So one of the toys we got for Christmas was Guitar Hero. I resisted buying much more in the way of PS2 games because I figure the price on those games is going to go down quite a bit this year. And really, I don't need a PS3 or an Xbox. I've never been much of a gamer. Give me a copy of Civilizations and I'm a happy camper. I don't need much more.
But I played Guitar Hero while in San Francisco and discovered that I liked it quite a bit. And more importantly, Cathy liked it as well. So we put it on the Christmas wish list, got it from my mother who also got the extra guitar so myself and Cathy can play against one another.
Despite a few early hiccups (i.e. I learned how to play it faster and got grumpy looks from Cathy along with the suggestion that it might be in my vested interest to throw the occasional game) we both enjoy playing for an hour or so every couple of days.
There are, however, drawbacks. Such as if you play "Iron Man" by Ozzy or "You got another thing coming" by Judas Priest enough you start thinking dark and evil thoughts. Such as "You know, maybe I ought to go and download some Ozzy and Priest."
Dark and evil thoughts indeed. I had sudden flashbacks to my nightmare metal summer of 1984. Pretty much everyone goes through a metal phase in their teens (watch the deniers come out of the woodwork now, but most of you, especially if you grew up in the 80s, had your moment of infamy), but I thought I was through it with minimum damage. Some don't, you understand. They become country music fans. It's tragic.
But as it turns out you can have flashbacks and rock out a little too hard playing the song. "You enjoy playing that song waaaayyy too much," Cathy said after playing "You got another thing coming."
Eventually we'll get Guitar Hero 2. There's talk of a Guitar Hero: 80s edition, which would be bad.
The other problem with Guitar Hero is that it is physically hurting me. Admittedly I'm not in great shape right now. However, I am curling two nights a week and going to the gym three nights a week. And I get the bonus of walking back and forth to work in -40 temperatures this week thanks to the car. And yeah, I can sometimes get a bit sore.
But I had to stop playing Guitar Hero the other night after three songs because my shoulder was killing me. There's just something very wrong about that.
You know, there was a pitcher with the Detroit Tigers who came down with a mysterious injury just before the World Series. The Tigers are a young team, but still, you dream your whole life of getting into the World Series. You figure it's got to be something pretty serious to keep you out because you never know if you're going to get another shot.
The story came out a few weeks ago. Turns out he hurt his shoulder playing too much Guitar Hero with his buddies. I laughed when the story came out and thought "What a shmuck." Now, I admit, I have a touch more sympathy.
Only a touch thought. Because let's face it, me hurting my shoulder from playing too much of a video game is no big deal. I don't think I'll be going on Worker's Comp or anything. But playing too much of a video game and hurting yourself before the biggest game in your life...yeah, that's still pretty dumb.
So I guess I'm going to have to work on my upper body a bit more at the gym if I want to keep playing my video game. And there's something very wrong about that. Almost as much as enjoying a Judas Priest song quite that much.
4 comments:
If you feel like checking out old and new (heavy) metal, my husband does a radio show for the Francophone radio station Wednesday evenings (8-10) and Saturday afternoons (4-6). It's just him and his buddies sitting around playing whatever weird and good metal (and sometime everything else) that they have in their large collections.
Wow...I just blatantly advertised my hubby's radio show. Usually he does that himself.
zgktGuitar Hero rocks! I bought 2 for the kids this Christmas and, talk of coincidence, started playing it with them last night. Had I known that version 1 had Priest and Ozzy on it, I would have gone for that version instead. However, playing message in a bottle against an eight year old, who was kicking my butt and rubbing it in, was a blast. Next trip south will be at Easter. I'll look for it then. By the way, the kid taught me how to use the controller for two player play, although, I bet two guitars just looks cooler!
Waay ahead of you on the metal revival front. Just before xmas I downloaded the iTunes Essentials Metal Complete Set. It had such highlights of Western civilization as "Balls to the Wall" by Accept, "Angel of Death" by Slayer, and Twisted Sister's "I Wanna Rock". And I don't know how I survived nearly 20 years without listening to "Seventeen" by Winger.
But don't you feel a little bit vindicated that many teens today are still wearing Iron Maiden t-shirts, as opposed to Debbie Gibson or something?
MM
Oh lord, Debbie Gibson shirts or Maiden shirts. There's a clothing apparel choice that Satan is going to offer me in hell.
Most of the songs I get these days tend to be new ones, but I really should dig back and pick up some stuff from my youth. I don't know if that will include Metal Essentials from iTunes, but we shall see.
I imagine we'll probably get GH2 at some point this year. And yeah, the guitars are much more fun. The extra controller is about $40.
And thanks for the tip on the radio show. I really must give the Francophone station a listen to more often. However, because I have something like 5300 songs on my iPod, I rarely listen to radio anymore.
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