Posted by Rich Edmondson

Give us one chance to rock your socks off.

Like Teaching an Infant to Drive

Like teaching an infant to drive.

The other day I introduced Guitar Hero III to someone for the first time. I will not divulge her gender, well, I won't give out her name. This lovely young lady has not exactly been a cheerleader for video games. Suggesting that we play caught me off guard and made me a little suspicious of her motives. Like most people I believe she thinks that video games are for children and ITT Tech dropouts. Did you know, in 2007, video games became an $18 billion industry, and poised to surpass the music industry in 2008? There are a lot of kids playing video games, but there are also a lot of adults playing too. But this isn't about gaming demographics, so let's move on.

The idea of playing Guitar Hero is easy, it's the execution that is the tricky part. This is one situation where saying that it is easier said than done is an understatement. It probably doesn't help that I am a horrible teacher.

To start off, I put her in practice mode. This way she couldn't fail. Firing up a practice session I did my best to explain the basic mechanics of using the guitar controller to play Guitar Hero III. "So, you have to hit the correct colored button....and strum?" I knew that she wouldn't be Jimmy Hendrix right off the bat but I was hoping she wouldn't suck so bad that she immediately quit. Positive reenforcement people. That is the key.

"I can't do it, I suck."

The thing about Guitar Hero is that everyone sucks when they first start. It takes time to coordinate both of your hands to play cohesively. The only reason I'm any good at Guitar Hero is because I play it way too much. It's a good game, get off my back!

Slowly she began to get better. Her shredding was improving, and then as quickly as it begun, it was over. Kind of a crappie ending but at least the flame was kindled, be it a very small one. I know she's thought about it, not enough to buy it for herself but I feel that I scored one for the good guys.

QUANSU DUDES!

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