Complete Control

[pasithea]

Meh. I've already done a round of pissing people off this week. Why not go for broke and alienate all my friends.

elfs linked to this article, and honestly, it's one I couldn't agree with more. http://www.roughtype.com/archives/2009/01/complete_contro_1.php Guitar Hero is one of those things that really just totally baffles me. If I'm going to learn to 'play' music, I may as well grab a real guitar and learn to play that. (And in fact, I do practice guitar, flute, and keyboard) Sure, each of these are FAR more complex and difficult to learn than mashing keys in a video game, and certainly I can never look forward to being 'the absolute best' at any of them. In fact, I'm not even at a level where I'm keen to torture my friends with my playing. BUT learning stuff is fun and well... As the article said... For me, it's all about opening possibilities.


Sorry if I'm really down on this whole creator vs consumer thing lately. Perhaps I should spend less time blithering away on LJ and more time creating stuff myself.

Comments

[yetanotherbob.livejournal.com]

No, he's saying that the game of guitar hero is heavily abstracted, distilled, and watered down the same way that other games are heavily abstracted, distilled, and watered down versions of the things they represent. But that's the point of many games, as the watering down lowers risk, be it physical, monetary, or both.

You don't play Street Fighter to learn how to kick-box. You play it because it's fun, has low risk, and can be easily started or stopped. I only play rock band with the wife's family because it's a social thing that doesn't require years of training and hundreds of dollars.

Yeah, so it's not realistic and isn't like the real thing. That's why it's a game, not a simulator.