Just got Guitar Hero 2 for 360!

[JustLikeHeaven1]

[QUOTE=bluemonkey]I'm not trying to troll here but I am geniuinely curious.  For the price of the game with the standard 1 controller you could get a decent second hand acoustic.  For the price of the game with two controllers you could get a second hand Fender Strat Squire - the standard learner's electric guitar workhorse.  I used to play the guitar myself but don't have the time these days to play.  I was just wondering why this game is more appealing than picking up a real guitar?
[/QUOTE]

This is an easy one to answer...

Instant gratification.  Sure playing the guitar makes you cooler and the ladies love it, but you won't be able to play heavy metal classics within 5 minutes of learning.  I think that plays a big part into it.

Also I think alot of people that enjoy guitar hero already play/ try to play guitar ( I could be wrong, I'm really just guessing). 

Mostly its the instant gratification thing though.  Its one of those games you play by yourself and you smile and when you play with friends you act like a complete ass.  Good stuff.

[Dennis]

As a serious fan of rhythm games, bluemonkey's question is one I hear all the time, and it makes no sense to me.  Why not buy a handgun instead of a light-gun game?  Why not go out and play football instead of Madden?  Why not go driving instead of playing Need for Speed?  Those questions seem silly but it's the same thing.

Guitar Hero is a competition.  Sitting down and playing guitar is not a competition.  Guitar Hero is easy to learn.  Playing guitar is difficult.  Guitar Hero lets you sound like a virtuoso within seconds.  You have to practice for years to get good at a real guitar.  Guitar Hero has strict parameters to follow.  Regular guitar has no guidelines to follow.

I guess I don't get why that's so hard to understand.  I don't want to learn how to play guitar any more than I want to learn how to shoot zombies. 

(As a DDR player, I also often have people tell me I could go dancing in a club for free, etc.  Same thing applies... there's no structure, competition, etc. to regular dancing).

[ActRaiser1]

[QUOTE=JustLikeHeaven]

[QUOTE=bluemonkey]I'm not trying to troll here but I am geniuinely curious.  For the price of the game with the standard 1 controller you could get a decent second hand acoustic.  For the price of the game with two controllers you could get a second hand Fender Strat Squire - the standard learner's electric guitar workhorse.  I used to play the guitar myself but don't have the time these days to play.  I was just wondering why this game is more appealing than picking up a real guitar?
[/QUOTE]

This is an easy one to answer...

Instant gratification.  Sure playing the guitar makes you cooler and the ladies love it, but you won't be able to play heavy metal classics within 5 minutes of learning.  I think that plays a big part into it.

Also I think alot of people that enjoy guitar hero already play/ try to play guitar ( I could be wrong, I'm really just guessing). 

Mostly its the instant gratification thing though.  Its one of those games you play by yourself and you smile and when you play with friends you act like a complete ass.  Good stuff.
[/QUOTE]

Agreed, you hit the nail right on the hammer with that one.  I've got a fender but completely suck at it.  However, in no time at all I can wail a way a little Stevie Ray Vaughn or Hendrix and sound phenominal.  Plus, add a couple of blokes bouncing around together and it's a riot.  Sure, I could sit for months on end learning how to play a single song or spend a few minutes and get it down.  It's just quick and fun. 

[m0zart1]

[QUOTE=ActRaiser]I swear they listened to 16 year olds when they made the soundtrack for GH2.  A majority of the songs are by bands I've never heard of.

We need a little AC/DC, Zep, Metalica or my hope, Collective Soul's Shine in GH3.  Failing that I'd gladly take some more Stevie Ray, ZZ Top, or Hendrix from GH1.[/QUOTE]

Yes, and I would love to have some more Blue Oyster Cult.  Godzilla was on the first one, but there are several other songs that would fit GH just as well.

[m0zart1]

[QUOTE=bluemonkey]I'm not trying to troll here but I am geniuinely curious.  For the price of the game with the standard 1 controller you could get a decent second hand acoustic.  For the price of the game with two controllers you could get a second hand Fender Strat Squire - the standard learner's electric guitar workhorse.  I used to play the guitar myself but don't have the time these days to play.  I was just wondering why this game is more appealing than picking up a real guitar?[/QUOTE]

Most games are just trivialized encapsulations of more complete experiences, without the learning curve, in some cases the real violence or trauma, and with an added structure of measured accomplishment.  Games like this are basically along those lines.

I am not a big fan of rhythm games, but there have definitely been a few that I thought were absolutely great experiences that I wouldn't have invested in otherwise.  Samba de Amigo, Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan and Elite Beat Agents, and Guitar Hero fit that perfectly.  I am also looking forward to Wii Music, for even more fundamental reasons.  I can play piano quite well, but I'll never have the real experience of conducting an orchestra for Symphony No. 41.  Hopefully, Wii Music can give me something like that experience without all the politics and BS of the indentured music world.

[Funkmaster V]

As a pro musician I can say that it is totally different. I play bass and can play "John the Fisherman" by Primus in real life and the Guitar Hero game is actually harder to me... or maybe just that different.  

I dunno, I also wasn't blown away by this game either. It was fun for a night with the band, but I didn't like most of the songs.

However, ROCK BAND may be more fun to me

FUNK

[m0zart1]

[QUOTE=Funkmaster V]As a pro musician I can say that it is totally different. I play bass and can play "John the Fisherman" by Primus in real life and the Guitar Hero game is actually harder to me... or maybe just that different.  

I dunno, I also wasn't blown away by this game either. It was fun for a night with the band, but I didn't like most of the songs.

However, ROCK BAND may be more fun to me

FUNK
[/QUOTE]

Well that's a legitimate diss I suppose.  I think it's because you are skilled in the real thing.  If there were a "Piano Hero" game, I seriously doubt I'd be too much into it.  I play the piano quite well, after all.  Anything made simple enough to be a rhythm game would be too simple to keep my attention.  But I'll never be a guitar player, and so something like GH can really keep my attention.  It's the experience we're looking for in games.  Sometimes the experiences aren't enough because we know the real thing.  To the rest, that same thing can be a fascinating and completely new experience that only a video game can really deliver.

[Shawn]

I think GH1 was so much better. Don't get me wrong, GH2 is a good time and they picked plenty of good bands but the song selection sucks. Or is it that the novelty wore off? I am not sure. I would say that this game is a B+ at best; it just doesn't have the addictive quality that the first one did and the bonus songs are really bad!

[Dennis]

There is a "Piano Hero," it's called Keyboard Mania and it's part of Konami's line of rhythm games (along with DDR, Drummania, Beatmania and Guitar Freaks, which Guitar Hero is a total rip-off of). 

[Gentlegamer1]

[QUOTE=m0zart]

Yes, and I would love to have some more Blue Oyster Cult.  Godzilla was on the first one, but there are several other songs that would fit GH just as well.

[/QUOTE]There needs to be a special cowbell controller just for Blue Oyster Cult!