By Clarence Yu
Contributor

I have to admit before going on that I am not a gamer. I know absolutely nothing about PlayStations, PSP’s, Xbox’s, and other gaming brands and consoles that are out there.

The last time I seriously played a game was when Atari, Apple II, Commodore, Space Invaders and Pac Man ruled the gaming universe. I checked out of the gaming world once the games became too complicated for my simple tastes. I am a guitarist as well, and will admit that I have tried the past Guitar Hero games in the hopes of blowing away the punks who know nothing about “real” guitar playing. News flash for me: I couldn’t even complete a game in mid-song.

Generally speaking, here is how the game works: by using a guitar-shaped controller, you play along to rock songs by pressing the correct colored button on the neck at the right time; the notes that correspond to the correct buttons to push are displayed on the screen as the game is under way, and if you play well, the virtual crowd cheers you on, but if you hit miss notes and you get booed offstage. By progressing through levels of difficulty of the game, players are able to “unlock” new songs.

Similar guitar based games can be found at your neighborhood game arcades, Time Zone and Power Station being the most prominent in Manila, though these are generic in nature.

I sucked at the game, because I wasn’t used to the controller interface, and, in my mind, I didn’t believe that the game actually provided you with the actual experience of playing a real guitar. Basically, I dismissed the game as a ripoff of the guitar playing process.

However, I am a serious Aerosmith fan, and I know most of their guitar riffs by heart. Thus, I have been following the news on their team-up with gaming company Activision for quite sometime now.

With the release of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith last month, I have mixed feelings about it even without playing the game myself. I have only read several articles and reviews about the game and have seen YouTube clips of the game being played.

At the end of of YouTube videom jameslikecoulter, for example, mentions that “Aerosmith is pretty easy, but this song (Walk This Way) is pretty difficult,” going on to mention “but this was my 10th time playing the song. You be the judge.”

(Notice his “You Rock” rating, with detailed statistics of his performance of the game. Note how detailed the statistics are, with riff and verse performance ratings).

I am not sure if Mr. Coulter is a guitar player as well, but he can clearly demonstrate a knowledge of Aerosmith’s songs by his comments, and in my opinion, has a good rhythmic sensibility to his playing.

From a guitarist’s standpoint though, my opinion is, why not just use an actual guitar as the controller of the game? First of all, the guitar shaped controller has no strings, just colored buttons on the fretboard that act as fret/string combinations. More important, the elements of guitar playing, such as tone, vibrato, and feel, cannot and will never be replicated by a game. Nonetheless, it might serve as a starting point for gamers to get into real guitar playing.

For gamers whose only knowledge about Aerosmith stems from their last hit in 1998 “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing,” they are in for a treat: a greatest hits package, along with a storyline of the band’s history since it’s inception in 1973.

Classic songs such as “Dream On,” “Same Old Song and Dance,” “Walk This Way,” “Back In The Saddle,” “Sweet Emotion,” up to ‘80’s and 90’s hits such as “Living On the Edge,” “Love In An Elevator” and “Rag Doll” are featured in the game.

For Aerosmith and record executives, the potential success of Guitar Hero have made them important new sources of income for the band, as sales of traditional CD’s have declined over the past years.

Famous bands who lend their names to the game can receive a straightforward payment of millions of dollars, plus a generous royalty on sales. Thus, a band like Aerosmith may expect to realize additional income aside from the traditional channels of music sales (CD’s, downloads, ring tones).

A line-up of other guitar-heavy bands such as Metallica and Van Halen are in serious discussions with Activision to put out their own versions of the Guitar Hero game franchise in the near future, perhaps in the hopes of enticing gamers to take a look at their back catalog of songs on traditional CD store shelves.

While Aerosmith has been wise enough to capitalize on its career to find new sources of income, one may wonder at what cost: turning over access to their master tapes/recordings to the gaming company (Activision) to make their game more “legitimate.”

However, Aerosmith certainly doesn’t need the money, with more than 150 million albums sold to date, and they remain a top draw on the concert circuit with no signs of slowing down. Perhaps the band simply wants to ensure the legacy of their music in the context of music history.

Other bands may resist lending their names and master recordings in the name of artistic purity, which is perfectly understandable to hard core musicians, but how about struggling garage bands with dreams of making it someday?

What do local Philipine musicians have to say about Guitar Hero?

For Chuck Isidro, current lead guitarist for the popular Philippine band 6cyclemind and guitarist for the now dissolved band After Image and producer of various local Philippine artists, he believes that the game can “serve as a starting point for gamers who would like to know more about a particular band’s music.”

Mr. Isidro started playing in garage bands more than 20 years ago and achieved success via the traditional way, such as the gig circuit, disc sales, aggressive promotions through generous sponsorships. With this, he adds that “with the rising costs of having to get your music publicized through traditional channels such as CD’s, and the costs of downloading music, this game can potentially serve as a medium to reach a wider audience.”

I ask if it is possible if there can ever be a Philippine version of Guitar Hero. He notes that “one disadvantage that local (Philippine) artists or bands like mine have is that our music is not known internationally,” but then adds that, “nothing is impossible, though.”

For Tonet Lipana, lead guitarist for Rage, a local act that has been around for more than 25 years now, he thinks that the game “sounds fun.” It could perhaps get his students interested in listening to rock music again, he added.

Mr. Lipana is also a noted session guitarist and a guitar instructor at the Yamaha School of Music in Manila.

One can only hope that Guitar Hero:Aerosmith will hit three birds with one stone: