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"Rock Band" Rocks
Video games and music: Two great tastes together
About a month ago, I wrote that "I have seen the future of rock 'n' roll and it is Guitar Hero." Since I am a mercurial man, I would like to amend that statement: The future of rock 'n' roll is Rock Band.
For those of you who have too many important things to do to keep track of the latest video games, Guitar Hero and Rock Band could best be described as variations on a theme. In Guitar Hero and its various sequels, players follow a song onscreen by pressing buttons on a game controller shaped like a toy guitar. Rock Band adds a drum controller — operated by hitting a set of pads with realistic drum sticks — and a karaoke-style microphone that judges a singer's pitch and phrasing.
The two games are dueling in a virtual of battle of the bands. So far, Guitar Hero III has a substantial lead: It's less expensive, available for more consoles, and there are more of them available in stores. Rock Band seems to be doing well, but industry analysts believe there aren't nearly enough of them available. Given the complexity of making the game — the toy guitar is more complicated than in Guitar Hero, as are the drums and microphone — it could take some time before that problem is solved.
When it is, Rock Band will sweep the nation. It has already swept my apartment, where a fake band made up of myself, my girlfriend, and a friend "practiced" until 1 am Sunday night. Since my girlfriend is usually neutral about or hostile to video games, I knew Guitar Hero would find a mainstream audience when she liked it. She also prefers Rock Band, as did our friend, who told me he hadn't picked up a game controller since the days of ColecoVision.
For those of you who have too many important things to do to keep track of the latest video games, Guitar Hero and Rock Band could best be described as variations on a theme. In Guitar Hero and its various sequels, players follow a song onscreen by pressing buttons on a game controller shaped like a toy guitar. Rock Band adds a drum controller — operated by hitting a set of pads with realistic drum sticks — and a karaoke-style microphone that judges a singer's pitch and phrasing.
The two games are dueling in a virtual of battle of the bands. So far, Guitar Hero III has a substantial lead: It's less expensive, available for more consoles, and there are more of them available in stores. Rock Band seems to be doing well, but industry analysts believe there aren't nearly enough of them available. Given the complexity of making the game — the toy guitar is more complicated than in Guitar Hero, as are the drums and microphone — it could take some time before that problem is solved.
When it is, Rock Band will sweep the nation. It has already swept my apartment, where a fake band made up of myself, my girlfriend, and a friend "practiced" until 1 am Sunday night. Since my girlfriend is usually neutral about or hostile to video games, I knew Guitar Hero would find a mainstream audience when she liked it. She also prefers Rock Band, as did our friend, who told me he hadn't picked up a game controller since the days of ColecoVision.
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