Rock On!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I was able to find Tony Hawk Proving Ground Limited Edition for Xbox 360 on clearance about a month ago for $7.49. It just so happens that there is a demo of Guitar Hero III on the disc so I thought I would give it a try.

I'm hooked.

This whole Guitar Hero thing has been going on for awhile now. It's the "hot new thing" in video games and it seems to be drawing a whole lot of interest from people other than hardcore gamers. There have been stories on the local and national news. It's showing up in bars and at school fun fairs. And the ultimate sign of mainstream; it's the game demo of choice at Walmart.

The idea is pretty simple. Make the player feel like they can play a guitar as well as Slash from G'N'R when they really suck with the real thing. Sounds great in concept but the critical part is the execution and they nailed it. It's fundamentally a rhythm game where you press the correct button at the correct time. Kind of like an elaborate game of Simon Says. The beauty of the game design lies in the music. Once you start to "feel" the music you can almost guess which buttons you will need to press and when.

I was playing the demo with a regular controller but you can buy a bundle that has the game as well as a controller that is a mock-up of a guitar, so you can really feel like you are rockin' the house. So I went on EBay to take a peek at what I get my hands on. The bundle at retail with the wireless guitar runs $90. I found an auction for a new, open box unit and won it for a total of $55. Not a bad savings. I have yet to get my paws on it but when I do I'll post an update of impressions.

Did I happen to mention that I might have gone a little overboard I bid on an auction for Guitar Hero II and won that one for $45. So I'll have two guitars that Judo Boy and I can play together since there is a Co-Op mode where one person can play lead guitar and the other can play either rhythm or bass guitar. I can see this being a kick ass party game where we get the friends together and after a couple of cocktails they strap on the ax and rock to Even Flow by Pearl Jam, Rock This Town by the Stray Cats or even the all time classic request Freebird by Lynard Skynard.

Of course this is all part of my master plan to get Judo Boy to learn how to play a real guitar in the near future. Until then you'll find us playing to packed arenas full of rabid fans all around the world. Rock on brothers and sisters! Rock On!