I've never been a huge gamer. Mario Kart and Harvest Moon are about as close as it gets for me. But the one game that I can say changed my life, and will forever hold a special place in my heart, is Guitar Hero.
I was introduced to Guitar Hero II by my cousins when I was in the 7th grade. I had heard of this magical game that made you feel like a real rock star, even if you had no idea how to play guitar, and I was thrilled to find out that my cousins had purchased it. They taught me how to use the hunk of plastic that was the guitar controller, and how to follow along with the notes on the screen. It was simple, really. I was hooked from the outset.
The greatest thing about the game, and the thing that forever changed me, was the music. Good ol' classic rock. It was music I hadn't largely been exposed to before. I'd heard classic rock in the background of movies and TV commercials and such, and my parents had surely listened to it every now and then. But classic rock was no longer background music. It was in the foreground, and I was participating in bringing it back to life, with my magical plastic guitar.
It became my favorite genre of music in middle school. Instead of settling for current, Top 40 pop hits, I loaded my iPod with old classic rock hits. Some of my favorites from the game included, “Surrender" by Cheap Trick, “Message in a Bottle" by The Police, “Crazy on You" by Heart, “Sweet Child O' Mine" by Guns n Roses, and what was surely my top favorite and still is to this day, “Free Bird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd (man I could really shred on that solo).
Every now and then I reminisce about my Guitar Hero days (as I write this, I'm listening to a Guitar Hero II playlist on Spotify). Eventually I grew out of my obsession, and the game sort of lost its appeal. As with life, things grow old. Rock Band soon became the next big thing, and while I fully enjoyed playing Rock Band myself, nothing really held the same magic for me as Guitar Hero II did.
To this day, it's been a while since I've picked up a magical plastic guitar. It seems other fans of the game have hung up their guitars as well. In 2011, Activision announced that it would stop developing the Guitar Hero series. However, there is still hope. According to Kotaku UK, there is a new Guitar Hero game in development to be released this year, with more realistic visuals.
Whether it's done for good or not, I would just like to thank Guitar Hero for introducing a whole new generation to decades worth of rock. My taste in music will never be the same. This game will always hold a special place in my heart.
