Why Play X? Wouldn’t You Rather Y?

I grew up playing Super Mario Bros., and not once did anyone suggest that I go through town busting bricks searching for magic mushrooms, mercilessly stomping any turtles which may get in my path.

I grew up playing Pac-Man, and not once did anyone suggest that I wander through a dark room, popping pills, attempting to eat ghosts and fruits. (Well, it was suggested that I eat more fruit…)

I grew up playing The Legend of Zelda, and not once did anyone suggest that I seek out treasure by burning away bushes, digging up yards, or bombing through labyrinthine caves.

I grew up playing Super Mario Kart, and not once did anyone suggest that I get a Go Kart or race them at Wally World (no, not Wal-Mart).

I grew up playing GoldenEye 007, and not once did anyone suggest that I purchase a silenced pistol and venture forth to Russia as a spy.

I grew up playing Duke Nukem, Doom, Turok, and Quake, and not once did anyone suggest that I seek out bigger and better weaponry for relentless alien, demon, and dinosaur slaughtering.

I grew up playing Populous, and not once did anyone suggest that I wage war on my neighbors for the sake of expanding my own property.

I grew up playing SimCity, and not once did anyone suggest that I unleash natural disasters (or, in Super Nintendo terms, a giant King Bowser) upon my own property.

I grew up playing a great many things, and never did anyone suggest that I should instead do the real life variant. (Okay, due to my LEGO addiction, I was told on more than one occasion I should be an architect or designer, but we’re talking video games here…)

So why-oh-why is it that now that I am grown up, if I play Guitar Hero, people do suggest that instead I play a real guitar? What is it about that particular game that people seem to have such a problem with?

I’ve even seen numerous Web comics which point out how much cooler you are if you can play a real guitar as opposed to Guitar Hero. Great, but so? I wonder if it has ever occurred to such people that maybe Guitar Hero is just a fun game which can be enjoyed without the hours of practice, commitment, and finger-callousing which goes along with a real guitar? That alone makes it significantly more accessible to a much greater portion of the populace, and of course the more people who can play it, the funner it becomes. (And the more who enjoy it, the better the games get… Guitar Hero 4 looks like it is going to be incredible based upon what I’ve read about it.)

I realize that Guitar Hero may only be a suped-up version of air guitar, but listening to music while air-jamming along is a very effective stress-reliever (I can only wish that someday Guitar Hero has Metallica’s “Whiskey in the Jar” for that very reason). It’s escapist. It’s fun. It isn’t real guitar, but it isn’t meant to be. Get over it.

Thanks.

(Pictures in this post are linked to their source; none of them are of me.)

4 thoughts on “Why Play X? Wouldn’t You Rather Y?”

  1. Which of the below listed activities does not belong? Why not?

    “go through town busting bricks searching for magic mushrooms, mercilessly stomping any turtles which may get in my path.”

    “wander through a dark room, popping pills, attempting to eat ghosts and fruits.”

    “seek out treasure by burning away bushes, digging up yards, or bombing through labyrinthine caves.”

    “get a Go Kart or race them at Wally World”

    “purchase a silenced pistol and venture forth to Russia as a spy”

    “seek out bigger & better weaponry for relentless alien, demon, and dinosaur slaughtering.”

    “wage war on my neighbors for the sake of expanding my own property.”

    “unleash natural disasters (or, in Super Nintendo terms, a giant King Bowser) upon my own property.”

    “play a real guitar”

  2. Senior: I’ll assume that your point is that “play a real guitar” is something I can already do (and should be doing more of). Or maybe your point is that it’s infinitely more practical than going on an alien-slaughtering rampage for the sake of humanity. I agree.

    But that argument works easily only because of my selection of games. What if I was a huge sports fan and grew up playing NBA, NCAA, NFL, Madden, FIFA, NASCAR, or Formula-1 games? I haven’t noticed much, for lack of a better word, ridicule toward those who play those games, and they remain perennially popular, especially the Madden games. But shouldn’t all those players just go outside and play a real game?

    Perhaps, but then that defeats the escapist principle of gaming.

    (I just remembered I grew up also playing a WCW/nWo game; and while no one was encouraging me to do so, my friends and I had plenty of wrestling matches out in the yard.)

    When Guitar Hero 4 comes out, it’ll support vocals, drums, bass, and guitar; being able to jam along with pretty much all my friends, whether they are musically skilled or not, will be a lot of fun. And you’re welcome to join in on vocals, if you’d like. :P

  3. “being able to jam along with pretty much all my friends, whether they are musically skilled or not, will be a lot of fun. And you’re welcome to join in on vocals, if you’d like.”

    A lot of fun until I start singing and everyone leaves….

    I think the difference is that playing Maddon football is a very different activity than going outside and playing football. Ditto for the other sports games.

    But playing guitar hero appears to be substantially the same activity as playing a guitar. You hold it the same. Your left hand is doing one thing on the neck and your right hand something else on the body (right?). The activity is so similar, it seems nuts to not do the real thing.

    As the Wii becomes more widely known, some of those games may become subject to the same criticism.

  4. Senior: Rumor has it that Guitar Hero 4 will feature yet another advancement to the guitar accessory to make it even more realistic. Also, competitor game Rock Band features a guitar which not only has five buttons at the top of the neck, but also five at the bottom, for more realistic guitar solo playing.

    Guitar Hero 4, reportedly, will also feature brief portions of the songs within which players can improvise (well, at least the drummer).

    Realism is definitely being pushed for.

    Eventually, playing Guitar Hero will be the same as playing a guitar, and we won’t be having this discussion any more. :P Well, then we’ll be discussing why it’s better to memorize songs for play rather than playing songs via colored gem recognition. (But even orchestral musicians get to use sheet music!)

    You’re probably right about the Wii; there are already bowling, boxing, exercise, dance, baseball, tennis, table tennis, darts, and target practice games which, thanks to the Wii’s awesome accessories, are much more realistic than past games ever could have been.

    And oddly enough, I came across this just moments ago:
    http://ablk.com/img/e.jpg

    Goes nearly perfectly with the first point I made in the above post. :P

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