With the release of Rock Band: The Beatles only hours away, a couple of famous non-Beatles affiliated musicians saw it only fit to express their displeasure toward music video-games such as the Rock Band and Guitar Hero series. On the eve of the Beatles’ next milestone to further immortality, Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason and ex-Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman spoke out against the wildly successful franchises.
Mason told the BBC:
“It irritates me having watched my kids do it – if they spent as much time practising the guitar as learning how to press the buttons they’d be damn good by now.”
While Wyman concurred
“It makes less and less people dedicated to really get down and learn an instrument. I think is a pity so I’m not really keen on that kind of stuff.”
In a drastic emergency PR move, Harmonix spokesman Alex Rigopulas responded
“Most people try to learn an instrument at some point in their lives, and almost all of them quit after a few months or a year or two. This, I think, is because the earliest years of learning an instrument are the least gratifying. When people play Rock Band, however, they very quickly get a glimpse of the rewards that lie on the other side of the wall. We’re constantly hearing from fans who were inspired by Rock Band to start studying a real instrument.”
As if you hadn’t already guessed, speaking as a games enthusiast, I am on the side of Harmonix. In addition to the encouragement these games give as suggested by Mr Rigopulas, I feel rhythm games such as these which aim to replicate the experience of playing real instruments and teach the intricacies of the songwriting. As you follow one particular instrument throughout a song, your appreciation for the role that instrument plays is greatly enhanced, as well as the regular listening experience. Not only this, but playing your favorite songs on these games and progressing to the harder difficulties (as silly as it sounds) help improve the accuracy and finger-speed that’s required in guitar playing. Oh, and don’t get me started on the microphone.
To say these comments on the eve of a music game is predictable, but on the eve of Rock Band: Beatles? I think somebody’s just bitter that they themselves weren’t asked for commercial digitisation. Either that or they’ve been reading too many scare stories.
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