xkcd addresses the rock band haters

Last night, Ryan and I played Rock Band for a couple of hours, taking turns playing guitar and drums. We're both sore today, and it was entirely worth it.

The point isn't to play real instruments. The point is to pretend that you're in a rock band, and have fun while you do it.

Our final set list was:

• All I Want is to be Next to You
• Reptilia
• . . . And Justice for All
• Foreplay/Longtime
• Won't Get Fooled Again

At the end, I threw my drumsticks down on the living room floor, and threw both my arms into the air, throwing double goats. Ryan spun his guitar controller around his neck, threw his arms up into the air, and we shared a spontaneous double high five.

I don't care about playing real instruments. I just want to have fun with my friends (or, in this case, my son.) I've played real guitar and real bass, and though it was always satisfying to play songs well, it was never as fun as it was playing in Zombitis* last night. Rock Band haters (who have to try real hard to impress everyone with how cynical they are) completely miss this fundamental point, which is sad. Maybe if they were having fun like this, they wouldn't be such dicks.

*2/3 of Zombitis, anyway. We couldn't convince Nolan to stop playing Warcraft long enough to rock out with us.

Comments

World of Warcraft? Pfft. Why doesn't he grab a REAL sword and go ACTUALLY some Alliance?

[kristinalead]

I sooo have to get Rock Band... especially now that Wanted Dead or Alive is spinning through my head after the BJ concert and your "conversation with my brain" post...

[Nentuaby]

World of Warcraft? Pfft. Why doesn't he grab a REAL sword and go ACTUALLY some Alliance?

(Okay, this is my second post in a row I've had to add stuff to to avoid the spam blockers. What gives?)

[Jaded Empath]

Amen, brutha - test-i-fy! ^_^

(I knew someone would tag that xkcd today; glad it was you)

And for more 'anti-anti-GH/RB', there's always an old Ctrl+Alt+Del comic: http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/comic.php?d=20070509
(cartoon violence, may contain coarse language and condescending attitudes :) )

[scott d. feldstein]

After watching my son play Guitar Hero on the Wii for ten minutes, I decided his Christmas present: a sweet used Ibanez six string electric, plus amp. He did ask me to teach him how once. Now's the time, I guess.

[angie k]

Oh, I want to play that so bad. :)

So, are you going to make band tshirts? You know, for the Zombitis groupies? :)

I still submit one, mostly made of fail (but I like the guitar in the hand) first attempt at a band poster.

http://tinyurl.com/39gjge

xckd always makes me happy.

Cheers!

[Wil]

Heh. He doesn't play WoW, just plain old Warcraft.

[ZB]

As a guy who has played (real) drums since '88, I have to admit that these games make me cringe a bit. Nothing made me want Rock Band less than seeing all of the early promo videos of those industry bozos limping through the songs looking like morons. On the other hand, I think I've permanently ruined both of my wrists from playing GHIII for hours on end.

The moral of the story? Don't think you're a musician just because you can push a few buttons, and don't knock it if you haven't tried it.

Still, those Rock Band drums look (and sound) SO LAME!

As usual, you've managed to articulate this much more clearly than I have in the past. Specifically, last year a friend of mine and I created a full-sized wireless Guitar Hero (you know the stone-age version of Rock Band? Kidding...) to be auctioned at a Child's Play event in NYC. (We inserted the guts from a wireless controller into a Squire Bullet.) Everything went well, and the auction raised a lot of money -- and showed there was a lot of interest in making custom GH controllers. So I posted a how-to on my blog.

That's when the haters started showing up. "Why destroy a perfectly good guitar for GH?" Answer: a) to raise thousands for charity, and b) anyone who's ever played guitar knows that an $80 Squire Bullet isn't a "perfectly good guitar."

Then came the *real* haters -- the "why play this game when you can play a real guitar" crowd. Besides XKCD's -- and your -- great answer, let me add that having played in bands for years, I *love* Rock Band.

Why? First, I get to play the drums, something that I'll never end up doing in real life. (I play the bass.) Second, it lets me have almost all the fun of playing a real gig -- without all the associated suckage, like renting a U-Haul trailer for the 95th time, loading out thirty seconds after work (and loading in at 3 a.m.), arguing with a drunk/stoned/coked-out club owner/manager for our measly $250 or $300 (or less, sometimes much less), responding to the 100th request for Freebird (which is every bit as tough in real life as in GH), or immediately stripping naked and throwing all my smoke-filled clothing into the washing machine when I finally manage to get home.

Or -- worst of all -- getting up the next morning at 7 a.m. to go to work after getting to bed at 4 a.m. Oh wait... I still do that with Rock Band. :)

Anyway, thanks for the great post. And my condolences for all the haters that'll make their way here soon to tell us all XKCD-style how much fun we shouldn't be having because we're not them.

As usual, you've managed to articulate this much more clearly than I have in the past. Specifically, last year a friend of mine and I created a full-sized wireless Guitar Hero (you know the stone-age version of Rock Band? Kidding...) to be auctioned at a Child's Play event in NYC. (We inserted the guts from a wireless controller into a Squire Bullet.) Everything went well, and the auction raised a lot of money -- and showed there was a lot of interest in making custom GH controllers. So I posted a how-to online.

That's when the haters started showing up. "Why destroy a perfectly good guitar for GH?" Answer: a) to raise thousands for charity, and b) anyone who's ever played guitar knows that an $80 Squire Bullet isn't a "perfectly good guitar."

Then came the *real* haters -- the "why play this game when you can play a real guitar" crowd. Besides XKCD's -- and your -- great answer, let me add that having played in bands for years, I *love* Rock Band.

Why? First, I get to play the drums, something that I'll never end up doing in real life. (I play the bass.) Second, it lets me have almost all the fun of playing a real gig -- without all the associated suckage, like renting a U-Haul trailer for the 95th time, loading out thirty seconds after work (and loading in at 3 a.m.), arguing with a drunk/stoned/coked-out club owner/manager for our measly $250 or $300 (or less, sometimes much less), responding to the 100th request for Freebird (which is every bit as tough in real life as in GH), or immediately stripping naked and throwing all my smoke-filled clothing into the washing machine when I finally manage to get home.

Or -- worst of all -- getting up the next morning at 7 a.m. to go to work after getting to bed at 4 a.m. Oh wait... I still do that with Rock Band. :)

Anyway, thanks for the great post. And my condolences for all the haters that'll make their way here soon to tell us all XKCD-style how much fun we shouldn't be having because we're not them.

[Jabbertrack]

You know... even on the internet I have yet to see someone claim to be a 'musician' because they are good at one of these games.

Yet 'musicians' come climbing out of the woodwork EVERYWHERE someone talks about Rock Band or Guitar Hero to REMIND us all that they are capable of something a videogame is simulating.

[justme]

We're going to have a Wii and GHIII under the tree this Xmas. My biggest fear is that as an old fogey mom, I won't know any of the songs!

I do feel a little embarrassed for the people who play Rock Band in Best Buy, though.

[lizreay]

Word. I just started playing GH3 and I'm loving it... and my husband, benevolent guy that he is, just bought Rock Band for our circle of would-be-rocker friends to play with. Can't wait to try it!!!

[MacBros]

I did that exact same thing, but with Guitar Hero III with my nephew. It's fun acting crazy.

[fairnhite451]

Argh!

Must. Resist. Buying. Second. Console. for. Rock Band.

When will us Wii'ers get some love?

GH is cool and all, but RB has coolness all the way up to 11.

[iamhoff]

I read that XKCD comic this morning and instantly thought of you. Demented minds think alike, I s'pose. \m/ \m/

[Gaerin]

Makes sense. I've seen people playing GH3 (real guitarists), taking the game quite seriously, but the role-playing game didn't come to my mind. After all, do I need to actually shoot people to have fun? Sure not. Same for music.

I think I'm close to delirium.

Off-topic but I have to say it: After the film I saw tonight and a biography, not yours, I came to read, I'm really, really happy, relieved and glad to see you're alive and kicking. And writing. And I do hope I'll find a French translation of all that, because I hardly stand long English journeys when they're not plain C-G-Am-F. And for now, I do hope my brain will let me sleep a bit, for it's not the same time as displayed, here.

[Michele]

You can play the drums too?!?! I HAVE to try this game sometime, it looks like so much fun!

[Alan]

I suck so bad at Guitar Hero that Rock Band is probably not even worth thinking about. Instead, I ordered Guitar Hero Hero from that late night infomercial. You know the one I'm talking about. It comes with an intert piece of plastic with colored buttons painted on and a DVD of someone playing Guitar Hero. It had really improved the fun-level of the game for me.

Although I still can't get past Jordan on any level. The GHH folks are promising an upgrade DVD to solve that problem -- for a small nominal fee of course.

[DustPuppyOI]

Wil,

I too saw the xkcd comic this morning and thought of you.

On a tangentially related matter, for all the rocking out that you (and your brain at odd hours) do, here are a few youtube tunes from JAM Project, a Japanese band specializing in anime and video game music, worthy of \m/:

Break Out
Soul Taker

[Craig Steffen]

Wil,

It would appear that you've changed your settings for the typepad spam filters? Now suspicious posts are reviewed by you rather than directly rejected?

Thanks a lot for that, and I hope you don't end up having to review too many!

If Scott reads this, I used to have an Ibanez semi accoustic. So nice choice, good beginner's guitar. I should hit the pawn shops and pick myself up a used Strat or LesPaul.

Hey, I'm not a GH hater. I'm sure if I ever get to play it, (I think I'll be pretty good at it,) I'll take it serious, and have fun while doing it. It won't satisfy the need to play for real though. Just like playing NHL 08 isn't going to satisfy my need to play hockey. Playing Tiger Woods golf is great, but I have to hit one dead center and 280yds down a nicely manicured course on a fine summer day to feel into it. Hey I like playing poker online. I have a lot of fun doing it, but it doesn't replace playing it with friends. I've never played Hold'em at a casino, but I'm positive I would have a great time.

I dunno, it's almost like painting by numbers. In fact I feel it's the dumbening of an art form, if dumbening is a word. Like I said before, I just hope some people are influenced to take up instruments and form a rock band. Hey, write a few cool songs, record them in your basement, get one on an Ipod commercial and goto #1. It's that easy kids!

Scott is making the right choice. Dam, now that I think about it, that Ibanez I had saw stage time at the El mocomba. It wasn't in my hands though. My cousins ex-husband had a pretty good band way back when(called Direktive 17) and he borrowed it from me for a couple weeks.

Listen I'm not saying don't have fun with games like GH and RB. Go wild for fuck's sake. What I am saying is have more fun in playing it for real and learning to be creative.

Now, if you want to call me a hater and a dick for saying what I'm saying then I have to say who's really being the dick? Now, follow the advice of a dude I know who likes to say, "Don't be a dick!" and don't be.

Laters bro. Ya dick!
Just kiddin, who loves ya in a brotherly kinda way? You know who does, me. Now after the writers strike ends, quit being a bitch and go nail some more parts.

Mark.

[Chad]

I'm glad WoW has come up. WIl have you ever thought about trying the 10 day trial they give out? I've often thought about starting a "WilWheaton's Posse" guild. Just to see how many WW fans are out there.

[tony mcdowell]

Wil,

I don't have a problem with folks like you -- that is, folks who know it's JUST A GAME and doesn't qualify them as an actual musician. The people that really get under my nerves are the teenage kids (and in some cases, folks in their 20s and 30s) who think that because they can score ueber-many points in Rock Band or Guitar Hero that they can actually play a real, live instrument and are somehow "superior" to "non-musicians."

As always, thanks for keeping it in perspective with the anecdote about having fun with your kids.

[JMama3]

I know my kids would love it. I wonder if my hubby would get any use out of it?
He claims not to like that "kind of stuff", but I remember years ago when the original Nintendo came out. My dad, the farmer,and always serious guy, was caught by my sister and I when we got home from school, in my room playing Mario Bros.Actually I think it was MB2. Anyway,
It was something I will never forget. He was jumping around when he would push the buttons to jump and moving left to right. Man, that is funny.He trashed Lord knows how many controllers by smashing the damn buttons. I wonder what the heck ever made him decide to play that? I'll have to call my sister and reminisce...
Seems you can always make my mind wonder with what you write. That is a memory I haven't thought about in years. Not to make this fun loving post sappy, but thank you. I think maybe this game might be worth it for the kids to see Daddy get down.Of course, I would never get any use out of it! J