

You mean...in the years playing Counter Strike I could have instead joined the army and joined the special forces? Damn, I knew I was doing something wrong.

Anyway, I'm glad someone said it because I'm just about fed up with people saying that anyone who plays guitar hero should actually pick up a guitar and play it. It's like they feel every single person on this planet should be as driven as they are to use music as their means of creative expression. Personally, I don't play guitar hero because 1.) I find it boring especially since I barely even listen to music much less care about playing it B.) I don't even own a console and finally I'm not about to drop that much money on a game just because it comes with a plastic guitar with light-up buttons.

 

[Count_de_Monet]

More, shall we say...reasonably...

Why do we do anything? I play video games because I enjoy them and I don't play instruments because I don't enjoy playing instruments. I've tried to pick up a few but I have absolutely no aptitude and very little interest in music in general so that's why I don't play them.

My brother, on the other hand, loves guitar hero and loves music but doesn't play anymore. He's tried a few instruments but it just never clicks, however, he played guitar hero a lot before he picked up Call of Duty 4. The cumulative amount of time he played guitar hero probably equals 1/100th the amount of time he spent playing the Sax but he's far better at playing along with that game than he ever was at the saxophone not to mention there is very little feeling of obligation to continue once you start.

Truly getting into an instrument is a commitment which you really have to enjoy to get better whereas playing a video game is cheaper than a real instrument, cheaper than lessons and consequently far less of a commitment. Playing Counter Strike is a great way for me to burn off a little steam at the end of the day and I don't have to go through basic training to do it. Sure, I might be a better person if I joined the military (though I doubt it) but at the end of the day I'm much happier shooting virtual people than real people.

 

[Girlysprite]

Heh...if people come up with such an argument, and they play some kind of FPS, just reply 'don't you have some random people to kill in real life?'.

Well, if that argument was applied everywhere, we just found a reason for highschool shootings

 

[PurpleRain]

Well they do blame some killings on video games such as GTA and Manhunt. Why do people always try and connect real life to games. Why not other medias like books or tv cartoon shows.

 

[Girlysprite]

They did so in the past Purple. Until they found a new scapegoat. Guess which...

 

[Exposed Lie]

the thing with guitar hero is that you arn't really in front of a crowd playing "bitching" music, you're in front of a tv screen pushing buttons on a glorified remote. i think that guitar hero games suffer from such critisism because some people AKA fuckwits decide (much like in the south park episode on guitar hero) that once they can play guitar hero at a high level they're the shit and think of it like a real instrument. these people annoy me (and yes i do know people like this) because some people (like me) work for ages learning instruments and for some cock to come in and say "oh i can play blah blah blah, cant you" is fucking annoying because they cant, they can push some buttons really fast.

im not having a go at people on here btw.

oh and i would never buy guitar hero because its not my type of game but if a friend of mine bought it i would happily play away on it...coz it looks fun....i just wouldn't be a cock about it!!

 

[KaynSlamdyke]

The counter argument I use isn't "Oh why don't you go kill hundreds of people in the Middle East if you play First Person Shooters", it's "Fine. I'll take my Gibson SG, go to Madison Square Garden and put on a show that wows millions of fans without having played the song ever before in my life, with no agent, no band and just £50. Yep"

Somehow thier argument fails to hold up.

 

[phooks]

I agree that is a stupid thing to say. I've been playing guitar for about 5 years now (currently learning classical gas, after my metal years) and the guitar hero controllers are absolutely nothing like real guitars. They're controllers shaped like guitars, not controllers REPRESENTING guitars.

If they were designed to represent guitars, then the strings would not be going horizontal (the wrong way) across the fretboard. (They are shown as proper vertical onscreen)

Oh... wait, there IS NO fretboard.


Frankly if someone says something like that to you, then they both A) Don't play guitar and B) Don't study the controller mechanics in GH.

 

[Exposed Lie]

But your not really in Madison Square Garden and its not really millions of fans. I know its fun to pretend but GH is just like every other game out there, there is nothing special about it, all you can do is press the button combinations really really fast...well done.

I really dont know why im posting in here...i think if people enjoy it then by all means play it, just dont brag about it so much or make it such a big deal coz *whispers* it aint!!

 

[KaynSlamdyke]

just dont brag about it so much or make it such a big deal coz *whispers* it aint!!

The only response necessary here is "well, of course it is".

I wouldn't want to be a professional musician in real life. Just the same way I wouldn't want to be a professional soldier or a professional assassin or a professional archaeologist. But it's nice to pretend occasionally. And if that experience is helped by a toy that I could break over my knee as the nine-stone-weakling I am, then so be it.

And I do personally think being able to five star any of the upper tier songs on Expert is a bit sad. But then again I think being top of the leaderboard on Halo III or farming Onyxia in WoW is a bit sad too.

 

[ShadowKirby]

But in the real world, it's not as easy as picking it up and jamming. It requires practice and perfection. Even then, after you can play some decent music, what then. Maybe get a band together... go and play a few gigs at the pub if you're lucky.

That's how a lot of rock star started btw. You just need to be....runnin' down a dream.

 

[KaynSlamdyke]

That's how a lot of rock star started btw. You just need to be....runnin' down a dream.

It's also how a lot of people ended up in McDonalds.

 

[the_carrot]

Tell them it's a game, the controls are five keys arranged on a fisher price plastic guitar. If that is equatable in complexity to six strings and 24 frets then he'd have a real argument. But they aren't, the game is about 1/1000 as complex a task. If people were serious about taking up the instrument, they'd have done it, if not, they may try to fake it playing a watered down simple game. It is a game, not the act of playing guitar.

 

[propertyofcobra]

Guitar Hero, Pssch, why not learn to play a real guitar you loser?

Half-life? Pssch, why not save the earth from a real alien invasion, you loser?

Grand Theft Auto? Pssch, why not go on a real genocidal rampage in San Andreas, you loser?

Diablo? Pssch, why not go and slaughter millions of real demons like a one-man army?

America's Army: Pssch, why not go and join the real army and get killed in some sandy heck hole?



Anyone whining about how you don't do it for real in videogames...doesn't get the point of videogames. Simple as that.