Guitar Hero III and RockBand Spawns New Real Life Rockers?

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Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry believes Guitar Hero has helped steer his kids away from violence. Or at least video game violence. "I think it has a lot more going for it than all that first-person-shooter stuff," he says. "You can only do so much of that, you know? Bottom line, how many car crash-ups can you see? How much blood do you want splattered across the screen? It's just a whole different way to play video games without all this violence. ... And you get to listen to rock 'n' roll, so that's great."

Meanwhile, Slash (of Guns 'N Roses fame) says that he's starting to believe Guitar Hero may help create the next generation of studio musicians. "[Kids] can become such video game junkies that they don't leave the house, don't play sports, and just gel in front of the TV. I was scared this immensely popular game would be as far as many kids would go toward becoming musically inclined. But it turns out that a huge percentage of children who play Guitar Hero aspire to play actual guitar to the point of getting their parents to buy them one. And the real positive thing is it introduces kids to a certain brand of rock 'n' roll that's not really around right now."

(From PLUGGEDIN.Online, 14 January 2009)

There does seem to be some merit in Joe Perry's comments about offering kids an alternative to fantasizing about inner city crime and first person shooters. God knows my kids have shot and killed more soldiers in virtual combat than entire regiments during WW2. Guitar slinging is a welcome change. Both my boys took up guitar at a young age, always having a well stocked stable on hand in the basement, so the mystique of Guitar Hero was a bit less intense for them. But all their friends are mad for it, and according to Slash there are reams of kids rushing out to learn to play because of their experience with Guitar Hero. I'm not so sure.

There's no doubt that guitar sales are up (or were until the recent bust) but they've been up since the late 90's, predating the launch of the game by 5 years at least. Every year I'm amazed at the number of my students who stroll into class after Christmas with brand new axes. And not all of them are Chinese-made rubbish either. Many are sweet legendary models that I would've killed for at that age. The thought of my old man shelling out a fortnights' pay for my adolescent guitar obsession is inconceivable. Nope, it was strictly Harmony hackers, Heathkit amps and/or friends' begged borrowed or stolen guitars. Not these days. Sadly, most of these beauties will get a good flogging for a month or two, then be retired under the bed. At least that's what I've seen with the vast majority of my students. A year or two later, these guitars are on the block via ebay, kijiji or in the oft-maligned (oh please God let this be the Saturday I find it) garage sale.

Sad, but there's an upside. If the trend continues, budget-conscious old plank-spankers like us will soon be able to pick up some classic axes at killer prices. Fast food guitar? Not too hard to swallow. Rock on Guitar Heroes!