nov 28
2007
Game Fame
Carrie Brownstein of Sleater-Kinney reviews Rock Band for Slate, which is a nice counterpoint to Rob Walker's bit in last weekend's NYT about the fame aspiration in these games.
2 comments
It's silly to compare Guitar Hero or Rock Band unfavorably (or at all) to playing a real guitar. I've never seen a review of a football or baseball video game say "this won't make you a better all-star sports player." The game's fun and it indulges a bit of fantasy. Reading into it any further is rockist.
posted by Safran at 2007-11-28 15:24:35 
True Safran, but for whatever reason people seem to focus a lot on that real band vs. Rock Band comparison when playing or even just hearing about this game. Maybe it's because, unlike the games you mentioned, rock band uses "life-like" controllers, or maybe its because 4 players can all be playing different roles at the same time just like a real band. It may be silly, but not addressing that comparative mindset when writing a review would be more so.
posted by Josh at 2007-11-28 17:37:53
