Guitar Hero was my first foray into “music gaming” or whatever it is the kids are calling it these days. I happened to walk by a demo stand for the game as I was walking through a certain big box electronics dealer that hasn’t gone bankrupt. At first the whole idea struck me as silly. Why would I want to pretend to play the guitar? However, my curiosity got the better of me (and the fact that the store was nearly empty probably didn’t hurt), and I picked up the little plastic guitar and started up Black Sabbath’s War Pigs.

After the initial confusion on what I was supposed to be doing passed, I got into the groove and started hitting a good percentage of the notes (I was on Very Easy, mind you). About three quarters of the way through, I started falling in love with the game. I really felt like I was playing the song, and playing it well. For someone who doesn’t know how to play the guitar (I’ve been told that the opening riff from “Smoke on the Water” doesn’t count) it felt like savant powers had been unlocked. I was now a fucking bonafied guitar god.

I then saw that, while I was playing Guitar Hero, there was a Guitar Hero II, and it had just come out. My birthday was approaching, and I started dropping hardcore “hints” on my wife (examples: “I really want Guitar Hero II”, “Guitar Hero II is the only game I really want right now”, “Buy me Guitar Hero II for my birthday”). I was so surprised when she came home from a trip to the store with Guitar Hero II in tow. How did she know?

Countless hours were spent in pursuit of five star rating on songs. I’ve pretend played “Free Bird” so many times that, were I ever to actually start playing guitar, I would have to overcome the muscle memory of these sessions to play the real deal.

I skipped the third entry in the franchise. Okay, that’s technically not true. I talked my younger brother into buying it for the 360, and played it through. I never picked it up for myself, as the on disc catalog didn’t really appeal to me.

Rock Band, of course, is the other big name in the music game franchise. I’ve never touched a Rock Band game, because there seemed to be a pretty high barrier to entry. Sure, I could just buy a guitar and game and be done, but the fact that there are drum parts, and singing parts included make the desire to have the full package tempting enough to forsake buying what I consider in my mind to be “half the game”. Ditto for the newest incarnation of Guitar Hero, “World Tour“.

Now, this has happened. While I have some reservations about the whole idea, it’s just too tempting to pass on. The idea of playing Paul McCartney’s bass lines on a replica Hofner AS PAUL FUCKING MCCARTNEY is just too much. Imitating the virtuoso of George, Ringo (on replica The Beatles branded Ludwigs), and John are equally as enticing. I’m getting giddy right now just thinking about playing “Day Tripper”.

So, while the barrier for entry is still rather high at $250, there’s no way I’m going to pass this time around.

Who wants to pretend to be a Beatle with me?