Ok whatever, just be an old curmudgeon who hates things that are new regardless of the evidence in front of your face. I suppose the military and NASA doesn't use video games to train their pilots and tank operators, etc, either. I just love irrational hate.
I'm with you now. I'm not saying there aren't benefits from video games either. I am saying that they are being grossly amplified within this thread though. You know sweeping floors burns calories but no one that is a legit fitness professional are going to tell people they can sweep their way to fitness. In the end Video games aren't the problem like you said, it's parents not making sure there is balance in their lives.
You were in the Navy? I am a Native American. We just need someone on here who is a cop and we have ourselves thephins.com version of the Village People.
Come on...... Hundred million dollar, technically sound simulators are not comparable to XBox games in a living room.
They actually very much are believe it or not. They all work on the same fundamentals. They're just essentially scaled down to the age or skill level in reality.
I'm a gaming nerd/supporter but I have to agree with Muck that I never got the point of these games. Now do I lose sleep over them...no....Do I not think they help bring kids into music and broaden people's music horizon like the Mor...no...but do I understand why anyone who wants to play an instrument would choose GH over the real thing....no. My thinking goes that if I want to play an instrument I'll go buy one and play it. Now I've heard the argument before about why do I play Madden rather than going out and playing football. Well to that I say I can't play in the NFL logically but I can learn to play an instrument. Over time I have lost my total hatred for these games because of looking at it like many of you do, but I can never fully understand the appeal to play a guitar via GH over a real one besides some latent laziness. Then again it could be like some of you say and people just want to play pretend and just play a fun game with friends. I understand what all of you are saying and agree, but I simply just don't get the games much less paying $200 for some of them.
Being an "old curmudgeon" I'm incapable of accepting this. Old Curmudgeon...... you've had me laughing over that since I saw it. I was officially ended in this thread after that.
My nephew was a spotter in a tank in Iraq he once told me about the simulator he used and described it very much the way you have.
it is funny how sometimes you like science and then when it goes against your point you dismis it. No, it is a good comparison because it is trying to dictate how someone gets into something. They are saying it is sad that they are getting into music because of a video game. It is like saying it is sad that someone gets into their music because they saw it on a commercial or a movie. That critisicism isn't valid. it doesn't make sense. They are just saying that these people are not enjoying music in a way they enjoy music so they are wrong. That is not valid. Music sales jump of songs that are in these games. Times are changing. Unlike in their day when it is dark or rainy outside kids have more to do now than listen to the radio.
I have a love/hate relationship with the GH franchise. The love part is that it's letting kids hear these great old songs, and some of them are actually looking into the bands themselves. The flipside of that is that alot of these kids are mindless sheep. A few years ago when MTV was telling them that bands like Poison and Ratt weren't "cool" they all believed that. Now because of a video game these same lemmings are suddenly into them. (Personally, I still can't stand either band! ) The same kids that a few years ago were laughing at my long hair are now growing theirs. I want to wring their little necks, but then I stop and realize that them growing their hair, just like them getting into these old bands and GH itself, is just yet another phase in the good ol' American "what's the 'in' thing now, gang?" cycle. It'll all be gone soon. The kids with the new found long hair and love for this music are for the most part similar to people wearing Halloween costumes. All of the look, none of the soul. But if it gets SOME of these kids to actually start truly liking this music, then it's doing something right. Now comes the hate side. I see kids in my neighborhood that tell me that they "practice" this game for hours on end every day. MY beef is, pick up the real thing and practice THAT for hours on end. Play the game for awhile, but learn a real instrument. The game gives you no fundamentals for guitar playing whatsoever. It's all sight recognition and eye hand coordination. It's robotic. Real guitar playing is not sight oriented, nor is everything laid out for you. I SUCK at this game because I hear the song in my head and my fingers go for notes that I KNOW are there, but aren't in the game. True guitar playing also comes from experimenting and coming up with your own sounds. None of that can be even simulated by GH. There are kids I see who actually think they're "rock stars" because of this game. I saw the arguments about Madden before. I can't say I've ever met a kid who thought he was NFL caliber from playing the game. Some of these kids - after playing "Rock Band" - actually believe they have a REAL band. That's the only problem I have with the games. Then again it's not really with the game itself, it's with some of the fools who play it.
agree 100%. guitar hero teaches you a little bit about playing in time. but it doesn't give you the actual notes or the correct "attitude" that comes along with hours of practice and playing the instrument. it's a fad. and if it helps people get into music like the mor did that's great. i just have a bad feeling that most of the time a few years down the road that will not be the case.
I do not know if it is a fad. I think the Music instrument games will be around forever. They might not be as big as they are now, still they are great for parties and it is fun to play. I think Guitar Hero is a tetris. It will be decently popular as long as people like games with buttons and music
I also want to say douche-bags will be douche-bags even if Guitar Hero didn't exist. Blaming Guitar Hero because douche-bags act all douche-baggery about their Guitar Hero skills is not fair to guitar hero. Without Guitar hero these douche-bags would just find some other outlet for their douche-baggery.
I do find it funny when kids think they're badass when they take GH too seriously, but its good that more kids are actually getting into music because of the games. If there is anything Resident Evil thought me is that a shotgun a lighter and a can of kerosine will be my best friends suring the zombie apopcalypse. You also need a contrcution worker and a cowboy. maybe you'll find them at your friend's gig.
however music and buttons linked together in a home console with an entire game surrounding it is a pretty new phenomon.
A lot of you keep focusing on the guitar aspect of these games. Some kids are getting a huge kick out of the drums, which will teach some sense of timing, and the vocals. This game is little more than a huge karaoke system. People keep saying that they don't like the kids who think they are badass because they can play GH. I can find you dozens examples of people with real guitars who suck just as bad who think they are just as good so what does it prove?
Hey, you're a good sight older than me sir. I'm still in my 20's! I considered that. But I wasn't really into the simulation type games. I had one of these and found out quick that I didn't like it. The Wii stuff doesn't interest me either. Just personal preference I guess.
Does it come with diarrhea and hearing aid commercials too? I swear they always had the worst commercials when Matlock re-runs came on at lunchtime.
i have already said that you learn timing from playing the game. it proves that the people who are playing real guitars that suck need to take guitar lessons. or to stop being delusional. or maybe.. i dunno.. practice?
I'm the same way. I saw what this game was and knew I'd have zero chance of being any good at it. Not that I'd enjoy it anyway. But playing a song this way is counter to actually playing it on a guitar. There's no way my tiny brain could do it. Not to mention there's no feeling, no tone, no touch. Robotic, just like you said. Look at it this way.... Does excelling Guitar Hero get you laid? I rest my case.
Excellent point bro. One thing I kept (and keep) reminding my boys is that Rock Band and GH are NOT 'real'. They are just fun video games. BUT if you get a real guitar or drum set and play them and practice, with time you will be the ones putting your music in games for others to 'play'. Not to mention the high of nailing a song on a real guitar is twice as awesome as nailing the 'notes' in a video game. You just need to keep them grounded. In the end though, its all about just having fun.
These musicians need to lighten up. No of course it doesn't teach hardly anything about music, if anything at all. But what it can do is get kids interested in music, which should be considered a good thing. This is a new medium that people use to experience music and a few musicians would do well to acknowledge that and get their panties out of a wad.
I think you have very good points though a lot of that is just kids acting like kids. The game can never simulate real guitar playing and if someone never takes the chance to try the real thing it's their loss IMO.
I have seen Madden players declare that playing Madden should be an Olympic sport. Pretty much the same thing...
Brother I've met many that thought they were qualified to be coaches though. If you've ever heard someone yelling at a game on t.v. based on what they would do in madden you would change your mind.
That's my point. I play real guitar. If you're going to practice for hours on end, might as well be the real thing.
The timing on Guitar Hero can be off... it teaches kids how to keep time on a video game. It surely doesn't make them a metronome. I've played drums since middle school and the some of the techniques I learned aren't something I could have learned from Guitar Hero. IMO the only thing that Guitar Hero teaches as far as drums goes is extremely basic drum patterns (like some of the beats that AC/DC made famous) and that's something they could be able to replicate on a real drum set. I don't think they'll be able to replicate a Rush song on "Expert" on a real drum set so I think it will only take you as far. If you're playing Guitar Hero for fun, so be it, really not a big deal... It's not a learning alternative to actually playing music though. It is what it is though... I understand why people play it and I don't hate them or anything... but there's a little haste in me when people crowd around someone playing Guitar Hero... It's just how I feel and I doubt my tune will ever change.
Well said. But, it isn't just kids. I was in a bar one time talking to one of the guys in a band that had just played. We were talking about guitars, and this dude walks in on our conversation naming the songs he can play. He was talking about the band he was jamming with, and saying that they play 3 times a week. The guitarist in the band asked him what the name of his band was and he said something..I don't remember what it was. Then, I asked him what kind of guitar he plays. He said in all seriousness with a straight face "I've got a Harmonix Explorer." (Thats a guitar hero thing) We told him to get away from us and to come back when he stops playing with toys.
I notice you all are talking about these games purely from a guitar standpoint. I don't play guitar much but I do play the drums of Rock Band. I do seem to be learning some foot/hand coordination through the game. Granted the pads do not resemble real drums, but percussion is just that: percussion.
I've heard playing the drums on the highest difficulties can kind of give you a basic sense of the real thing. As in how you have to keep a beat with the drumsticks and maintain a separate beat sometimes with the bass pedal. I wouldn't know though, I'm sure as with the guitar the real thing is much more difficult to master.
I didn't say it would make them a drummer. I just said it could give them a basic sense of timing and possibly give them a segue to want to learn a real instrument. http://www.amazon.com/Drum-Rocker-P..._4?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1246160064&sr=1-4 Some of these accessories still take talent to master.
wow people are upset because video gamers talk ****. I bet thats never happened before. People need to calm down. I seriously doubt anybody buys guitar hero thinking they will be an awesome guitarist. It can get people involved in music simply because it exposes them to a wider genre of it. Can it help hand eye coordination probably. Why? because it involves some form of rhythm and repitition, such as when a boxer works a speed bag. Will it make someone an awesome musician, no. Will it cause even more kids to be inactive then video games/ tv did before, I'm going to say no. This is the usual video games are bringing down our civilization argument.
