Guitar Hero or Rock Band: Admit You Play?

I thought the same thing Tiggerfc. My 17 year old brother (I'm 34, a bit of a gap) was selling off his XBox stuff, so I jokingly asked him if I could have his Guitar Hero III game and guitar. He brought it by the next weekend and started jamming. I couldn't put it down. I bought Guitar Hero Metallica (I'm a big Matallica fan) a week later. Played through the stereo, it doesn't sound bad at all. Its a lot of fun.

People bash the games. My cousin who is 15 started playing the game a few years ago. He was exposed to a lot of music that he wouldn't have been otherwise. Last Christmas when I visited, I heard Cream's Sunshine of Your Love playing in his room. I thought it was the game. Nope. He was playing an actual guitar. I asked him where he heard that one - "Guitar Hero." He played a bunch of other Cream and some Hendrix songs for me.

I understand the 'looking down' on Guitar Hero (not that I'm saying you're looking down on it per se). Playing a real guitar or drums would be better. But not everyone has the time or money to do this. I certainly don't have the time.

I also understand the musicians who refused to allow their music on it - Led Zepplin and Prince come to mind. Prince said 'why not play a real guitar?' and Jimmy Page didn't want kids fake playing John Bonham's stuff.

But at the end of the day, it's just another way to enjoy music. That's how I view it anyway.