Is Rock Band Bad?

Ok so I read this article which was published by the BBC in regard to the upcoming release of The Beatles Rock Band, in which they asked several legendary Rock & Rollers their opinions of the Rock Band game/craze. I felt compelled to respond, and although my response doesn't really address The Beatles part of it, I still thought it might be relevant here.

My response - http://www.cuttingedgedjs.com/blog/2...hanical-music/

Now although I didn't go too deep into my personal opinions regarding this, I think I make my feelings clear.

I think that Rock Band is a great way to introduce a whole new generation to The Beatles, and that can only be a good thing. May the torch of the Fab burn long after we are gone.

In all honesty I don't think it's fair of the writer of that BBC article to fully compared Rock Band to Guitar Hero. I feel that aside from the whole 'music' thing, that they are ultimately aimed at slightly different audiences. For one, Rock Band is a fairly new series - The Beatles: Rock Band was only the third console title in the series. Guitar Hero, on the other hand, has really failed in my opinion - it started out great, and then Activision got greedy and started churning out second-rate titles. Guitar Hero I, II and III were acceptable, I guess, but then they had crud like "Guitar Hero Rocks the 80's" and "Guitar Hero Greatest Hits", which were mainly just compilations of songs from previous games, it was just a big money-making scheme. And I feel that Guitar Hero has utterly failed in regards to how they've handled their band-oriented games. I love The Beatles: Rock Band for the fact that it's solely Beatles recordings. Guitar Hero Aerosmith and Guitar Hero Metallica, meanwhile, features barely any original songs, and the rest is all cover versions and songs by 'related' artists. That's not what people want when they buy a band-branded game. Guitar Hero also ended up stealing the whole 'play as a band' thing after the success of Rock Band anyway, beforehand it was merely a guitaring game.

Basically, I'd honestly say that artists should be privileged if they end up getting the Rock Band treatment. The Beatles is a totally perfect example - Harmonix worked closely with Apple, the surviving Beatles and their families and gave a great game that followed their career and has opened up a whole new generation to their music. Guitar Hero... well, I think that any artist desperate enough to get one of those games about them is one thing: a sellout. If TBRB hadn't happened, I could honestly never see Apple wanting to work with Activision instead (the developers and publishers of Guitar Hero). Going by their past band-centred releases they'd have 20 Beatles songs and the rest would be covers by other groups. Considering Apple has been so strict as to refuse any of their music onto compilations, I could just never see that happening. I think that Harmonix was the perfect company to go to, and that Rock Band was the correct series to enter in for The Beatles and Apple - the end result was just outstanding and very dignifying.

I bet somebody said to the person inventing the flute that now they had an instrument people would stop singing!

my concern about it was that I actually own guitars, presently gathering dust in the closet. I just have this vision of all these people playing a game about playing music when they could be playing music. But what I played it at Best Buy, it it was really a lot of fun.

Rockband is, obviously, geared towards gamers and NOT musicians... not that the game can't be fun for people who already play the guitar, bass, drums, and those who sing... because it is. I can attest to that.

If people who have a love for Beatles music without a musical bone in their body have something that makes them feel like they are musical, then great! I don't think games like Rockband (Beatles or otherwise) are going to steal away kids who are both musically inclined and have a passion to play an instrument.

It's just another stupid video game set to popular music, wish people would stop taking these games so seriously.

Originally Posted by Serena

It's just another stupid video game set to popular music, wish people would stop taking these games so seriously.

Oh it's not stupid. I get to play video games AND listen to Beatles... It's like heaven.

One thing that I have found by playing Rock Band is that by playing the game it has greatly helped my dexterity for playing the guitar. I am by no means an expert or really even an accomplished guitar player, but I do think that reaching for the appropriately colored button has helped stretch my fingers and hand. Another positive I have taken away from the game is that I now pick up my 'real' guitar on a more regular basis. To say this game is bad or stupid is beyond me. This is a real blast to play this title. By the way I am 52 years old. I am just now really starting to 5 star songs playing and singing on easy and 5 staring a few on medium guitar. So I guess you can never be too old for video games! This was the game that was meant to be...... for myself! Great fun!

Originally Posted by cuttingedgedjs

Oh it's not stupid. I get to play video games AND listen to Beatles... It's like heaven.

The game is not really stupid, I'm a frequent player myself. I'm just tired of people complaining how it will hinder new musicians because the controller is shaped like a guitar. The game is not quite like playing a real guitar, it is not to be taking seriously. I actually use this game to increase flexibility within both of my hands for piano. But it's just another video game that is no more time consuming than any other game; however, it would be better if kids would slow down on gaming all together.

Funny how people react to games such as this. I've never heard anybody say "These kids today should quite playing war games, like Call of Duty, and go out and join the military!" or "These kids oughtta put down those Madden games and learn how to throw a football!"

Sure, kids should put the controller down and get out for exercise and experience the real world more, but these games are no worse than any other form of entertainment.

Originally Posted by JonnyLytnin

Funny how people react to games such as this. I've never heard anybody say "These kids today should quite playing war games, like Call of Duty, and go out and join the military!" or "These kids oughtta put down those Madden games and learn how to throw a football!"

Excellent point. Furthermore, I'd rather my kid play Beatles Rockband than one of those violent war games.

Originally Posted by Serena

The game is not really stupid, I'm a frequent player myself. I'm just tired of people complaining how it will hinder new musicians because the controller is shaped like a guitar. The game is not quite like playing a real guitar, it is not to be taking seriously. I actually use this game to increase flexibility within both of my hands for piano. But it's just another video game that is no more time consuming than any other game; however, it would be better if kids would slow down on gaming all together.

Couldn't agree more. I taught myself to play the drums when I was ten years old, and I did it solely by studying Ringo in the many, many Beatles concerts and videos. I can safely say that I despise playing the drum controller in The Beatles Rock Band, doing the real thing is way more fun (but in saying that, I do adore the game still).