Subaru Enthusiasts Car Club of the Sierras - View Single Post

M3n2c3 · 2007-12-12, 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sperry

the blather from the other folks in this thread that I bothered to glance at

Thanks. . .?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dean

Perhaps his entire post was sarcastic, but I do not think that was the intent of the person who posted the original link to it.

Actually, you might want to re-read my post. Here, I'll quote it for you:

Quote:

Originally Posted by M3n2c3

On Guitar Hero and Rock Band, this very topic came up on Friday's Penny Arcade text:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Penny Arcade

Invariably, when reasonable people are discussing Guitar Hero or Rock Band, that forum smart guy oozes in somewhere near the middle of the thread and tells people that they should be playing real instruments - presumably, like he does. Put aside that Mozart has missed the point completely (i.e., why don't you play for the real NFL, etc). The fact of the matter is that he is quite simply wrong. And not just wrong: it's that thick, unctuous kind of wrong that masquerades as erudition. He is, in fact, a yokel - and he's operating under some pretty romantic notions of what constitutes an "instrument."

I wrote about this a while ago when talking about the remix mode of Frequency, another Harmonix game, and how it made the PS2 controller a kind of instrument. That idea fascinated me. Actual instruments are not especially ergonomic, in general terms - they are not engineered for use. They need to account for crass physical laws to epitomize their function. Instruments are beautiful, let me be clear. But they are not, themselves, music.

The argument is a good one. Even if I enjoyed football, I would not likely go out to play it. I prefer my limbs and spine intact, thank you. An appropriate substitute would be a video game, especially since the alternative - merely watching football - leaves one essentially inactive, requiring little input.

The same could be said for instruments. Perhaps I like music but do not care to learn an instrument, or know how to play an instrument other than guitar. In either case, I will not be learning how to play guitar, but my love for music can be enough to prompt me to play Guitar Hero, and enjoy the excitement of interacting with the audio.

There is sometimes a financial aspect to consider as well. If one is interested in motorsports, but is too young to compete, or finds the cost of preparing a car and getting it out to RFR to be too restrictive, an XB360 and a copy of Forza 2 can provide a satisfactory surrogate.

All that was really said is that the controller could provide an entertaining alternative to playing an instrument. This was never about a game controller replacing real instruments. . . it was just about video games. The worst he's guilty of claiming is that real instruments are difficult to learn due to their purely functional design, and that you don't necessarily have to endure that just to have some fun with music.