Jimmy Page & Jack White Speak Out Against ‘Guitar Hero’
Rock legend Jimmy Page and modern blues master Jack White have attacked the hugely popular Guitar Hero games.
They said that they felt video games were not a good way to open up music to people or to get them interested in playing instruments. The pair were promoting new film ‘It might get loud’ in which Page and Whit play together with U2’s The Edge in a celebration of the mighty axe.
White commented: “It’s depressing to have a label come and tell you that [Guitar Hero] is how kids are learning about music and experiencing music.” While he said that he didn’t want to dictate how people should experience music he said it was “a little sad” if you had to be in a videogame to get heard.
IT may have slipped White’s mind that his band are due to appear in the fifth instalment of the Guitar Hero franchise when it is released latter this year.
Page’s objection to Guitar Hero and its rival Rock Band has been previously known as Led Zeppelin have stopped attempts by the game’s developers to gain access to their master recordings, which is necessary for them to appear in the games.
You can rule out rocking out to ‘Whole Lotta Love’ while trying to stab primary coloured buttons any time soon.
word riggs.
Good for them.
Totally agree
I can’t play guitar either, yet I would have to agree with them. I’m quite sure if the amount of time and effort into a computer game was given to learning an instrument, you could be as technically good as one of your “guitar heroes”.
if only these kids put the amount of hours on guitar hero into practising real guitar.
Sounds like Jack is being hypocritical. His is waaaayyy over-rated anyway and the white stripes are crap
Guitar doesn’t even open kids up to this music anyway! They play the song, possibly download it, and then don’t even bother to explore the band who played the song!
when i saw this i thought they were going to argue about how guitar hero has gone out of touch with its original audience; michael jackson on world tour.
its just as bad as the british medical journal calling him “Youth focussed”
In Fairness, if you’re talking about Jackson featuring on Guitar Hero World Tour – it’s because the song included is ‘Beat It’. Whatever your opinion on Jackson, Eddie Van Halen played the solo and the song is as classic as any other featured in the series.
Back to the original point tho, I agree with the other posters. If people spent as long learning to play a real guitar as they do a plastic one on the game, the future of rock would look a lot brighter…
someone who waste his/her time in front to a stupid video game instead to learn an instrument FOR REAL is exactly like someone who prefer to have virtual sex instead of the real thing…in short AN IDIOT!
Hayden posted:
‘Guitar doesn’t even open kids up to this music anyway! They play the song, possibly download it, and then don’t even bother to explore the band who played the song!’
This is an overgeneralisation. Guitar Hero 3 brought Slash to the attention of my son who then bought Appetite for Destruction and is now learning to play a guitar and has since rarely played Guitar Hero and Rock Band.
What is sad is that musicians and those posting here so far are not open to new ways for people to experience music. Rock music doens’t get the air play it did or deserves and I don’t see anything wrong in opening up to a new medium. They are also more than just pressing a few plastic buttons on a guitar now, drums and micrphone anyone?
What would you rather have your children doing, playing Rock Band or killing people in disturbing ways as is possible in Manhunt?
Hmm, this is one of those comments you can agree and disagree on. Being 17, I have to admit, Guiter Hero is what really got me into rock music in the first place and actually got me to start opening up to these new artists and their style of music. It also got me playing guitar, which I now do far more regularly than play Guitar Hero (which I feel has lost it’s touch from the original games).
However, Page and White are also right in some respects. I have seen the game having opposite effects on my friends, with some simply wanting to hear the guitar hero songs but not opening up to any of the artists other songs. And with my other friend, the game inspired him to play guitar, but he got a really nice guitar and amp but STILL he plays guitar hero more. It is a shame when video games overtake what should be a real musical interests, like Page and White are on about.
However, I am glad that it has got a lot of kids off factory manufactured RnB and Rap rubbish =)
Old God Jimmy Page and Young God Jack White and pub rock rhythm guitarist…’The Edge’… oh dear oh dear. U2 are mince folks. It’s like The Emperor’s New Clothes: U2 are utter shite and we know they are! Let the truth run free!!!
as long as these two idiots are busy speaking out against a video game they are not making shit music so carry on.
Shame really. Some folks get it and some don’t. Its just a new dimension to being a music fan that complements listening to records and going to gigs. I can tell you for a fact (I do research in the games industry) that a whole new generation of kids are picking up guitars and starting to play, my son included.. This is nothing but good.
Jack White hypocrite of the year I think!!
A truely overrrated artist and no right to be mentioned in the same sentence as Page, nevermind the same production!!
Personally i’ve always thought the whole guitar hero game could have been done better,there’s no feel of actually playing the instrument(yes,i’m aware it’s just a game) I think a big chance to do something really interesting and creative has been missed.No suprise that pagey doesn’t like it,he is a very old man. I remember my dad feeling the same way about electric guitar when i was a kid.
The South Park episode about guitar hero hits the nail on the head.
The kids are all sat around playing the game, Stan’s Dad sees this and brings out his real guitar and starts playing Smoke on the Water, the kids all look at him and laugh. He tries to explain that his actually playing an instrument but it’s all in vain, the game is “way cooler!”
There’s the future of Rock music, multi coloured buttons.
Some people should really get over this whole for/against GH thing. It’s a good fun game. It has certainly exposed new and old generations to some great music. If you think about it, kids who don’t take up playing the real thing probably wouldn’t do it anyway and if they did, who’s to say that they’d have the creativity needed to come up with new material? What’s wrong with just being an appreciator of good music? As for Jack White… who??
That is a crying shame.
Here in Denmark the trend is pretty clear: The kids listen to shitty pop and tecno. EXCEPT the ones that fell into the cold hands of Rock Band and Guitar Hero. These kids listen to ROCK!
Jimmy and Jack, all you do is kill your own business. Get with the program. Give us your music for these games and the kids will discover the complexity and the charm of the songs and purchase them, not only for the game, but more than likely also on CD or downloads. Being against this would be comparable to being against recording your music in the first place. You might not like how the kids listen to your music, but this is how they do it and all you accomplish by rejecting to participate is that you are gonna be the nerd kid not dancing at the prom.
why don’t people worry about the real probelms in life , like high taxes petrol prices criminal polititions than worrying about a guitar hero game . I am 47 and can’t play it of the easy level and that bothers me
Mardy arses!!!!! LOL
Firstly, Jack White, that well known guitar player with all those famous songs – get bent
Jimmy Page is still living in the 70’s and his refusal to allow Zep’s catalogue to be used is down to his total mistrust of the media. Has ever thought that a lot of the bad press they got was due to him not being very press friendly?
I grew up on Zep, they are and always will be THE greatest rock band ever, but times have changed. The Beatles have agreed with the makers of Rock Band to release songs – look at the previews, they are fantastic,
This has been done with the full co-operation of those involved with The Beatles. Page can do the same, he can open Zep up to a whole new audience and give new life to their music. Think of the dreamscape sequences that could be developed for Kashmir or No Quarter
So, messrs Page Plant and Jones fuckin’ grow up before everyone stops talking abiout you and it is too late to for anything
Isnt it so very sad that when the kids are on guitar hero they are top guitarists, yet off line, most of them cant even play the simplest chord..what are we doing to the kids…EDUCATE THEM. dont brainwash them with CRAP.
It is sad that kids these days are this game to learn about music. When I was a kid there was no [guitarhero]
at that time metallica wasn’t even a band yet but I still learned about music and started playing an actual instrument & now about 40 years later I am an actual guitar hero . So my advice to the kids who like guitar hero is that if they like the game they’ll love playing actual guitar or bass!
i’m intellectual less buying a Jackson Randy Rhoads [url=http://www.electric-guitar-guitar.com/jackson-guitars-c-12.html ]guitar[/url], but would like to inspect playing one-liner in advance buying sole, does anyone recognize where there is a guitar look for nigh kent? preferably near Bromley where I could take a shot one.