Feature Story

Unlike most of my friends, I lack the skill to play any musical instrument. Ever since high school I’ve tried off and on to learn the guitar. Right before my junior year of college, I even bought my own acoustic guitar and practiced almost everyday in my dorm room. Maybe, just maybe I would have been a pretty decent musician by now if this photography thing hadn’t distracted me, but probably not.

But who cares?

Because, you see, despite the fact I never learned guitar, I and other like me can now pretend we did by living out our rock star fantasies using the “Guitar Hero” video game series.

Game play is simple. Players use a scaled-down version of a guitar as the controller for the games. There are five different colored buttons on the fret board of the guitar along with a strumming bar on the base of the controller. As the song plays on screen, a virtual fret board scrolls toward the player with certain colored buttons associated with notes. In order to score points, players must hit the correct button (or buttons) at the right time while also hitting the strumming bar. Player’s lose points by missing notes during play. The song stops and the player loses when enough points are lost.

Over the past couple of years, the game has gained popularity. Everyone from 13-year-old kids to grown professionals are getting into it. While the the youngsters would probably be better served using all the time they put into mastering the video game into actually learning how to play a real guitar (sorry kids but video games will not help you get a girlfriend in high school, or help you with the much more evolved skill set of mooching off of your girlfriend while in your 20s), “Guitar Hero” definitely makes for a fun party game.

One local bar has realized this and has started offering “Guitar Hero” play – The Double Olive in MiMo. On Sept. 19, the martini bar hosted a “Guitar Hero” tournament as a part of 4-week event sponsored by area radio station, TK 101.

“I had the idea with a friend of mine…about eight months ago,” said Michael Dees, co-owner of the Double Olive. “We had been trying to find different people to get on board an sponsor it, and we finally got turned on to TK’s ‘Guitar Hero’ tour that they were having.”

“There was a miscommunication between ourselves and TK,” Dees says. “I was under the impression that ‘Guitar Hero’ was going to be sponsored by TK for four weeks here at the Double Olive. It wasn’t until two hours before the tournament started that I found out that they were only sponsoring the game one night at the bar.”

Although the Double Olive had a large turn out that first night, it has tapered off since. But that hasn’t stopped the bar from offering the video game as a fun midweek distraction. Every Wednesday night, they feature free play of “Guitar Hero,” along with drink specials.

From opening till close, patrons are welcomed to take turns playing along with some of their rock hits from a variety song. The first two versions of the game feature songs from contemporary and classic bands alike, although “Guitar Hero Encore: Rock of the ‘80s” lets players enjoy songs from the hair metal days. That’s right kids, now you too can get your Dio on with “Holy Diver.”

I had my first night with “Guitar Hero” while working on this story. Despite my perceived cynicism towards a group of adults playing a video game at a bar, I have to admit the game is both fun and addicting. I started out with Danzig’s “Mother,” a happy and upbeat tune. My lack of skill showed the first time around when I lost before I could complete the song. The learning curve isn’t that big though, and I easily made it through the song the second time around. It was challenging enough to be fun without making you want to smash your toy guitar to the ground in frustration.

What makes the game work is that it combines the musical and interactive parts of karaoke into a video game without forcing others to suffer through all the awful attempts at singing. You can play the game solo or with two players in a team mode (which allows one player to hand the lead guitar track and the other to handle the bass line) or versus mode. Add alcohol with a friendly environment and you get a surprisingly fun and different night out.

The Double Olive plans on holding the free play event with “Guitar Hero” every Wednesday. They currently have sponsorship with Budweiser, so once they get a more consistent crowd showing up they hope to hold a monthly tournament with prizes. The bar has both “Guitar Hero” and “Guitar Hero II” available for play and will offer “Guitar Hero III” when it comes out later in October. The Double Olive will expand the virtual entertainment when “Rock Band” comes out later this year. The game, created by the original developers of “Guitar Hero,” lets up to four people play as whole band (with a singer, two guitar players, and a drummer) against each other online. Should be interesting, epsecially if there’s an virtual “Behind the Music” that comes later.

Contact Dan Anderson at dan@lagniappemobile.com.

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