The Triumphant Return of "Guitar Troll!!"

I just came across an report saying that "Guitar Hero" is being pulled from further development.  Apparently the same goes for "Rock Band."  The article (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110209/ap_on_bi_ge/us_earns_activision_blizzard) is interesting in that it points to the fact these games at one point truly revolutionized the gaming industry, but have proven to be consistently unprofitable.

There is some logic to that notion that even I can follow.  The games had a huge rush of initial sales and popularity in the mid-2000s, but the problem is that unlike almost all other games they require multiple and, by industry standards, expensive additional controllers (guitars, drums, etc.) in order to operate.

The initial business model seems to have been based around the idea that the consumer will spend enough additional money purchasing more songs to play on the game to offset the rather high costs of producing them.  I suspect that licensing rights for many of the artists also were costing quite a bit - which certainly would not help things.

I wonder if some of the issue is also due to the fact that for the most part you cannot really learn to play the instruments from playing the game.  A lot of my students - and granted, my students are a unique bunch with regard to this kind of thing - have frequently told me that they find the games interesting and fun to a point, but that ultimately, it feels like a simplistic toy.  They tell me that in the end they'd rather just play the real thing.

Now, to be fair, I have a well deserved reputation for being the "King of the Epic Fail" when it comes to playing these games.  I can no better navigate through the game versions of any number of songs, regardless of the "instrument" I'm playing - which is kinda funny since I can play many of those same songs on many of the real instruments required.

In any case, a while back I wrote how I thought that a better use for all this would be something I called "Guitar Troll." If you wanna read the details from back then they can be found here: http://crossfeedthemix.blogspot.com/search/label/Guitar%20Hero.  Essentially, the concept is to use the games' guitars and other instruments more like battle axes.  (Yes, I know that for a self-proclamed "uber-pacifist" this seems a bit violent, but bear with me, ok?)  Level one you go up against maybe, I don't know, some punk rocker; level two is Kirt Cobain; then on to Heldrix and Townshend - you get the idea.

Anyway, the way  I see it, if "Rock Band" and "Guitar Hero" are ending, unless someone comes up with a way to integrate real instrument technique, I figure there is a huge market for what to do with all those game controllers just kinda sitting around once all the tunes have been played.  Just a thought.

Guitar Troll  FOREVER!!!

Guitar Troll

I get a lot of questions from students with regard to my skills playing Guitar Hero and Rock Band.  I can tell you, without any hesitation,  (or concern, for that matter) that I am supremely terrible at such games.  They seem perplexed at such a revelation.  My nieces and nephews, all of whom seem to be quite accomplished gamers, like to pretty much beat any score I can put up, and then ask me things like, "But Uncle Richard, don't you play these instruments for a living?"  I usually cannot come up with much of a good replay beyond a rather meek, "yeah," and then recall how for quite some time, in the years before we had Gray, all of them were the best kind of birth control for my wife and I as we pondered whether or not we wanted to have kids any time soon.  On a side note, one of the many reasons I am a fan of Gene Simmons reality show, "Family Jewels," is the episode where the members of Kiss attempt to play their own song on one of the above mentioned games, and fail miserably.

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against these games.  And, to an extent they actually can teach a bit of rhythm and basic coordination; but they are not remotely like playing a real instrument.  To be fair, I have never heard the manufactures claim them to be intended to teach real musical skills.  They do, however, work great as a music appreciation tool.  I have had several student's comment that they have since become big fans of some pretty iconic classic bands after being exposed to the music on the video games - so they cannot be all bad.

The Tuesday release of the new DJ Hero spin-off of the Rock Band/Guitar Hero games got me thinking about an idea I had with a friend of mine a while back as those games were first originally becoming popular.  It's called "Guitar Troll."  The idea is simple: you take the guitar controller from one of the games, but rather than play it like an instrument, you use it like a battle axe against your virtual opponent. First round is maybe Pete Townshend and you are judged on who can most creatively destroy a guitar.  Then it's on to Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, etc.  The details are still being worked out, but I think I at least wanna make up some t-shirts for now, if anyone wants to help promote the idea.