Opinion: Why I hate music games

[dazcarney]

I'm sick of all of this pedantry by so called muso's when it comes to Rockband and the like. Get of your Fecking high horse.

They are meant as fun and have even convinced people to take up playing an instrument.

My 11 nephew used to listen to nothing but rap and R&B which is fine in a way if thats what you like but now thanks to Guitar Hero and the like he also listens to stuff like the Foo Fighters, The Killers and others. In other words it expanded his musical tastes and knowledge and there is nothing bad in that.
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Gamertag: DazCarney
Feck bottom Drink Girls.

[Dajmin]

My band has just recorded our first album. I've been playing keyboards since I was 8, drums since I was 12, guitar since I was 16 and singing all my life. I'm fairly average on most of them but am a damn good singer. I reckon that makes me just about qualified for this debate.

First of all, the entire point of Guitar Hero et al is that they're EASIER than learning a real instrument. You CAN spend hundreds of hours learning Fire & Flames if you want, but you don't NEED to just to sound good. To sound half decent on a guitar takes a lot of practice, commitment and sore fingers. The drums are a bit different because that's very similar to learning real drums (the basics at least), but the Rock Band kit is still cheaper than a real drum kit, and your family and neighbours aren't going to curse you nearly as much for hitting them as real skins.

I don't think the plastic instruments look any more ridiculous than the way some people (myself included) hold a pad and lean left and right or gurn when it gets tense.

For a lot of people, this is the only chance they'll get to emulate the feeling of playing a kick-ass tune. It's not like playing a real gig live, but the sense of accomplishment for the song itself is the same. You did it right, therefore you rock.

You might as well say "why buy loads of racing sims when for a little more money and years of training you can drive real racing cars?". It's stupid and not everyone can afford to or wants to do the real thing.
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Albany Down | This is My Opinion, Suck it Up.

[dark_gamer]

[KesMonkey]

Wow. Way to insult a large portion of your readers. I think I'll fire one back. Hey James, you're clearly an asshole, I've met people like you before. Go f**k yourself.

[NaththeNarc]

Daz, people go through phases, saying Guitar Hero opened your 11 YEAR OLD nephews eyes to other music and gave him a more eclectic range is hardly a massive plus for it.

I grew up on Pavarotti, MJ, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and all sorts and hated RnB, and stuff like that and when I reached around 11 I discovered punk just from going to big boy school, and listened to punk nonstop for years. Now I have a massive eclectic range and like most music. What i'm saying is that you could've just got him the music and probably saved a lot of money and got the same results :p.

I don't mind Guitar Hero, it's a nice refresher considering I stopped playing guitar several years ago, but my gripe is DJ Hero. WHAT A STUPID GAME! I'm a DJ and this game gets on my nerves. For like 60 quid you can get a semi-decent mixer and just start mixing whatever you want! It's not hard to learn if you can feel the beat.

I was watching my friend playing DJ Hero at his house when he was trying to convince me its good, and it's horrible. The mixing is rubbish and all you are doing is actually switching between songs. RRAARRRGGGHHH!!!

My rant is over now. x

[obscured021]

i pick up a drum kit for 20 euro in a gamestop sale, and the first hero game for free, i have been smashing away for the last 4 weeks and i love it.
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[thief90k]

Hey James, why waste all your time learning to play war games when you can go join the army? Why play GTA when you can buy a gun and go shoot up the town? Why play sports games when there's a gym down the road?

Because you're a gamer, not a soldier or a psycho or an athlete. And I'm a gamer, not a musician.

- Nick

[sweatyBallacks?]

Music games are stupid and sad, I've never bought one and have never considered it

[funkadeefunk]

I was gonna write something venomously cutting about my hatred of driving sims, but then realised I'm not gonna get paid for it.
So until you find the wit and wisdom to write something objective or entertaining, f**k off c**tybaws!

[Dajmin]

[_Marty_]

What a moany bastard...

You seem to be missing the one point of them - they are GAMES.
Just like we don't have Lewis Hamilton moan at people who buy driving games (with steering wheel), or Beckham having a go because PES and Fifa fly off the shelves EVERY DAMN YEAR, and I'm fairly sure the military didn't rant at the millions that bought Modern Warfare 2.

And why was that? Because all those people know they are merely games. Just like all those that play Rock Bank, Guitar Hero, etc.

Just can it Grinch, and find something else to moan about. Perhaps if you dismounted from your high horse and tried them, you'd realise they aren't in any way trying to replace your precious real musicians...
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[Matriculated]

I think this xkcd strip sums it up perfectly:

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/rock_band.png

[Sleepaphobic]

only thought abt metallica version coz well, it's metallica but I'm way more of a techno whore nowadays (still loves me sum metal though) and thought why not save for a damn mixer so I can make some uber sets (with amazingly sh1t transitions of course) instead of doing it all for pretend.

I can understand tht all of us will never shred like hammett or hendrix and a play through once in a while makes some sort of sense. It still would feel weird though with those plastic instruments, kinda like the wii. I don't know how you cannot feel stupid waggling a remote all over the place or actually pretending to b a rock star and jumping around and trying to play with ur teeth.

The beef I do have with these games is that it hasnt progressed at all, I mean its pretty much zelda syndrome right now. Also it's getting milked like a b1tch but thts probably a company problem as I'm sure we would al b tired of any game if it was release 5 times a year.

finally, I think the title should b abt rhythm games as that is what GH RB actually r. There are some games out there that incorporate music extremely well such as audiosurf, rez and riff.
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[hp_on_toast]

I can understand James' PoV as a musician and gamer and believe far too much money is being wasted on sequels and plastic instruments.

However we're at a time in the music scene where guitar bands aren't big anymore. RB & GH are keeping the genre live, getting younger kids interested in older bands and keeping sales of real instruments alive.

And how can he sensibly suggest forking out for a �500+ Fender Strat as your first guitar? You should be suggesting some cheap Fender Tele copy you can get from Asda for under �70. Like the Tax Break article earlier in the week this is small minded middle class journalism at its worst.

[BlindFish]

"Demos are evil" and now "Why I hate music games"... Why not make the next negative 'opinion feature': "Why game journalists are a bunch of miserable bastards incapable of finding anything worthwhile to write about."

[TheIrishBull]

I understand that everyone has there own opinion, and that's fair to say, but to say that these music games are of no benefit or wasting of time is taking the biscuit. The likes of guitar hero and rockband have opened up a completly new direction in gaming genre where game developers and designers can create a wider landscape. I mean guitar hero is rumoured working on something for project natal. Things like these could bring us one step forward to the one on one experience.

Of course it's never going to be the same as actually being in a band but it's only for entertainment and fun. You can't expect everyone who bought Rockband or guitarhero to go away and make a band, it's not possible. I'll have to say for one that I've picked up the guitar this year and I wouldn't of if it weren't thanks to a Guitar Hero World Tour christmas present last year

Further more the work, time and effort put into these games in order to please old and new comers should be at mind here, it's not simply putting a familar face into the game or pressing buttons to create music. You should be thankfu; that these games are here

[FAUNA]

No more music games please. PEOPLE, PLEASE PICK UP REAL INSTRUMENTS!

[__SpUtNiK__]

Im a god on both the stratocaster and GH.
(SpUtNiK > Malmsteen )

My (custom) strat with equipment cost me about �800, made me no money and got me laid once!!! ONCE!!! Maybe i need longer hair.

Although I will admit my GH skillz never got me laid it was a damn sight cheaper!

GH > Strat... Its extremely sad (genuinely, it is) but true!
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Games affect us as kids, pah!
If that was the case id be running around a darkend room, munching pills and listening to repetitive electronic music after playing Pac-man.... oh wait.

[shimrod]

Well said James, well said

[The Bossman]

Fuck off. Only idiots complain about these music games, you don't tell us what to fucking do, just like we don't tell you what notes to play on your real pissy guitar. We can't all be Slash playing in a big stadium, it allows us to pretend to be him and others. You can stick to your tiny gigs playing in pubs, because no-one cares about you or your guitar, you inbred twat.

Ironically, I bet this guy has at least one of these music games he despises so much. Pathetic, it really is. And you call yourself a videogames journalist? Please. So I suppose all FPS games, all Sports games, all Singstar games, all Uncharted, Tomb Raider etc games are pointless and aren't worth spending money on, either? You've put all your eggs in one basket, and you've made yourself a fool. Stupid, ignorant twattish journalist.
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