Recently, several friends of mine have taken up Guitar Hero with great fervor. When I first heard about the game, I think I assumed that there was actually some educational value to the game. Sort of like what Mavis Beacon is to typing. I thought that you were playing a game that ultimately taught you how to actually play the guitar.

Then I found out that the game has no real connection to actual guitar playing. At that point, I decided I have no use for such a game. I have no problem with video games, even if they are completely mindless and don’t assist in the acquisition of any new, useful skills. But the problem I have with Guitar Hero is that kids (and adults) who play this game, seem to be equating their skill at the game with the skill of actually playing guitar.

It’s as if people think that their prowess at the video game is somehow an equivalent skill to learning and playing a real guitar, which it’s not. You learn to push a bunch of buttons in sequence to music. That’s great. I’m sure it’s fun. I’m not knocking it. I’m just saying, it’s not really a skill that will ever be worth much, except for playing this video game.

My confusion and angst is shared by Rob Walker, who in a piece in the NY Times, writes:

This isn’t to say that Guitar Hero doesn’t require the steady acquisition of a measurable skill. It does. It’s just not a skill that involves creating music. But maybe that kid at Best Buy isn’t fantasizing about the end of the long and tedious road to attaining musical virtuosity and stardom; maybe, like the controllers of the various warriors and outlaws and strategists whose triumphs unfold in digitally created worlds, what he really wants to be is a great pretender.

Here’s the gratuitous video of a kid who’s immensely talented when it comes to this game, but that talent has no real use in the real world.