Being the Fifth Beatle

The game "Rock Band" and "Guitar Hero" have changed video games in a fairly significant way. For those of you who don't know what either of these games entail then a quick description would be to imagine karaoke but with the instruments included as well. Basically "Guitar Hero" started off the current trend by introducing a game where the player could choose to play lead guitar or bass on a variety of classic and modern rock hits. From there the popularity skyrocketed and now there are tons of options and combos that can turn even the nerdiest of players into a rock star. Being a big music lover but lacking the actual talent to play any instrument, these games have allowed me to live out my fantasies of being part of a rock band and actually being able to perform relatively well.

As the games have grown in popularity there has been a 'dumbing down' of the interface so that those lacking practice or the coordination to 'play' the instruments (which is really nothing more than hitting button combinations rhythmically) they have made the interface much much easier. Not only has this made the game much more accessible to the general public but it has helped introduce a lot of classic rock tunes to a whole new generation of music afficianados. Even for myself personnally I have been exposed to many bands that I had heard of but had never listened to. The latest version of this game now stands on the verge of introducing a whole new generation of players to a band that has defined rock and roll for a long time, The Beatles.

I remember the classic dialogue in "Pulp Fiction" where Uma Thurman explained to John Travolta that all people could be classified as being one of two kinds of people. You were either a Beatle person or an Elvis person. I am most decidedly a Beatle person. Not to knock the King, I have the utmost respect for Elvis, but there is just something that has long drawn me to the Beatles. I mean I have memories of listening to their songs on an oldies station as I was riding to and from school when I was growing up. Many of the first songs I learned to sing were Beatles songs and they have such a diverse catalogue of songs that it's next to impossible to run across someone who hasn't heard at least one of their tunes. But of course, as time marches on, so do musical tastes and what that means is that not everyone will be as exposed to some of these artists as others.

I was in my local video game store this past weekend when I overheard a little kid ask his mother if the Beatles were still alive. When his mother told him that indeed they were, the boy clarified by stating that he thought only "ancient" bands had whole games dedicated to them. I let out an involuntary chuckle but couldn't help but think that for many of the current generation of gamers, there is a great deal of ignorance about where current music came from. I mean if it weren't for the artists that came before them, the Jonas Brothers or Miley Cyrus (or Hannah Montana or whoever the Hell she is) wouldn't exist. They would simply be another fly-by-night band that wouldn't have had a chance to spin their own type of music. I think that this new Beatles game will give a lot of us Beatles fans a chance to play along with some of our favorite songs and will introduce many more to some of the greatest songs of all time. Let the British Invasion begin again!