Guitar Hero or Rock Band: Admit You Play?

Drums - my 8 year old is beating me! Paranoid is great but Wanted Dead or Alive is fun too. I hope my child keeps the interest up - the drumming is actually real drumming!

I highly recommend Rock Band for the musically challenged/illiterate- a lot of fun and so easy to get started.

I got hooked on Guitar Hero enough to pursue further learning on the real guitar. As a result, my beloved system has sat idle for the past 18 months, or so....

Keyboards: played out with weekend bar bands for ten years.
Guitar: but never progressed past just being okay.
Sousaphone and Baritone: played in the grade school and high school band.

Favorite songs to play: "Turn Up The Radio" by Autograph, "Runaway" by Bon Jovi and "Jump" by Van Halen.

This is one reason that I like to hear everything in detail rather than just enjoying a song for what it is. I've spent most of my life dissecting songs (down to playing 45's at 33 rpm and buying a cassette recorder that could play back at half speed) and reading sheet music to learn to play them.

Well I must add that that Rock Band is a revolutionary product. With 2.5 million songs downloaded and counting - this is a REVOLUTION in the making.

Never have I had so much fun and the kids are just as keen (the teengaer is playing drums now and trying to catch up with the 8 year old) ....amazing that this closes the generation gap totally...even the wife plays!

I have deliberately ONLY introduced drums, as this is the closest to a real instrument as you can get in a game. On "Expert" you are pretty much really drumming (just missing the high hat and its foot pedal - a significant difference but they did have to simplify it to get broader market acceptance) and no I am far from an expert...

I plan to add microphone at a later date to try and maintain my kids interest (I have reservations about the guitar is it bears no relation to the real thing). If the interest is still there after three months...it will be time to get a real drum kit and invest in some lessons...
if you don't believe me that Rockband drumming is at least half way towards real levdrumming - just google Youtube Rockband Expert Drumming and watch - it is mega-difficult!