Have you ever played an "air guitar"?
I have.
Many times when listening to my Sex Pistols, Sham 69, or Stranglers records (Yeh, I know, I'm showing my age now).
But playing the "air guitar" has often been looked upon as a bit "geeky", yet it's something most of us have done and still do.
Well, Guitar Hero brings the art of playing the air guitar literally screaming and kicking into the 20th Century and out of the closet.
Playing the air guitar is now actually seen as cool and hip, especially if your good.
I was first exposed to the game at my local Mall when I saw groups of teenagers round a video game machine thrashing away on a "guitar" shaped "instrument".
So what is Guitar Hero?
In the "game" players flail away on guitar-shaped controller and try to replicate the moves of the guitarist playing a popular song.
In essence its a bit like guitar karaoke.
What makes it unusual and unique is it comes packaged with a guitar peripheral modeled after a black Gibson SG rather than using the console's standard controller.
The game's guitar has no strings; its fret board features five colored buttons that you press with your left hand as you hit a plastic strumming bar with your right.
Its appeal is in the ease of playing and "learning" to play the guitar to recreate your favorite bands and songs.
It "makes you feel like you're a guitar player without having to practice for years and years," says Ted Lange, an associate producer and in-house guitar expert at Red Octane, the company that makes "Guitar Hero."
Published by Red Octane in partnership with Activision it has become a huge success and has achieved cult status already amongst its many loyal "followers".
The development of Guitar Hero was inspired by Konami's Guitar Freaks arcade game, which at the time had not seen much exposure in the North American market.
In total, four games have been released for video game consoles, while games have been released for mobile phones and the Nintendo DS hand held gaming system.
But I predict there is more to come as the game garners mass appeal.
The Heroes
Another popular element of the game is its characters, or the Guitar Heroes featured.
Each character has been given a rich and believable history making the characters more "real" and "alive". Add to this some real Guitar Heroes such as "Slash" and suddenly the line between real and unreal becomes blurred.
Popular characters included Johnny Napalm, a punk rocker looking not to dissimilar to Sex Pistols lead singer Johnny Rotten.
Then there's God of Rock, Axel Steel (any guesses to his "true identity?), Izzy Sparks, Slash, Judy Nails, Lou, and Metalhead to name a few.
What makes it different?
Guitar Hero is different because guitar playing is seen as a showy and flashy thing to do.
It's always been revered and the worlds top guitarists are adored and emulated by their millions of fans who aspire to play like them.
Everyone has, at some time, played the "air guitar" usually locked away in your bedroom with just you and your records.
This is what has given the game its mass appeal and popularity.
It has tapped into this and dragged the practice of playing the air guitar out into the open and made it mainstream and "acceptable".
Add to that alcohol, members of the opposite sex, or the same sex, and it becomes like going to a party in your parents' basement
In New York Guitar Hero nights have quickly become a hit in some bars and pubs and competitions are a regular event.
In fact McFarlane Toys, makers of the Guitar Hero action figures, recently sponsored a Guitar Hero competition prior to the Metallica concert at Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, Ariz.
The competition was open to everyone and took place near the fountains adjacent to Jobing.com Arena on the huge video board.
There were loads of cool prizes given away, including t-shirts, Guitar Hero video games and McFarlane's own Guitar Hero action figures.
There is already a huge amount of merchandising surrounding the game with custom guitar consoles, soundtracks, statues and now action figures.
McFarlane Toys, one of the USA's biggest toy manufacturers, has announced that they have signed a deal in partnership with Activision to produce action figures based on the hit video game.
Some of the most popular characters in Guitar Hero are to be represented in McFarlanes series of Guitar Hero's action figures and they will even be producing packs of individual, customizable guitars for them.
So it looks like 2009 could be the year to brush the dust off your air guitar break out that old pair of torn jeans and t-shirt and head to the local Mall.
If you haven?t seen or heard of Guitar Heroes yet you will.
Because, with the right marketing and product placement I predict this could become as big as Karaoke was in the 80?s.
Until next time
Keep rockin' :-)
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