Guitar Hero Tasteless
Seen the new Guitar Hero 5 commercial? I’m not going to link to it but I bet you can find it at Youtube or someplace similar. Anyway, the short of it is that, like GH World Tour, they’re doing the Risky Business thing except that where a young Tom Cruise (in his undies and socks) was, a blonde supermodel is. For Guitar Hero 5 it’s a horde of pretty girls wearing socks and button up T’s (and presumably tighty whiteys). Now, I’m not prude or anything and I don’t really mind my kids seeing this but something does bother me . . .
And that’s my daughter asking me who that creepy old man is. The creepy old man is Hugh Hefner, a mummified version at least, and my daughter is right. Man is he creepy in this commercial. People often ask me the difference between GH and Rock Band and I usually answer that Rock Band has a more cohesive feel – a feel that indicates the developers are more “into” music than the competition (the Rock Band makers, Harmonix, popularized this kind of gameplay and made Guitar Hero 1 and 2) – and to me at least, Rock Band has better music.
Rock Band: Beatles is a perfect case in point.
That small prejudice aside – and it is a small one because, why choose? The instruments work for both games – this commercial illustrates this difference perfectly. Rock Band uses music to sell its product, Guitar Hero uses Hugh Hefner. Oh, and yeah, I’m also geeky enough to mention almost every time I see this ad that you really can’t play Guitar Hero while cavorting on a couch with your girlfriends and kicking your sleek legs in the air.
So, the Activision ad department is out of synch with the game they’re advertising, that’s not the developer’s (Neversoft) fault. But Kurt Cobain is their fault. You can also look this up at Youtube but GH5 uses Cobain and Johnny Cash as unlockable avatars. Cartoon figures. Not a problem so much when it’s Slash or some other guitar player – but when its a tortured soul like Cobain and you can make him sing songs and dance like a monkey to music he’d loathe? Not so cool. Not so cool at all. Creepy, in fact.
Add in that commercial, and you get double creepy.
Activision/Neversoft need to take a cue from their rival. Rock Band Beatles exudes a real love for its subject. Much like Rock Band 2 had that cool ACDC commercial (that didn’t star ACDC but captured the spirit) they used. Kids get it and come on, they shouldn’t be asking their folks who Cobain is and why he’s dancing and singing Bon Jovi – and who that creepy guy is in the commercial. Long live Rock.
September 20th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
There was something that was just really disturbing about Cobain singing Bon Jovi when I seen it.
Anthony Russo
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September 20th, 2009 at 6:31 pm
Hmm, I can agree with the ad being a little tacky…
However, I’m not bothered at all by the various “unlockable” characters singing the various songs… the default ones are creepy enough…
Now if they only let me make Cash & Cobain duet “Don’t Worry Be Happy”, I’d be satisfied… 🙂 Bring a little joy to the world and all that…
September 21st, 2009 at 1:51 pm
I have seen the ad and didn’t really care one way or the other. Honestly, the ads don’t really matter for me. I picked up GH5 because I liked the song selection and won’t bother with Rock Band Beatles because I am not really a huge fan, at least not enough to play a game that only features their songs.
I also don’t find the Cobain avatar all that problematic. While I liked his music, I never really idolized him, so I don’t see him as sacred.
September 22nd, 2009 at 10:57 am
I recently opened up the latest copy of the Rolling Stone, and inside I read that Courtney Love is seeking more money by suing the Guitar Hero producers, having not minded originally. Perhaps she changed her mind after seeing him perform stuff he would’ve hated, but still.
September 24th, 2009 at 10:26 am
I have to agree with you on the creepiness of the ad. When I first saw it it wasn’t even the creepiness that bothered me. It was the fact that video games have become so mainstream that porn stars are now selling them. What really bothers me is that these are the same women who when they were in school most likely despised the gaming crown or furthermore were behind the pranks and name calling. I hate to sound so “indie” and say that I’m a fan of everything before it’s mainstream, but something doesn’t seem right about switching demographics 180 degrees completely. I used to be a big Dance Dance revolution fan and a talented player and having to stand on that machine in a public place in front of crowds and endure the name calling and bullying only to see those same people on the machine a month later is quite unnerving. The ad points it out even more like salt in a wound. You know I have never once seen a IIDX beatmania commercial or a Guitar Freaks/Drum Mania commercial. To me America is making video games into a fad and I don’t see them that way, gaming is a way of life like being a musician or having religious affiliation, it’s a common bond that gamers share and can discuss and enjoy each others company. Now with ads like this the bond is broken. Now I meet people who tell me they play Guitar Hero and when I try to start a gaming discussion with them I get mocked. I guess we will see where this goes in the future. Honestly I blame the Wii for all of this.
October 19th, 2009 at 8:12 am
In the youtube version they blip out the undies….I thought all of them were naked. I was like what is wrong with them….LOL
November 26th, 2009 at 9:43 pm
Nick L.- Konami didn’t bother bringing over their Guitar Freaks/Drum Mania stuff to the US. They only jumped on the bandwagon recently, after Guitar Hero and Rock Band became hits. You will NEVER see a commercial for an arcade game in the states, especially one you have to import, so that’s just a silly comment.
Nothing is sacred. The rights for Cobain were owned by Love and SHE sold him out by allowing his likeness in the game. Guitar Hero jumped on this to capitalize on his “name” and you certainly can’t blame them for the business decision.