guitar hero?

Originally Posted by: magicninjaI have fun with it and my 6 year old loves it. He's better than alot of people my age. I've seen him get 100% on medium songs. After playing with it for awhile he demands I get him a real guitar. A red one with skulls on it according to him. So maybe introducing the game to kids isn't all bad.

I play it with my 10 year old and have to admit I enjoy it somewhat. More importantly, it got my son interested in playing a real guitar, so last Christmas I got him an Epi SG Deluxe. His interest has waned on the real guitar, and I don't want to push him too hard, but when I threaten to toss out the SG if he doesn't practice, he does. Hopefully he'll stick with the real guitar, but I don't want to force my own passions on him if he really doesn't want to. At least he's not addicted to it like some of his friends.

Aside from that, if not for GH, I never would have heard of Pantera, Motorhead, and other metal bands I was never into. I used to be a pretty avid pc gamer until I realized- why the hell am I wasting so much time playing video games? I do wish they would come out with another Max Payne though... :)

Originally Posted by: Kevin TaylorI thought it was really cool until I found out you don't actually play a real guitar with it. Then it was kinda like 'why would anybody want to do this?'

Kevin, that's my soon to be ex' attitude on the REAL guitar. That's why I had my guitars stored away for over 10 years! Witch (her, not you)! :(

Ummm.....did ya REALLY think there was a 6-string guitar for non players to play on? Don't tell anyone, but you don't get real cars in Grand Theft Auto! :p :)

Originally Posted by: SilimtaoUmmm.....did ya REALLY think there was a 6-string guitar for non players to play on? Don't tell anyone, but you don't get real cars in Grand Theft Auto! :p :)

Then what the hell did I just do?!

Originally Posted by: earthman buckThen what the hell did I just do?!

You've just entered the world of....KEVIN-LAND!

I have gone to a few concerts recently at the Meadows in CT (or Dodge or whatever it's call now) and they actually have tents setup for folks that are good at guitar hero to show off. Not that it bothers me in anyway, but I couldn't help but ask myself if this was a joke. I have played the game myself once or twice and I can't imagine it takes much talent to get good at hitting 5 plastic buttons when a screen tells you to. :confused:

Originally Posted by: ddaloia I can't imagine it takes much talent to get good at hitting 5 plastic buttons when a screen tells you to. :confused:

I don't think the game has anything to do with having talent, and I don't think it was created for those that do. It's just another game that requires good eye-hand coordination like many video games. I think we guitar players have a bit of an advantage having better dexterity with our fretting hand than the average person. I started the game on medium, and I had a helluva time beating Crossroads- Expert level is a bit more challenging. Eh, it's just a game- it has really no relation to playing a real guitar, other than timing and some dexterity. I just wonder how many kids these days are getting stoned and playing it rather than playing air-guitar. I'm just glad my kid got interested in playing it rather than all the shoot 'em games. But he's back to those again. I think he may be sniping people off rooftops in a few years. To tell ya the truth, if I had to do it all over again, I never would have exposed my kids to tv, the internet or vid games. Kids these days are addicted to all 3 (man, I'm sounding old!). Both my kids are natural athletes, but they're becoming couch potatoes and that ticks me off more than anything.

Originally Posted by: SilimtaoI don't think the game has anything to do with having talent, and I don't think it was created for those that do. It's just another game that requires good eye-hand coordination like many video games. I think we guitar players have a bit of an advantage having better dexterity with our fretting hand than the average person. I started the game on medium, and I had a helluva time beating Crossroads- Expert level is a bit more challenging. Eh, it's just a game- it has really no relation to playing a real guitar, other than timing and some dexterity. I just wonder how many kids these days are getting stoned and playing it rather than playing air-guitar. I'm just glad my kid got interested in playing it rather than all the shoot 'em games. But he's back to those again. I think he may be sniping people off rooftops in a few years. To tell ya the truth, if I had to do it all over again, I never would have exposed my kids to tv, the internet or vid games. Kids these days are addicted to all 3 (man, I'm sounding old!). Both my kids are natural athletes, but they're becoming couch potatoes and that ticks me off more than anything.

Yeah. You can see that kids these days get hooked on the games and tv. My son is too young to do either (only 6 months), but I am an outdoors type person so I hope I can get him to be the same.

Originally Posted by: ddaloiaYeah. You can see that kids these days get hooked on the games and tv. My son is too young to do either (only 6 months), but I am an outdoors type person so I hope I can get him to be the same.

Hi, ddaloia. First, congrats on your son. Dunno if he's your first born, but being a parent really is a great life-changer, huh?

Far be it for me to tell someone how to raise their kid(s). But I beg you, for the sake of your son and yourself- limit his tv & vid game playing.

I have 2 kids; 14 yr old daughter, and a 10 yr old son. Unfortunately for them, I've been going through a tortuous divorce over the last 3 yrs- it's pretty much a done deal, but my wife keeps trying to change custody; we have joint custody, meaning I get them 1 week, she get them the other, and we alternate. I'm mentioning this because I have my daughter in therapy because it's been rough on her, and her therapist pointed out that this generation of kids are growing up in the digital age- something no other generation pre- 1990's have ever gone through before.

My daughter's shrink (not that I take a whole lot of stock in shrinks; I think most of them are nuts themselves), pointed out that this generation of kids uses the internet and tv to "disconnect" from life. Peer pressure like what the generations before the digital age is even greater because of the million channels on cable, and the internet is causing kids to "grow up too fast" without the capacity to deal with life. When the pressure gets too great, they "disconnect" by losing themselves in tv, the internet, and the big thing for young kids now- Facebook, or "Facebooking". Then it becomes a vicious circle. The very thing they escape into is also causing to a great degree their stress. And this isn't only for kids in the middle of divorcing parents. Parents I know with intact families have the same problems- they can't get their kids off the tv, game console, internet, txt messaging on their cellphones (if you live in a big city, you almost have to get your kid a cell phone to keep track of where they are.)

So my point is, set the limits early. Even if you don't get your son shoot-'em-up games, you can bet his friends will, then you'll hear, "but Johnny's parents let him play Grand Theft Auto." I have to admit I played that with my son. So it's a tough balancing act. Guys have it built into our DNA to blow things up, kill, go to war. I'm just glad my son is grounded in reality- when playing GTA, I said, "let's shoot a cop." He said, no, that's wrong, he's a good guy. Thank the heavens for that. I'm slowly trying to wean him off vid games by teaching him the guitar and martial arts. My daughter is another matter- she hasn't stayed with me in 2 weeks because I tried to limit her "Facebooking" and txt messaging!

Well, I think you get my point. Living through all this, I know first hand how tough it is trying to raise kids in the digital age. Hope you're not offended by my response- no one likes to hear how to raise their own kids. And apologies to all for going off-topic on this thread.

PS: don't think 6 months is too young. With my daughter, it was Barney which she got addicted to, and I'd play interactive sing along pc games with the words bouncing across the screen with her. She was able to read and speak before the age of 1. Same with my son (minus Barney, but it was some other kiddie show.) Little did I know what a can of worms I was opening up.

The real issue with my generation, though I get a bad taste saying that, is the games themselves. Not the violence or laziness involved, no. Same could be said of movies. Enough walking birds...

It's the "instant gratification". Kids today can plug in that Red Octane abomination and once those green buttons flash they are playing their favourite songs. Why spend a decade or two learning for real when you can spend 80 dollars of your parents' money instead?

Originally Posted by: QuicksliverIt's the "instant gratification".

You nailed it, Quicksilver. Since this thread is about GH, I'll try to get a bit more on topic. In GH 3, you're allowed to enter cheat codes. My son knows how to google, and when I caught him looking up cheats, I said, don't even think about it, or the game is going in the garbage.

It's hard to stuff the cat back in once it's out of the bag, but there has to be limits. Unfortunately, this generation of kids have no sense of limits. I don't blame the kids, I blame the parents. To a good degree, I'm among them. Divorce is hard enough under any condition, but when both parents aren't on the same page as far as limitations, it's even tougher- on the kids. I realize I've taken this thread way off base, but I hope every parent and young kid out there reading this takes a good hard look at video gaming, tv watching, txt messaging they or their kids are doing. What happened to actually working for something?

Thanks for letting me vent, all.

heh..I feel the opposite about cheat codes.
I figure... I paid $50 for the stupid thing, if I want to move ahead and cheat, that's my right & I shouldn't have to go searching for codes to unlock parts of the game that I already paid for.
Same thing with 'easter eggs' on DVD's. I don't get the point of having to search all over the place to unlock something that already belongs to me.

Originally Posted by: Kevin Taylorheh..I feel the opposite about cheat codes.
I figure... I paid $50 for the stupid thing, if I want to move ahead and cheat, that's my right & I shouldn't have to go searching for codes to unlock parts of the game that I already paid for.
Same thing with 'easter eggs' on DVD's. I don't get the point of having to search all over the place to unlock something that already belongs to me.

I don't totally disagree with you, Kevin. I was really talking in the context of kids- I think it sends the wrong message; if you get stuck, you can cheat your way out. I'm not a straight-laced boyscout by any means, but I only get one chance to get things right as the (alleged) adult as far as my kids.

I was tempted to enter cheats in GH3 to get to the good songs, but my son woulda busted me cold, so I had to go through all the tunes.

As for me, part of the challenge is beating a game straight up. The only game I couldn't beat was GTA on a timed mission- vid card lag. I can be really OCD about some things- after a month of trying to beat the mission I just gave up.

Not a fan of it really.

Ask your self this.... Would you rather learn ' through the fire and flames' on expert on guitar hero? or, Learn it in real life?

Also the time it takes for you to master it on guitar hero, You could be the next Hendrix.

I. Love. Guitar Hero.

Originally Posted by: QuicksliverIt's the "instant gratification".

Takes me less time to learn a song on regular guitar than it did to get good at guitar hero, in fairness.

Originally Posted by: magicninjaI have fun with it and my 6 year old loves it. He's better than alot of people my age. I've seen him get 100% on medium songs. After playing with it for awhile he demands I get him a real guitar. A red one with skulls on it according to him. So maybe introducing the game to kids isn't all bad.

Some people do take the game waaaaaaay too seriously though.

I finally beat "Through the Fire and Flames" on Hard. Does that make me one of those people?

When I get frustrated with the game, though, I tend to learn the song on my real guitar. I did that with "Raining Blood." That way if I love it up on guitar hero, I can just pout and say "well, I can play it on REAL guitar."

I played Guitar Hero once. I was horrible. It was tremendous fun. I hope to play it again in the future.