Aside from the regular slate of DLC offerings, it doesn’t seem like there’s a whole lot of big news happening in the world of music games at the moment. So I’m going to go ahead and take this opportunity to clear out my backlog of tagged stories a bit, and offer a hefty dose of miscellanea for your weekend reading and/or watching pleasure.
Overheard
“It’s really weird to see younger kids who are like 16 at our shows, and then they say their dad was a huge fan or their mom used to play us all the time. They either heard it from their families or they heard it on Guitar Hero.” — Jeff Bland of Slaughter, in the Las Vegas Sun. (Trouble is, there’s no Slaughter in Guitar Hero as far as I can tell.)
“To have to one of my songs appear on the list next to Aerosmith and Radiohead and whatever it’s this mind-blowing thing because I don’t feel like I belong on that list at all.” — Jonathan Coulton, in the Rock Band Zine
“I really think my musical/piano background is the main reason I improved quite fast in Guitar Hero. I’ve played the piano for all my life, and I got to a level where I could play pretty much anything I wanted. … In fact I think that piano players even have a bigger advantage than guitar players at this game.” — overhand Guitar Hero player “Lilirock,” at 5Frets.com
“I’ve been playing the guitar for 20 years now, and it’s pretty funny to watch me flail and falter trying to play Guitar Hero. I got up to medium. … A lot of people wouldn’t be listening to bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd or Foghat right now if it wasn’t for Guitar Hero. I don’t think there’s really any other way to listen.” — Brendon Small of Dethklok, at Kotaku
“When you’re going to your Rock Band competition at your local pub, make sure you put a lot of work in.” — Lawrence Katz of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, in the Rock Band Zine
“As one of my little brother’s friends once asked me, ‘Why play guitar when Guitar Hero is easier and so much fun?’ … How many times have we seen people at a table together, but each alone on their iPhones or BlackBerries? I guess, in the end, we are together in our solitude.” — Omar Rodriguez-Lopez of The Mars Volta, at Wired
“Kids are learning how fun it is to actually pick up instruments earlier Once they actually get the satisfaction that they actually have learned a song per se, it gets the kids motivated. Now it is a family event, and there is nothing wrong with that.” — Mike Smith of Suffocation, at Metal Underground.com
“”Fans and stuff have always been like, ‘Why aren’t you guys on Guitar Hero?’ ” Burnley says. “I was like, ‘Honestly, I don’t know why we’re not!’ I think it’s … the wave of the future as far as bands are concerned. And when you have a bunch of hit singles, you’re worthy enough to do it.” — Benjamin Burnley of Breaking Benjamin, in the Allentown, PA, Morning Call
“My friend Rachel got me to play Guitar Hero once but I got really frustrated… then I started writing songs in my head to escape the virtual frustration. Haha kidding. But I’d be stoked to try it out for sure.” — Mike Woods of Damone, at RockBandAide
“Courtney Love sued, right? You guys know all this. Of course she sued, that’s like her job, to sue. And she had a point. So I wanted to congratulate Activision. You made Courtney Love look f—ing sane. That’s probably the most impressive thing you did all year.” — comedian Jay Mohr, kicking off the Interactive Achievement Awards at DICE, via Kotaku
Found
- 1UP: Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face” Played in Rock Band on South Park
- The Escapist: Rebecca Mayes Muses: Guitar Hero
- Fake Plastic Rock: Rock of the Dead
- Kotaku: Well, Guitar Hero: Van Halen Did Need Better Box Art
- Kotaku: Rock Band Guitar Cited As Instrument Of Domestic Violence
- Kotaku: You Got Your Guitar Hero In My Zombieland
- RockBandAide: Salem and Rios (Army of Two) Play Rock Band
- RockBandAide: Rock Band Shout Out at the Golden Globes
- RockBandAide: Theremin Hero
- The Rock Band Zine: Rock Band Network PAX Panels, Part III: Jonathan Coulton Plays Jonathan Coulton
- The Rock Band Zine: PAX ’09 Rock Band Network Panel #1
- YouTube: Bagpipe Hero
- …and finally, for our Francophone viewers, YouTube: LES BIDULES ROTBAND RBO 2009 (via Simon Lahaye’s HOT TIP)
Have a great weekend, folks!
