virtual reality vs. actual stupidity
I’m certain that I’m not the first person to coin the phrase, “The Nintendo Generation,” but regardless of who gets the credit I’ve been referring to myself as that for years. Without getting long winded on the whole thing, I think you can sum up what that term means with one succinct statement: People around my age (29) are the first generation that is really still playing video games into adulthood. It’s safe to say that gaming is no longer a kids toy, and you have my generation to thank for pioneering the adult form of it. You’re welcome 
In fact, you only have to look as far as the Wii, a platform that emphasizes play-abilty, intuitiveness, and nostalgia, to see evidence that adults gamers own a big part of the market these days. (plus they have their own money to spend, so they don’t have to wait ’till Christmas)
Aside from the Wii, there is one other video game experience that has captured the adult market for many of the same reasons. Guitar Hero and Rock Band are huge. Bars host nights dedicated to these games. Hell, one of the funniest South Park episodes ever is all about this phenomenon. And as is true with anything that pwns pop culture at any given time, these games receive their fair share amount of backlash.
So what are the detractors saying about Guitar Hero and Rock Band? Well to generalize (and please read this in your most cooler-than-thou music snobby tone of voice), it’s something like this: “I don’t know, man. You see, I actually play guitar, so it’s really not that fun for me. I’d just rather play for real you know? Those games are sorta lame.” WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?! What does that even mean? What does playing these video games have to do with being a real world instrumentalist?
Oh wait, now I’m remembering back in ’86, all those real world plumbers who were boycotting Super Mario Brothers, because they’d rather engage in actual plumbing. I know I know, in the game, Mario and Luigi don’t actually fix toilets. Instead they eat mushrooms and fantasize about rescuing a hot princess and her strange little toadstool midget friend. But in real life, you don’t play Eddie Van Halen’s guitar solo in ‘Beat It’ note for note, in front of thousands of people gathered in Time Square, douche-bag! Your music career consists of covering the most obvious of Radiohead songs to for a throng of open-mic’ers who are just waiting for their chance to fumble through a couple bar chords before the Monday night beer special expires.
Do you think professional baseball players don’t play MLB the Show in the clubhouse before the game? Are we to assume that soldiers returning home from war don’t play Metal Gear Solid with their buddies? Maybe once you’ve really killed someone, the video game experience just doesn’t cut it. It’s a game! A simulation! Come down off your (Steel) high-horse, and I’ll explain to you how much more good these games do for music lovers (see: snobs) than bad.
Do you know the song, ‘Uncle Salty? No? Well I do, and there’s a pretty good chance that your little 17 year old cousin does too. Now why would a lesser known track on Aerosmith’s 1975 ‘Toys in the Attic’ release be on the radar of today’s youth? Because, when Activision put out the Aerosmith version of Guitar Hero, that track made the list. And so did ‘Train Kept a Rollin,’ ‘Mama Kin,’ and the title track to their aforementioned 3rd studio effort, “Toys in the Attic.’
You see, unless you were in high school in the ’70′s, the odds are, to you, Aerosmith is a ’90s band. You only stumble upon their “earlier life” pre-rehab (prehab?) if you’re like me, and you accidentally bought an old record. (or if you watch ‘Dazed and Confused’ a lot) It’s then that you realize for a brief moment in 1975, they were America’s answer to Led Zeppelin. Also, they’re the greatest rock outfit to come out of Boston. (apologies to the The Cars, The J. Geils Band, and of course, Boston) And now, thanks to a ‘lame’ video game, we all get reminded of how awesome that early stuff really was. The same can be said for tons of tracks/bands that have sneaked their way into these games and into previously unenlightened gamers’ subconsciousnesses. (is that a word?)
Then of course, there’s ‘THE FEELING.’ Musicians know what I’m talking about. The first time you feel it is when you finally get that song going in your parents’ basement when you’re 16. The drummer and bass player lock in, and the rest is soon to follow. And then you look around and know, you’re making a song happen. And it feels epic. Guitar Hero and Rock Band offer a “lite” version of this feeling, and this excitement lasts beyond the game play. Now you understand what a tremendous balancing act it is to be in a band and to make music. Now you understand why I can listen to David Gilmour play that same pentatonic solo at the end of ‘Comfortably Numb” over and over again and still get chills. Because I understand how hard it is to be that good. If everyone knew this, then everyone would appreciate the good stuff more. These games are truly the gateway to rock enlightenment. Like bible stories for children, without all that Jesus crap.
So next time some moron tells you that he’d rather just just play real guitar than a stupid video game, laugh in his face, or better yet show him this clip of Rush failing miserably at playing their own songs on Guitar Hero.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go rehearse. The band has a gig tonight in Hell, and I hear the Devil wants to play us for our souls. Silly Devil…he’ll never learn.
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