Carrie Brownstein, former guitarist for Sleater-Kinney, reviewed Wii Music for Slate, deciding, ultimately, that the game falls short. Carrie writes:
“(T)he game doesn’t go far enough; despite exalting creativity, you still feel more like an audience member than a band member—on the sidelines, watching yourself on-screen, where it seems like you’re having more fun. The game shows you a fantastical sonic world but falls short of letting you invent your own.”
Yeah, but this is from someone who’s used to doing this:
Carrie previously reviewed Rock Band for the site, deciding it, too, was lame.
I don’t know. I think the trick with games like Wii Music and Rock Band is to suck at music in real life. If you can’t play decent guitar, you’re satisfied just making noise along to Billy Idol’s “White Wedding.” Right? Although my musical ineptitude IRL translates to my game play. The one and only time I played Rock Band, I was in a department store trying out the demo game. As soon as I started, two little kids, brother and sister, came up and watched me. I was not good. They seemed embarrassed for me. When I was finished, I turned to walk away and the little girl said, “Nice try.” Did I detect sarcasm? I had no idea I still had the capacity to be intimidated by children.
I’m sure some of the other Sweaty Bitches, with all their musical prowess, can let me know if Wii Music is less fun than actual “axe-weildin.’” Anyone?
How about you?
Never played Guitar Hero or Rock Band myself, but my son has and it’s done two things that I think Carrie Brownstein is forgetting. It’s got him interested in playing guitar and maybe someday being in a real band. And second, it’s introduced him to music that he might not have otherwise listened to. I found it humorous that he went on about the music and then the surprise on his face when I pulled out CD’s from those groups. Like ACDC’s song “Let There Be Rock” says: There were fifteen million fingers
Learning how to play. And someday someone will be in a popular band saying – what got me interested was playing Rock Band.