I wanna rock ‘n’ roll all night and part of every day

So me and Andréa bought Rock Band this weekend.

I’ve decided that I’ll never be too old for video games. To me, they’re just as suitable as movies or television for entertainment. Anyone who looks down on 20-something-year-old gamers, but still won’t miss an episode of American Idol is just not seeing straight.

But I digress…

I have had Guitar Hero III for a couple of months and consider it to be one of the coolest video games to come out in a long time. Rock Band takes the ideas from Guitar Hero and knocks them out of the park.

It’s so great that a group of people, regardless of musical ability, can get together and act like a band. I know there are so many doubters that don’t believe that can happen with a video game, but as someone who’s been in a few bands, I can tell you that it’s a very close simulation in a lot of ways. It’s honestly as much fun as jamming with a cover band, if not more.

I’ve actually come to understand why people who don’t play guitar love Guitar Hero so much. Getting to feel like you can play an instrument when you’re actually not capable of doing the real thing, really shows the appeal of video games and simulation. I like the guitar/bass aspect of the game, but the best part for me was trying out singing and drumming and actually getting the hang of it.

And while playing guitar on Guitar Hero or Rock Band won’t make you a guitarist, I can see how the vocal and drumming aspects could actually help teach you a bit about their real life counterparts. The drum simulation is so close I’m pretty confident I could sit at a kit now and at least bust out a decent rock groove. It’s a start, if nothing else.

And the depth of character creation is so deep, you’ll be amazed to see yourself rocking out on stage or showing up in band photos. Simply put, it’s an experience.

I highly recommend trying this game out. It’ll be my study break fix for quite some time.