Guitar Hero: It Bores Me Out of My Skull

This weekend I spent a while watching some people in my dorm play Guitar Hero. It was kind of fun for a while, and I even joined in. Most people picked the avatars they thought were the hottest, and I tried to find one who was closest to the kind of person I’d want to look like if I was in an all-girl band in the early 90s. But, inevitably, I would start thinking about all the more interesting time wasters I have in my life. Things like blogs, and books, and WordTwist on facebook, and records, and trying on seven different outfits before going out. And I kind of realized, that I just don’t get it.

I’ve had a few different experiences of Guitar Hero. In one scenario, I’m at home hanging out with some friends. The girls in the group want to chill and talk, but the guys commandeer the TV and start playing Guitar Hero. This lasts three hours. I am bored out of my mind. In another scenario, I’m at home and it’s just me and my girl friends. They play for a while, I try to play and fail miserably, and am really annoyed at the watered down versions of classic rock that are an integral part of the game. I convince my friends to stop playing and watch a movie or go somewhere, or just hang out. The day is saved.

Guitar Hero is, admittedly, a little better than other video games I’ve experienced in my life. At least it involves culture…ish. And it’s active…ish. And you play it with other people, in real life, so it’s kind of like playing a board game but with computer animation. But my general annoyance and overwhelming experience with being made to wait around while guys play Mario Party 4 or James Bond for six hours has kind of ruined them for me forever. It’s not just the male-centric attitude, either. I tried Sorority Life on facebook and World of Warcraft, and various online games this weekend, but I always just ended feeling kind of tired. Outside of the ridiculous breasts on the female characters, the complete useless quality of Princess Peach (who I always insisted on playing anyways, even though her skirt caught on fire during Hot Rope Jump), the extreme offensiveness of how obviously Sorority Life is just a money ploy- I just find it all kind of boring.