Guitar Hero, as popular as the real thing?

Guitar Hero is a game console phenomenon, initially introduced on the Playstation 2 North America, during November 2005 and then in Europe in the April of 2006. It has taken the music and gaming world by storm and sold 25 million copies, grossing a total of $2 billion USD making it the third most successful games franchise of all time. It appears on every console, all the way from the Wii to a simple keychain or an iPhone application.

So the real question is, is Guitar Hero equally comparable to the likes of a real guitar? In my opinion, no I find nothing more satisfying than playing together with my band Zephyrus the enjoyment of improvisation and the pure satisfaction of a materialized ending result is something that a game simply can't replace. However that is just my own personal opinion, coming from a musician.

I asked Thomas Morris, a third year at Christ Church University what his opinion on the subject is: "Music plays an important part in my life, it is something which I involve in my everyday routines. I often play Guitar Hero world tour in my spare time and parties as it's great to play with mates". So Guitar Hero is good at passing time, and for socializing but does it really cut it, in the world of music? Malcolm Richardson a game designer from Hampshire believes: "Guitar Hero is purely fictional, it doesn't attempt to stimulate rhythm, or improvisation other than in freestyle mode, however it can fill the entertainment needs of the individual(s) playing".

Gaming experts believe that the Guitar Hero franchise is milking itself; to the extent the market is becoming 'saturated' with the same product just slightly improved over the years. Some people beg to differ however; recently a child in America gave up school to be a 'professional' Guitar Hero player, participating in popular competitions against other Guitar Hero fanatics. Therefore surely there must be a line to draw between reality, and gaming? Unfortunately it is becoming more and more likely that guitar based video games are taking over the real thing, and with the release of DJ hero will DJ'ing finally start to have a downfall too? Only time shall tell!