Razorlight, Circulus and a bunch of other noisy, filthy, dirty rock bands all got involved in a recent Guitar Hero Battle of the Bands tournament hosted and organised by London’s top listings/lifestyle magazine Time Out. You can see some of the photos of the session right here.
The Time Out Guitar Hero championship feature simply asked: “What do professional musicians make of the game, and who is the best real-life rock and roll Guitar Hero guitarist?”
Aside from anything else, it’s great to see Time Out featuring one of our favourite contemporary games in such a well-thought out, interesting way – it’s certainly going to introduce Guitar Hero to far more of their readers than the usual 'review-plus-competition' box-out PR coverage that games publishers usually get in non-specialist and lifestyle magazines.
Nice one, Red Octane’s PR company! (Plus, will you forgive us now for last week's ‘little misunderstanding’?) SPOnG only wishes that we saw more of these kinds of features in lifestyle press. Come on Britain’s self-styled PR gurus! Think outside of the box. Let Guitar Hero be your guide.
The musicians Time Out quizzed included Razorlight, Circulus, recent Number One hitmakers Nizopoli, The Black Heart Procession, Weapons of Mass Belief, Enjoy Destroy, Barefoot, Pretty Girls Make Graves and Rooster, along with recently hotly-tipped singer-songwriter Sandi Thom – all of whom were challenged to play Franz Ferdinand’s Take Me Out, strumming along on the game's replica Gibson SG controller and playing the fret buttons in time with the music.
This is a shame, as SPOnG’s favourite in-game track by far is Sabbath’s classic Iron Man, which Time Out’s first contender, Bjorn from Razorlight, observes, “...is actually really hard if you know how to play guitar… I can play this song on a proper guitar and the buttons it wants you to press don’t bear much relation to the actual chords.”
Bjorn sounds to SPOnG like ‘a right bad loser’. One of those moaning-on-and-on, fey middle class indie kids with his daft cooler-than-thou ‘tude. Balls to him. We hope he loses.
Next up, Michael from downright awful ‘acid folkers’ Circulus seems even more grumpy, having scored half of what the younger, prettier Razorlight hipster did. “It’s just a silly game”, says the part-time guitar teacher, “You do get to practice your timing, but you could do that by banging your head on a wall to music”. Or indeed you could practice your timing by bashing a Circulus CD repeatedly against Michael’s head shouting ‘PLEASE STOP! PLEASE STOP! PLEASE STOP!’ If you had heard any music by Circulus, you would understand our ire at the fact that Time Out have given this hippy no-mark a forum to dismiss our favourite game with a pithy, rubbish quote like that.
Next up, Number One hit-makers Nizopoli (quick SPOnG survey – ‘no, never heard of…’) at least give good quote, saying: “It’s a great game…I think it might replace my sex life y’know… as the thing that I’m really bad at.”
Following on from this cheeky little self-deprecating chappie are Toby and Pall from The Black Heart Procession, who wisely note: “Sometimes in a real show you have to mess up your playing in order to make your move… but the crowd loves it and that is what is important… Give it ten years and the console will see what you are doing.”
SPOnG agrees wholeheartedly. Although we think give it two or three years is a more accurate estimate for EyeToy-type Guitar Hero games which reward you more for your overall body and dance moves, as well as your guitar playing prowess. And don’t get us started on the online potential for these kinds of games… online band practice anyone?
Matt from ‘urchin rockers’ Enjoy Destroy steps up to the plectrum next, and thankfully destroys the fey Razorlight loser's score, delivering a near-faultless performance of Take Me Out, scoring an unbelievable 76,879. SPOnG believes that there is no way that this guy has not had some prior Guitar Hero lessons. How does he do it? Because, claims sore loser Ben from Rooster, he is a drummer. “It’s all about being able to keep up with rhythm,” says Ben, who also magnanimously admits to being “A bit gutted, if I’m honest” that he lost. Awww, bless.
Enjoy Destroy's Matt, on the other hand, takes pleasure in his victory, going on to be Time Out’s overall winner and exclaiming, in true rock star fashion: “Yeah… we beat Razorlight… I should smash up the plastic guitar now.”
Hotly-tipped singer-songwriter Sandi Thom, a Mario Kart fan no-less, had the last say: “It is a brilliant game. And let’s face it, pretending to play guitar is much better than pretending to shoot people”.
"It was an amazing day," says Chris Salmon, music editor, Time Out. "What started off as a bit of a laugh soon became a hotly-contested battle. You wouldn't believe how seriously they all took it."
Guitar Hero publisher RedOctane has also just announced - strangely post-release - the launch of the official European website for the game. SPOnG salutes their laid-back, rock ‘n’ roll attitude to the release. We are all massive fans of Guitar Hero over here, and we hope and pray that this game is going to be a steady-selling slow-burner over the coming months.
Guitar Hero is exactly the kind of game that should sell through word-of-mouth. It really is the kind of game that, once played, both casual and hardcore gamers alike will tell everyone they know about this uniquely new and hugely fun game that lets you rock out with the funny little plaggy gee-tar controller.
The game’s official Euro website at www.guitarherogame.co.uk[/url] provides would-be Jimis with all the info and downloads they need to know more about Guitar Hero, plus most importantly an online store where you can buy the game, to save any disappointment at your local Woolies who have most likely already sold out.
For the real hardcore Guitar Hero fan, RedOctane will also be releasing a number of GH accessories, including additional Gibson SG controllers, carry cases and clothing - all online shortly. Aside from the additional controllers – which are a must buy to fully enjoy Guitar Hero battles with your mates – all this other GH tat is, of course, only of interest to anally-retentive freaks. SPOnG, it goes without saying, will be placing an order for all of this gear as soon as these must-have items are available!
A warning video illustrating how hard the game will make you rock has also been issued by RedOctane, and is available right here.
(Pictures courtesy of Time Out/ Ed Marshall)
The Time Out Guitar Hero championship feature simply asked: “What do professional musicians make of the game, and who is the best real-life rock and roll Guitar Hero guitarist?”
Aside from anything else, it’s great to see Time Out featuring one of our favourite contemporary games in such a well-thought out, interesting way – it’s certainly going to introduce Guitar Hero to far more of their readers than the usual 'review-plus-competition' box-out PR coverage that games publishers usually get in non-specialist and lifestyle magazines.
Nice one, Red Octane’s PR company! (Plus, will you forgive us now for last week's ‘little misunderstanding’?) SPOnG only wishes that we saw more of these kinds of features in lifestyle press. Come on Britain’s self-styled PR gurus! Think outside of the box. Let Guitar Hero be your guide.
The musicians Time Out quizzed included Razorlight, Circulus, recent Number One hitmakers Nizopoli, The Black Heart Procession, Weapons of Mass Belief, Enjoy Destroy, Barefoot, Pretty Girls Make Graves and Rooster, along with recently hotly-tipped singer-songwriter Sandi Thom – all of whom were challenged to play Franz Ferdinand’s Take Me Out, strumming along on the game's replica Gibson SG controller and playing the fret buttons in time with the music.
This is a shame, as SPOnG’s favourite in-game track by far is Sabbath’s classic Iron Man, which Time Out’s first contender, Bjorn from Razorlight, observes, “...is actually really hard if you know how to play guitar… I can play this song on a proper guitar and the buttons it wants you to press don’t bear much relation to the actual chords.”
Bjorn sounds to SPOnG like ‘a right bad loser’. One of those moaning-on-and-on, fey middle class indie kids with his daft cooler-than-thou ‘tude. Balls to him. We hope he loses.
Next up, Michael from downright awful ‘acid folkers’ Circulus seems even more grumpy, having scored half of what the younger, prettier Razorlight hipster did. “It’s just a silly game”, says the part-time guitar teacher, “You do get to practice your timing, but you could do that by banging your head on a wall to music”. Or indeed you could practice your timing by bashing a Circulus CD repeatedly against Michael’s head shouting ‘PLEASE STOP! PLEASE STOP! PLEASE STOP!’ If you had heard any music by Circulus, you would understand our ire at the fact that Time Out have given this hippy no-mark a forum to dismiss our favourite game with a pithy, rubbish quote like that.
Next up, Number One hit-makers Nizopoli (quick SPOnG survey – ‘no, never heard of…’) at least give good quote, saying: “It’s a great game…I think it might replace my sex life y’know… as the thing that I’m really bad at.”
Following on from this cheeky little self-deprecating chappie are Toby and Pall from The Black Heart Procession, who wisely note: “Sometimes in a real show you have to mess up your playing in order to make your move… but the crowd loves it and that is what is important… Give it ten years and the console will see what you are doing.”
SPOnG agrees wholeheartedly. Although we think give it two or three years is a more accurate estimate for EyeToy-type Guitar Hero games which reward you more for your overall body and dance moves, as well as your guitar playing prowess. And don’t get us started on the online potential for these kinds of games… online band practice anyone?
Matt from ‘urchin rockers’ Enjoy Destroy steps up to the plectrum next, and thankfully destroys the fey Razorlight loser's score, delivering a near-faultless performance of Take Me Out, scoring an unbelievable 76,879. SPOnG believes that there is no way that this guy has not had some prior Guitar Hero lessons. How does he do it? Because, claims sore loser Ben from Rooster, he is a drummer. “It’s all about being able to keep up with rhythm,” says Ben, who also magnanimously admits to being “A bit gutted, if I’m honest” that he lost. Awww, bless.
Enjoy Destroy's Matt, on the other hand, takes pleasure in his victory, going on to be Time Out’s overall winner and exclaiming, in true rock star fashion: “Yeah… we beat Razorlight… I should smash up the plastic guitar now.”
Hotly-tipped singer-songwriter Sandi Thom, a Mario Kart fan no-less, had the last say: “It is a brilliant game. And let’s face it, pretending to play guitar is much better than pretending to shoot people”.
"It was an amazing day," says Chris Salmon, music editor, Time Out. "What started off as a bit of a laugh soon became a hotly-contested battle. You wouldn't believe how seriously they all took it."
Guitar Hero publisher RedOctane has also just announced - strangely post-release - the launch of the official European website for the game. SPOnG salutes their laid-back, rock ‘n’ roll attitude to the release. We are all massive fans of Guitar Hero over here, and we hope and pray that this game is going to be a steady-selling slow-burner over the coming months.
Guitar Hero is exactly the kind of game that should sell through word-of-mouth. It really is the kind of game that, once played, both casual and hardcore gamers alike will tell everyone they know about this uniquely new and hugely fun game that lets you rock out with the funny little plaggy gee-tar controller.
The game’s official Euro website at www.guitarherogame.co.uk[/url] provides would-be Jimis with all the info and downloads they need to know more about Guitar Hero, plus most importantly an online store where you can buy the game, to save any disappointment at your local Woolies who have most likely already sold out.
For the real hardcore Guitar Hero fan, RedOctane will also be releasing a number of GH accessories, including additional Gibson SG controllers, carry cases and clothing - all online shortly. Aside from the additional controllers – which are a must buy to fully enjoy Guitar Hero battles with your mates – all this other GH tat is, of course, only of interest to anally-retentive freaks. SPOnG, it goes without saying, will be placing an order for all of this gear as soon as these must-have items are available!
A warning video illustrating how hard the game will make you rock has also been issued by RedOctane, and is available right here.
(Pictures courtesy of Time Out/ Ed Marshall)
Read More Like This
Comments
PreciousRoi 14 Apr 2006 04:15
1/3
played this a while back...probably easier if you have never attempted to play a guitar in your life. Is almost exactly counterintuitive if you have, not surprised musicians didn't fare well. A friend of mine who plays bass was completely baffled by it. (as an aside: the name of his band is "the Father Jack Band")
"That would be an ecumenical matter."
Genius.
"That would be an ecumenical matter."
Genius.
PreciousRoi 14 Apr 2006 04:25
2/3
nto to say its not a fun game, but Esteban has nothing to worry about for the time being...
Jay 18 Apr 2006 12:11
3/3
PreciousRoi wrote:
...probably easier if you have never attempted to play a guitar in your life. Is almost exactly counterintuitive if you have...
I have to disagree - if you're a guitarist, you stand an infinitely better chance of picking it up: You'll have better understanding of rhythm, especially syncopation (which features strongly throughout); you'll have wrist strength and flexibility; familiarity with power chords; the ability to actually fret your little finger; and you've a better chance of having actually heard the majority of the songs before which, in the cases of tracks like Megadeth and Pantera, is invaluable anywhere beyond easy mode.
What does become a little tricky for guitarists, however, is the fact that the five virtual frets severely limit the number of available intervals, so 'intuitively' playing along will often leave you playing the wrong notes. Which is why you still need to learn a lot of the patterns in order to teach your brain to play the requireed notes and not what it thinks it should be playing, if that makes any sense.
At the end of the day though, as far as the 'Bemani' genre goes, Guitar Hero is as close to the real thing as I've ever seen before.